Conductor, musicologist, and tenor John K. Cox is a Visiting Professor of Music at Lewis & Clark College where he teaches courses in music history and choral music. He previously served as Visiting Assistant Professor at Reed College where he led the choral program and taught music theory. 

As a professional tenor and chorister, John has performed and recorded with renowned professional vocal ensembles including Apollo’s Singers, True Concord, and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus. He currently sings with Cappella Romana, and the Skylark Ensemble (2025, 2022, 2021, 2019 GRAMMY nominees for “Best Choral Album”). Skylark’s recent Christmas album, Winter’s Night, includes his editions of music by Gregorio Allegri and Giovanni Bernardino Nanino. He has served as a tenor and guest conductor with the Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys at All Saints Cathedral in Albany, New York, and the Trinity Cathedral Choir in Portland, Oregon.

A specialist in Renaissance and Baroque performance practice and advocate for forgotten repertories, Dr. Cox’s recent scholarship focuses on Roman sacred music from the late-seventeenth century. His editions have been recorded by Skylark Ensemble and performed by professional and amateur choral groups across the country. Under his direction, the Reed Collegium Musicum received Early Music America’s 2017 College Development Award for a concert of newly edited works by Alessandro Melani (1636-1703) at the Boston Early Music Festival. His current research project investigates music written for Roman nuns during the late-seventeenth century. In its 2025-26 season, Portland Baroque Orchestra will perform the modern debut of Vespers music written by Melani for the convent of Santa Lucia in Selci.