About Shelby

Shelby Joelle Cox is a performer, producer, and director equally at home in musical theatre, opera, cabaret, and concert repertoire. Recent performances include A Night at the Opera; Something Old, Something New: A Golden Age Cabaret and New Voices Night at The Green Room 42 (Producer + Performer) and JWM: A Theatrical Company’s concert production of My Fair Lady on the River (Maid/Ensemble).

On the other side of the table, Shelby directed and produced I Have Friends!, a new play by Pablo Ceja at The Tank NYC, and currently serves as Music Supervisor and Producer for the upcoming production of La Joie: A Play About Suffering by Kimberly Yates. Shelby is the founder of The Cabaret Collective, a producing group focused on staging creative and accessible concerts, musical revues, and cabarets.

In March 2020, Shelby sang in Debussy’s Nocturnes with the New York Philharmonic as part of the “Sirènes” chorus at David Geffen Hall, conducted by Louis Langrée. In October 2022, she performed as the alto soloist in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor and various motets with the Caritas A Cappella Ensemble as a part of RVW 150: A Tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams at 150.

Shelby holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from The Juilliard School. During her undergraduate training, she performed in several art song recitals, opera productions, and musical theater cabarets. She could be seen as Cupid in Orpheus in the Underworld and in the ensembles of Hippolyte et Aricie, Katya Kabanova, and La Sonnambula. She debuted the role of Chihiro in the world premiere of Sato Matsui’s Hoshi as part of the Opera-Composer Collaborative Project.

Shelby was selected as a 2018 Emerging Artist at Seagle Music Colony, where she performed the roles of Sesto (Giulio Cesare) and Gloria Upson (Mame), and was a featured dancer in the ensembles of The Great Gatsby and Candide. As a 2017 Artist at Classic Lyric Arts Italy, she sang in various scenes and concerts, including the roles of Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Tolomeo (Tolomeo), and Mistress Quickly (Falstaff).

While live performances were put on hold in 2020, she performed three leading and supporting roles as part of the rEMOTION Online Play Festival: Julie in “The Exhibit,” by Hanna Wagner, Beck in “By the Bay” by Ginger Chen, and Amanda in “Little Poppy Seed,” by M.J. Kang. Shelby also ventured into voiceover work, playing the role of Joanne Carpenter in the audio drama “untitled [redacted].”

As an instructor, Shelby is passionate about passing down the joy of music and theater to the next generation. Shelby has taught students of all ages and experience levels in both North Carolina and New York City. She has maintained a private teaching studio since 2014, and has served as Music Director for Raleigh Charter High School’s productions of Mamma Mia (2023) and The Wizard of Oz (2022).

Shelby is a student of Victoria Livengood, and a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.