Dr. Jen Townsley serves as an Instructor of Voice and Voice Area Coordinator at The University of Nebraska Omaha. Prior to serving at UNO, Dr. Townsley was an Instructor of Voice at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. Her areas of research focus on LGBTQIA+ inclusion in collegiate voice studies, opera curriculum development, contemporary singing styles in music education, and French composer Charles Koechlin and his Shéhérazade songs. Recent international performances include a residency at Canterbury Cathedral with the Royal School of Church Music America, and two performances of The Mass of The Americas in Mexico City under the baton of Dr. Richard Carrillo. Her upcoming performances include Dan Forrest’s Creation (soloist) with the Fredonia Community Choir and Caroline Shaw’s Is a Rose with the UNO Wind Ensemble (soloist).

Townsley's stage directing credits include Family Matters: A Musical Revue and Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera The Medium at William Jewell College, the children's opera The Three Little Pigs by John Davies at Scheherazade Music Festival, and selected opera scenes at Atlantic Music Festival. She is currently directing and producing UNO Opera’s Mozart Scenes.

Alongside a successful career teaching voice in an academic setting, Townsley also teaches voice lessons in partnership with the University of Kansas Medical Center Otolaryngology Clinic, where she rehabilitates amateur and professional singers following vocal injuries or trauma. She is Artistic Director of Vocal Music and Director of Outreach at the Scheherazade Music Festival, a nonprofit chamber music festival that centers on storytelling through innovative programming.