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Tenor Christopher Swanson has been a member of the music faculty at Longwood University since 2003. He teached Applied voice, Song Literature and directs the Opera Workshop. He also instructs sections of Sightsinging and Music Appreciation.
He has performed leading roles in such operas as The Turn of the Screw, The Rake’s Progress, Die Zauberflöte, Così fan tutte, Robert Ward’s The Crucible and numerous operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan. He has also performed as soloist in several Bach cantatas, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s The Creation, Handel’s Saul and Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Verdi’s Requiem. Christopher is featured on the 2000 Newport Classics release of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida as well as a 2003 recording of John Eccles’s opera Semele, the first complete recording of the opera. As a recitalist, Christopher has given programs across North America in Canada and Italy. He specializes in the Baroque vocal literature, German Lieder and the Art Songs of Benjamin Britten.
Dr. Swanson holds degrees in music from Michigan State University and University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and has a Doctorate in Music from Florida State University. His doctoral treatise is titled: "The Voice of the New Renaissance: The Premiere Performances of Sir Peter Pears."

A Michigan native, Christopher now lives in Farmville, Virginia with his wife Jennifer and their three children Ellie, Abigail, and Charles. Dr. Swanson is on the music faculty at Longwood University.