2022 Lifetime Achievement Awards

Together, let us celebrate!

NATS honors, thanks, and celebrates the accomplishments of three outstanding people — RichardSjoerdsma, Sharon Mabry, and Jimmy Webb — with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the NATS 57th national conference.

NATS honors Journal of Singing Editor-in-Chief Richard Sjoerdsma with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his many years of dedicated service to the association and the journal. Sjoerdsma announced he would be relinquishing his role after the 2022-2023 publication cycle concludes. He will have served in the position for an impressive 22 years at the end of his tenure, which translates to overseeing more than 100 issues, more than 300 feature articles, more than 1,500 regularly recurring columns, and millions of words. Congratulations, Dick!

NATS awards longtime member Sharon Mabry with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Mabry recently retired after teaching voice for 52 years at Austin Peay State University. For a quarter of a century, between 1985 and 2009, Mabry wrote a column for Journal of Singing that many NATS members will remember called “New Directions” where she discussed trends in contemporary music. Through her writings, lectures and performances, Mabry encouraged many in the field to become comfortable singing and teaching contemporary vocal music. Congratulations, Sharon!

NATS presents Jimmy Webb with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of dedication to the art of songwriting and his collaborative spirit with a wide range of vocal artists. Webb is the only artist to receive GRAMMY® Awards for music, lyrics, and orchestration with songs that transcend generations and genres. Among his many timeless hits are “The Worst That Could Happen,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” “Wichita Lineman,” “Up, Up and Away” and “MacArthur Park.” In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine listed Webb as one of the top 50 songwriters of all time. At his time of induction, Webb was the youngest member ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Congratulations, Jimmy!

Join us as NATS presents the award to Webb during his concert on Saturday, July 2, and as NATS honors Sjoerdsma and Mabry at the gala celebration banquet on Sunday, July 3.

Join us on the 2nd NATS Transatlantic Pedagogy Trip to

ENGLAND

June 1–12, 2023

Our hosts:Diana Allan, Karen Brunssen, Allen Henderson

in collaboration with AOTOS (Association of Teachers of Singing, UK) and EVTA (European Voice Teachers Association)

Travel with fellow NATS members and friends on this truly unique cultural and educational journey to expand your horizons! You’ll have the opportunity to share pedagogical perspectives, hear from English and European pedagogues and researchers, plus visit the sites of London, Windsor, Cambridge, Guildford, and Eton. Together, we’ll experience an Evensong, see a West End show, and attend several concerts. You’ll even have the option to take in an opera at Garsington Opera with dinner on the grounds. We’ve also planned free time to explore, including a trip to Harrods — the world’s most famous department store!

12-Day Tour includes:

◆ Accommodations

(10 nights double occupancy) ◆ Luxury motor coach per Itinerary ◆ Meals: Breakfast daily, 9 lunches, 3 dinners

(Welcome dinner, farewell dinner, and 1 additional dinner) ◆ Voice Pedagogy Mini-Conference, Additional Pedagogy Events

(in London, Greenwich, Eton, Guildford, Cambridge) ◆ Sightseeing per itinerary

(Admissions to Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle) ◆ West End Theatre Show

For complete details and info, visit nats.org/england2023 REGISTRATION AND $600 DEPOSIT DUE:

DECEMBER 1, 2022 GROUND TOUR: $3,398 $1,169

per person — double occupancy single supplement

(Minimum of 25 participants)

AIRFARE NOT INCLUDED AND ARRANGED ON YOUR OWN. TOUR PROGRAM AND PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Space is limited.

Demystifying Hip Hop: Cultural relevance, pedagogical tools and authentic performance practices in the voice studio

Melissa Foster

MELISSA FOSTER is an educator, voice specialist, theatre artist, researcher, and speaker. As a voice teacher, she specializes in musical theatre, pop styles, the history and performance of hip-hop, and opera/musical theatre crossover.

Foster is associate professor of instruction in the musical theatre area of the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University. She is on faculty for the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute with a focus on “Teaching Pop Styles,” she is a rap and R&B coach for Rock the Audition, and she is a resident vocal consultant for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also has been guest faculty for ArtsBridge, Broadway Breakthru, IHSTA, Stagelighter, and the Cherubs Program. She serves as artist-in-residence for the ArtsLink Foundation, and she was recently the vocal consultant for an NPR Tiny Desk Series Concert.

Foster has taught countless master classes and workshops around the world. Highlights include a co-taught, live-streamed master class with world- renowned opera legend, Renée Fleming. Foster’s presentation of “Rocking the Singing Boat: Pop, Rock, Singer Songwriter Folk, Country and R&B Styles” has been seen in numerous venues nationwide — most recently in San Francisco, South Bend, New York, Chicago, Palo Alto, and Birmingham. Recent guest lectures included master classes at multiple universities including Temple, Goshen, Samford, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and Oakland.

Foster has had the pleasure of working with the casts of numerous professional productions in both Chicago and New York, the most recent being the current national tours of Miss Saigon, Fiddler on the Roof, and A Bronx Tale. She also has vocal coached for Broadway in Chicago’s 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, American Music Theatre Project’s reading of the Boublil and Schonberg musical, La Revolution Francaise, as well as the first national tours of Peter and The Starcatcher.

Internationally, Foster is a visiting artist and master technician for a coalition of institutions and universities in Xi’an, China, Guangzhou, China, and Hong Kong. She is the chair of voice for the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance, and she is on their executive committee.

Currently, Foster is writing a book entitled, “Hip-Hop: Rap and R&B~ A Performers Guide” (release date 2023 — Rowman and Littlefield Publishing). She lives in Chicago with her husband, Matt, and their 9-year-old daughter, Viva.

TYPHANIE MONIQUE COLLER has been a force on the Chicago music scene for more than 20 years. Crossing genres with ease, along with her improvisatory abilities, place her in an elite class of vocalists. As a versatile vocalist and master technician, she confidently defies categorization. She is a storyteller, a phraseologist, and experiments with tone and grooves. Spontaneous compositions are revealed in every performance.

She is a fierce bandleader, known from her days at the Elbo Room with SUMO, Peking Turtle and Jive Council, lending her talent to Tributosaurus (EWF, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles), leading her improv funk outfit, The Booty Movement Coalition, and dropping House singles with Mr. Egg Germ.

Coller is a recognized recording and touring artist on the international jazz scene. She has graced jazz’s most distinguished venues in the U.S. and abroad from Chicago’s Jazz Showcase, City Winery and the Chicago Jazz Festival to The Kitano in New York City, The Dakota in Minneapolis, Dazzle in Denver and Vogue’s International Design Festival in Moscow, Russia. Coller has shared the stage and recorded with Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, The Manhattan Transfer, Mavis Staples, Joel Frahm, Ken Peplowski, Victor Goines, and Tony Monaco, to name a few. Her latest project, “CALL IT MAGIC,” released on Dot Time Records was produced by GRAMMY® Award-winning producer, Jeff Levenson.

This is an album that’s been years, heck, decades in the making. It’s where the road has taken her, and it’s a beautiful spot to take in the view. It’s music made with great thought, even more care and, yes, a little magic. That’s the artistry of Typhanie Monique. -Frank Alkyer, Publisher, DownBeat

As a composer, she has written original material for all of her recording projects and co-wrote “Lemonade” for Disney’s “Bizaardvark.”

Coller has educated and mentored vocalists in the academic world at Columbia College Chicago, DePaul University and Northwestern University. In August of 2020, she was appointed practitioner-in-residence and the coordinator of vocal studies at Columbia College Chicago where she leads one of the top contemporary vocal programs in the

Typhanie Monique Coller

nation. Coller teaches and develops curriculum for vocal technique and contemporary style and artistry courses. She is the director of the Recording and Performance Ensemble where students collaborate, writing and recording original material in a variety of contemporary genres. She also teaches applied voice lessons focused in improvisatory and pop genres. Coller earned a bachelor’s degree in music business from Elmhurst University in Elmhurst, Illinois, and a master’s degree in vocal pedagogy from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. She is certified in Somatic Voicework Levels I and II, and she is currently working on her vocology certification with Ingo Titze at the Summer Vocology Institute at the University of Utah.

Expanding the Canon in Art Song Literature

Sonya Baker

SONYA G. BAKER made her Carnegie Hall debut with renowned conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in 2004, the same year she appeared as soloist on the Yale Alumni Chorus tour to Moscow singing at the Kremlin. Noted for her performances of American music, Baker’s debut recording, “SHE SAYS,” features art songs of American women composers. Her lecture recital on Marian Anderson’s historic 1939 Easter concert has been presented nationally. She has received numerous academic and vocal awards, and she is a frequent guest artist and teacher. She has taught at governor’s school programs in both Kentucky and Virginia. Baker’s past service includes Kentucky State governor for NATS, board member for the Kentucky Arts Council, and university administrative positions. Baker is currently professor of voice at James Madison University. Along with earning her doctorate from Florida State University, Baker holds degrees from Indiana and Yale universities.

KATHERINE JOLLY, associate professor of music (voice) at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, received doctorate from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. She has appeared with Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera, and Virginia Opera, among others. Her album “Preach Sister, Preach” was released to rave reviews on PARMA records in 2019. A certified yoga teacher with a research background in music performance anxiety, she has presented workshops throughout the country, including The Voice Foundation, Performing Arts Medical Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She is a frequent guest clinician with the National Opera Association, Schmidt Foundation, NATS, and Arts Bridge. She has received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the George London Foundation, and Opera Theatre Saint Louis. Previously, Jolly was on faculty at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and Saint Louis University, where she received a New Frontiers grant and a Mellon grant

KATHLEEN KELLY is a pianist, conductor, educator, and writer. She has appeared internationally as a recital pianist, including appearances at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Vienna’s Musikverein. She is a published poet and essayist, and has written several English adaptations of operas as well as several librettos. She has worked with many companies including the San Francisco, Metropolitan, Houston Grand, and Vienna State operas, and she is regularly invited to speak and write on womens’ issues in the opera industry.

Katherine Jolly

Kathleen Kelly

Teaching Voice Pedagogy in the Classroom: Toward a Common Core Curriculum of Science-Informed Knowledge

Lynn Helding

LYNN HELDING is professor of practice in vocal arts and opera, and coordinator of vocology and voice pedagogy at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. She is the author of “The Musician’s Mind: Teaching, Learning & Performance in the Age of Brain Science,” the chapter “Brain” in Scott McCoy’s book “Your Voice: An Inside View” and an associate editor of the Journal of Singing. A devoted teacher, her clients sing with Los Angeles Opera, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and her students have been accepted with fellowships to the Aspen and Tanglewood Music festivals, among others. Pedagogy honors include the 2005 Van Lawrence Voice Fellowship, the master teacher designation by the 2019 NATS Intern Program, and recognition as “a legendary figure in the field of voice pedagogy” by the Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University, receiving the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award.

JOHN NIX is Professor of Voice and Voice Pedagogy and chair of the voice area at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His mentors include Barbara Doscher (singing, pedagogy) and Ingo Titze (voice science). Current and former students have sung with the Santa Fe, Arizona, Chautauqua, St. Louis, Nevada, Omaha, and San Antonio opera companies, and two have served as NATS Intern Program Master Teachers. In addition to his active voice teaching studio, he performs research in voice pedagogy, literature, and acoustics, having produced 46 published articles and 8 book chapters; he also co-chairs the NATS Voice Science Advisory Committee, and serves on The Journal of Singing’s editorial board. Mr. Nix is editor and annotator of From Studio to Stage: Repertoire for the Voice (Scarecrow, 2002), vocal music editor for the Oxford Handbook of Music Education (Oxford University Press, 2012), and one of three general editors for the Oxford Handbook of Singing (Oxford University Press, 2019).

John Nix

Building Musical Foundations for the Young Singer: Vocal Pedagogy for singers 5 to 15 years

Dana Lentini

After cultivating techniques as a classical singer, voice teacher, and children’s choir director, DANA LENTINI combined her experiences to create Born 2 Sing Kids, a program designed to nurture the development of beginning singers. Through consulting and coaching, she helps teachers build their own successful studios and empowers young singers to explore healthy vocal techniques through a systematic approach. Her book “Teaching the Child Singer: Pediatric Pedagogy for Ages 5-13” is available from Hal Leonard Publishing. For more information, visit born2singkids.com.

Inspired by the youngest students in her private voice studio, NIKKI LONEY challenges teachers to redefine what a singing lesson looks like for a child. Founder and CEO of FULL VOICE Music, she works with music education specialists, children’s composers, and musicians to create vocal music education resources. The FULL VOICE Workbooks have been part of voice studios, classrooms, and choirs worldwide for more than 15 years. In addition, she is an active member of NATS, and “The FULL VOICE Podcast” (part of the NATSCast Network) serves the independent voice teacher and has a global audience.

Jenevora Williams

JENEVORA WILLIAMS is a leading exponent in the field of vocal health and singing teaching. After a successful career in opera, Williams turned her attention to investigating healthy and efficient vocal function. The combination of academic study and practical experience has resulted in a unique perception for understanding the human voice. She was the first singing teacher to be awarded a doctorate in voice science in the U.K., and she won the 2010 British Voice Association Van Lawrence Prize for her outstanding contribution to voice research. Her book, “Teaching Singing to Children and Young Adults,” has been enormously popular with singing teachers throughout the world. She is wellknown for her imaginative and rigorous international training courses for singing teachers and voice professionals. She now runs Vocal Health Education and Evolving Voice. As a teacher of singing, she works with professional singers of all ages in both voice rehabilitation and career mentoring.

Reboot Your Social Media Strategy for Voice Teachers and Artists

Karen Merstik Michaels

KAREN MICHAELS has been singing, performing and playing piano since she was a small child. She auditioned and became a Young American, the internationally known performance group, and at the age of 13, the creative bug was cemented! She auditioned and became a Citrus Singer, known for both classical and popular music training and performances, and she was the first female in the history of Citrus College to hold the position of student conductor.

Michaels has performed all over the United States. She worked and lived in Nashville at Opryland and the Grand Ole Opry, lived in New York City, appeared in several off-Broadway shows, and traveled the United States to nearly every state in the national tour of “The Riverboat Ragtime Revue.” She performs regularly in Las Vegas as a solo artist, is a member of the All-Star Desert Angels Gospel Choir, is a singing pianist, and a founding member of Dangerous Curves, the premier vocal jazz trio of Las Vegas. Michaels has a thriving voice and piano home studio and is a Vocal Power Associate (Elisabeth Howard). She is the director of Vocal Power Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Voice Teacher.

As an executive board member of the Nevada Arts Council from 2018 to 2021, Michaels is proud to have awarded more than 1 million dollars in funding to artists of all genres. Michaels is a tech-chick and lover of all things social media. She founded The Social Butterfly Group and her new podcast, “Your Creative GPS,” to help voice teachers and creatives learn how to use social media to grow their businesses. She also has been a regular contributor on “The Full Voice” podcast.

Michaels is a social media strategist and digital marketing cheerleader. She is devoted to serving and educating motivated (yet frustrated!) creative business owners by providing one-on-one coaching, online training courses, and full social media management services to help them cultivate a strong, authentic audience and engage more effectively with both current and future clients/customers. Her favorite job, tho’? She is a wife to an incredible husband and mom of a man-child teenager and a big, fluffy chow chow named Mo.

JESSICA BALDWIN has a passion for working with underserved populations who sing and teach musical styles that are generally excluded from academia. She also loves helping people step into the spotlight of their own artistry. After getting her master’s degree in classical vocal performance and pedagogy, she dedicated herself to studying how the voice works in contemporary, commercial, and popular music styles. She became an assistant faculty member of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University in 2017 and created “Singing in Popular Musics” (formerly “Commercial Voice Resources”) for voice teachers in 2016. She is the head voice specialist and artistry coach at her company True Colors Voice and Artist Development. You can learn more about her own artistry at jessbaldwin.com.

Jessica Baldwin

John Holiday in Concert

John Holiday

Countertenor JOHN HOLIDAY has established himself as “one of the finest countertenors of his generation” (Los Angeles Times). His voice has been praised as “a thing of astonishing beauty” (New Yorker), “arrestingly powerful, secure and dramatically high” (Wall Street Journal), “exceptional [and] strong...even in its highest range” (The New York Times) and “timeless” (Washington Post). Holiday’s unique voice and powerful story have been the subject of profiles in The New Yorker, CNN’s Great Big Story, Los Angeles Times, and more.

The 2021-22 season provided exciting debuts for Holiday, beginning with his debut at the Hollywood Bowl under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel in an all-Gershwin program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; followed by his anticipated Metropolitan Opera debut in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice as Orpheus’s Double under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin; as well as his debut with the New York Philharmonic in Handel’s Messiah under the baton of Jeannette Sorrell; and capping off the season with his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Barrie Kosky’s production of Agrippina in the role of Nerone. Holiday returned to The Barbican for a program of sacred and secular works by Vivaldi, and he also reprised his signature role of the Refugee in Jonathan Dove’s Flight with Utah Opera and the Dallas Opera.

An acclaimed concert singer, Holiday has performed at world-renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, London’s Barbican Center, and the Philharmonie de Paris. His career highlights have included a tour with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the Sorceress in Barrie Kosky’s production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice as Orpheus’s Double at the Los Angeles Opera; the world premiere of Daniel Bernard Roumain’s We Shall Not Be Moved with Opera Philadelphia and the Dutch National Opera; title role in Xerxes at the Glimmerglass Festival; and Caesar in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto at Wolf Trap Opera. In addition to the traditional concert performances and recitals, Holiday has curated The John Holiday Experience (JHE) to showcase his affinity and talent for many different genres that includes classical, pop, jazz, and R&B. He has performed the program on a national scale with plans to continue the eclectic evening of song in his upcoming seasons.

Grow what matters. That’s always been the motto for NEEKI BEY, both personally and creatively. Over the course of more than 15 years, Bey has been fortunate enough to grow the stories of artists and organizations from — nonprofits, universities and sacred communities to emerging and established musicians.

In Bey’s years as creative director for visuals and music, he has produced promotional storytelling videos, conferences, concerts and events virtually and in-person all while developing strong client relationships that deliver strategic and emotionally-resonant creative experiences.

Bey has worked with a wide range of delightful people and groups along the way including: the City of Dallas, Southern Methodist University, Episcopal Diocese of Dallas, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Houston Boychoir, Maddie and Tae, John Holiday and Music World Music (the home of Destiny’s Child) and more.

With an undergraduate degree in music from Morehouse College, studies at the Vienna Institute for European Studies/Vienna Conservatory of Music, and a graduate degree from Southern Methodist University, Bey is an artist at heart. When not making music or creating audio/visual spaces, he enjoys traveling (Africa, Asia, Europe), and gardening.

Bey is currently based in Texas as a creative director.

Neeki Bey

Kevin Miller

American pianist and collaborator KEVIN J. MILLER is acclaimed for his dynamically artful performances. Recent collaborations include recitals with international tenor Lawrence Brownlee at Carnegie Hall, countertenor John Holiday at the Kennedy Center, Joseph Calleja and Nadine Sierra at the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as an appearance with Calleja on NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concert” series. Miller prepared soprano Jessye Norman for performances of Laura Karpman’s production of Ask Your Mama, which was performed at Carnegie Hall. He also collaborated with the acclaimed countertenor, David Daniels, in a recital at the Glimmerglass Festival. He can be heard on piano on the recording “Been in da Storm So Long,” which features baritone Kenneth Overton.

This New York native has been on the fast track to success since his days as a student at the Boys Choir of Harlem. Beginning his musical studies at the age of 8, Miller was frequently a featured soprano soloist — most notably in Vivaldi’s Gloria and Lake George Opera Association’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While studying in the Boys Choir, he studied piano with the late conductor and pianist Warren Wilson. It was during these years that Miller also began his work as an accompanist, playing for the choir on its tours of Europe, Israel, Austria, and Japan.

Miller studied at the Mannes College of Music, where he received a bachelor’s degree in piano. He continued his studies at the University of Michigan School of Music where he received both a master’s degree and the artist diploma in collaborative piano under the tutelage of Martin Katz.

In addition to his formal studies, Miller has been a participant in some of the country’s most prestigious festivals and young artist apprenticeships, including the Tanglewood Institute of Music, Aspen Summer Music Festival, the Cleveland Art Song Festival, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, and the Glimmerglass Festival. Upon completion of his apprenticeship at the Glimmerglass Festival, he was invited to join the music staff as a vocal coach. He currently serves on music staff at Houston Grand Opera.

An Evening with Jimmy Webb

Jimmy Webb

JIMMY WEBB is an American songwriter, composer and singer known worldwide as a master of his trade. His timeless hits continue to be performed and recorded by the industry’s biggest names, and his new compositions span the musical spectrum from classical to pop. This past year saw his “Wichita Lineman” on the set list in three major artist tours – Guns N’ Roses, Little Big Town, and Toby Keith – and used prominently in an episode of the Netflix series “Ozark.” Not many artists can say they premiered a classical nocturne and had a rap hit with Kanye West (“Do What You Gotta Do” a central hook in “Famous”) in the same year, but Webb’s career is full of surprises. Since his first platinum record “The Worst That Could Happen,” Webb has had numerous hits including “Up, Up and Away,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Wichita Lineman, “Galveston,” “Highwayman,” “All I Know” and “MacArthur Park,” and has also become a leader and mentor in the industry as a champion for songwriters.

Webb is the only artist ever to have received GRAMMY® Awards for music, lyrics and orchestration. His numerous accolades include the prestigious Ivor Novella International Award (2012) and the Academy of Country Music’s Poet Award (2016). In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine listed Webb as one of the top 50 songwriters of all time. Webb was the youngest member ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and served as its chair. He also has served proudly as the vice chair of ASCAP. Time and again Webb has paved the way for songwriters in an ever-changing media landscape, spearheading the ongoing effort to preserve the rights of songwriters and their intellectual property in the digital age.

Webb is an international touring artist, averaging 50 shows a year. Webb is also an author – his memoir “The Cake and the Rain” (2017) brings to life a 15-year span in Webb’s unique career, written with the same sense of poetry and story as his many hits. Webb’s first book, “Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting,” in addition to being a good read, is considered a “bible” among musicians.

Webb was trained in the sacred space of Motown and had his first commercial recordings there. Webb’s songs have been recorded by the greatest voices including Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Nina Simone, Isaac Hayes, Art Garfunkel, Linda Ronstadt, Tony Bennett, Michael Feinstein, Michael Ball and Josh Groban. Per BMI, his song “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” was the third most performed song between 1940 and 1990. Webb continues to write and record, and he has released 10 solo albums while also writing for other artists. In 2019, Webb released “SlipCover”, his piano interpretations of contemporary composers including friends Billy Joel and Randy Newman.

Webb is happily married to Laura Savini, a producer and host for PBS. He has five sons, the perfect daughter and is grandfather to the precious Josephine.

Keynote Address - Craig Terry

Craig Terry

American pianist CRAIG TERRY has an international performance career and recently won a GRAMMY® Award for “Best Classical Solo Vocal Album” for the recording he made with Joyce DiDonato, “Songplay." He has served as the Jannotta Family Endowed Chair music director of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center since 2013, after having previously spent 11 seasons with the company as an assistant conductor. Before coming to Lyric, he was an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera after joining its Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Terry has performed extensively with such esteemed artists such as Jamie Barton, Stephanie Blythe, Lawrence Brownlee, Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Brian Jagde, Joseph Kaiser, Quinn Kelsey, Kate Lindsey, Ana María Martínez, Susanna Phillips, Luca Pisaroni, and Patricia Racette, among others. He has collaborated as a chamber musician with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Lyric Opera Orchestra, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchester, and the Pro Arte String Quartet. Terry is artistic director of Beyond the Aria, a recital series presented by the Harris Theater in collaboration with Lyric Opera of Chicago. His discography includes “Diva on Detour” with Patricia Racette, “As Long As There Are Songs” with Stephanie Blythe, and “Chanson d’Avril” with Nicole Cabell.

Voice Science: Singing and Speaking Salvation, H. Steven Sims

H. Steven Sims

STEVEN SIMS (pronouns: he/him) is the director of the Chicago Institute for Voice Care at the UIC Medical Center in Chicago. He is a board-certified laryngologist who chose a career in professional voice care as an extension of his two passions, medicine and singing. A graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine, H. Steven Sims, M.D., completed a clinical fellowship at the Vanderbilt Voice Center and is a current appointee of the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders Advisory Council with the National Institutes of Health. He is also an accomplished musician who plays trombone, bassoon and piano. While an undergraduate at Yale University he was a member of choirs and he is an experienced vocalist as well. His personal experiences and education are employed to address the problems of singers, performing artists and other voice professionals. The Chicago Institute for Voice Care is dedicated to increasing the awareness and treatment of the unique issues faced by performing artists and providing comprehensive care. He has worked with opera soloists and cast members of Wicked, Hamilton, Jersey Boys, Book of Mormon and numerous other shows as well as Chicago’s Academy Award-winning Dreamgirls.

Opening Session + Community Sing with Clarice Assad

Clarice Assad

A powerful communicator renowned for her musical scope and versatility, Brazilian American CLARICE ASSAD is a significant artistic voice in the classical, world music, pop and jazz genres, renowned for her evocative colors, rich textures, and diverse stylistic range. A prolific GRAMMY® Award-nominated composer with more than 70 works to her credit, her work has been commissioned by internationally renowned organizations, festivals and artists, and are published in France (Editions Lemoine), Germany (Trekel), Criadores do Brasil (Brazil) and in the United States by Virtual Artists Collective Publishing. A sought-after performer, she is a celebrated pianist and inventive vocalist. Assad has released seven solo albums and appeared on or had her works performed on another 30. Her music is represented on Cedille Records, SONY Masterworks, Nonesuch, Adventure Music, Edge, Telarc, NSS Music, GHA, and CHANDOS. As an innovator, her award-winning Voxploration Series on music education, creation, songwriting and improvisation has been presented throughout the United States, Brazil, Europe and the Middle East. With her talents soughtafter by artists and organizations worldwide, the multi-talented musician continues to attract new audiences both onstage and off.

The Legacy of Engaging Children + Families through Song

Tim Ferrin

TIM FERRIN is an independent filmmaker in Chicago specializing in documentaries, educational and arts programming, and non-profit video. Selected as an Emerging Filmmaker for the 2017 History Film Forum by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ferrin has produced programs for National Geographic Channel, PBS, and cable television. He also has created programming for a diverse list of organizations including Lincoln Center, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Sustainability Consortium, Northwestern University, and Major League Baseball. He has spent the last several years on a documentary about the life and work of the first lady of children’s music, “Ella Jenkins: We’ll Sing a Song Together.”

ASHLI ST. ARMANT is a celebrated vocalist, writer, arts educator, and founder of Leaping Lizards Music, a music and theater education program for students, preschool through 12th grade. She tours the United States with her band, Jazzy Ash and the Leaping Lizards, performing jazz for young audiences. Together they have performed at numerous venues including Lincoln Center and Sprout Network (NBC), produced six albums, and have been featured by NPR and LA Times. Her first full-length audiobook, “Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons,” has more than 10,000 reviews and sets the path for her new venture into children’s literature. Additionally, she continues to focus on education, regularly teaching performing arts to children and educators. Most recently, she has hosted workshops for the ELCA, National Association for the Education of Young Children, and MaxFunCon. She has 17 years of experience in education and 21 years experience in performing arts. She attended the highly acclaimed Orange County High School of the Arts. A professionally trained singer and actor, she holds a degree in child development from Saddleback College. She is raising her two sons, Ellington and Lincoln, with her wife, Pam, in sunny Southern California.

RED GRAMMER is one of the premier entertainers of children and families in the world. Described by Parents magazine as “the best voice in children’s music,” Grammer has set the gold standard for writing and performing music that playfully reconnects us with the best in ourselves.

Grammer can be heard tickling and nourishing hearts and souls via his award-winning recordings; his numerous appearances on television (The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Nickelodeon, Showtime, PBS, The Disney Channel); his unforgettable live concerts; his award-winning DVD (“Hooray for the World”); his GRAMMY® Award-nominated album, “Bebop Your Best: Songs to Build Character By;” and as a featured artist on the 2005 GRAMMY® Award-winning “Best Musical Album for Children,” — “cEllabration: A Tribute To Ella Jenkins”. His latest release is “Circle of Light: Songs for Bucketfillers,” a vibrant collection of new songs created in collaboration with Carol McCloud, author of the bestselling children’s book, “Have You Filled A Bucket Today?” The book celebrates positivity, and the desire to make the world a better place.

Beloved by children and parents around the world, Grammer’s recordings are a treasured resource for teachers who use them to communicate the themes of caring, excellence, oneness, and diversity in a language kids instantly understand and eagerly embrace.

Combining one of the truly great voices in the business with an unerring sense of performance and play, Grammer’s live concerts delight audiences, young and old, in performing arts centers all across America and abroad. Grammer has performed throughout Europe, in China, Russia, the Ukraine, Israel, and The Gambia. He is also a frequent keynote speaker and performer at national and regional educational conferences throughout North America.

Jazzy Ash

Red Grammer

Justin Roberts

JUSTIN ROBERTS (acoustic guitar/vocals/songwriter) grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, where he would wander aimlessly collecting autumn leaves on his way to school, sometimes showing up very late for class. He was quickly dubbed the “absent-minded professor” by his kindergarten teacher. He was also a failed little league baseball player at Raccoon Valley where he was much more interested in the tickets you could exchange for snow cones than the actual rules of the game. Now he loves learning rules to games — especially board games and pinball machines. His first instrument was the piano, followed briefly by clarinet, and after singing the solo in a variety show at the Des Moines Civic Center, he was asked to join a rock band in 7th grade and learned to play the guitar. From there, music followed him everywhere he went, to college where he formed the post-folk band Pimentos for Gus with Mike Hallenbeck and Tracy Spuehler to preschool where he started writing songs for his students. The absent-minded professor almost became a professor after studying philosophy at Kenyon College and religious studies at the University of Chicago. But instead, he jumped in his old Volkswagen and started singing songs about the alphabet and whales wandering in the desert.

Ella Jenkins

ELLA JENKINS, the “First Lady of Children’s Music,” is an iconic children’s performer. She has been one of the genre’s leading voices for more than 50 years. Nurtured by the rich musical culture of her Chicago neighborhood, Jenkins was immersed in song from her earliest days. She has spent the rest of her life helping other children find that same enjoyment in music.

Jenkins developed her immense talents working with children as a child psychology student at San Francisco State University and as a program director at the YWCA before hosting a public television program for children called “This is Rhythm.” Throughout her career, she contributed a great deal to the children’s music repertoire, including wellloved classics such as “You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” Her music incorporates languages and cultures from around the world, including the African-American blues and gospel music she heard during her own childhood. Jenkins is one of few artists to have recorded both for Smithsonian Folkways and for Moses Asch’s original Folkways label, and she has enjoyed a prolific career characterized by genuine love and appreciation for the minds and hearts of children. In 2004, she was honored by the Recording Academy with a GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award.

NATSAA + NMTC Recital

Claire McCahan

American mezzo-soprano CLAIRE MCCAHAN has been applauded for her rich tone and dedication to character and expression in operatic and concert performances. Her recent operatic credits include Orfeo in an adaptation of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice (Renegade Opera), Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Boulder Opera), Olga in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, the title role in Handel’s Ariodante, Third Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (Eklund Opera), and Camille Claudel in a staged interpretation of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Camille Claudel: Into the Fire (Opera Steamboat). She has appeared as a concert soloist with the Boulder Bach Festival, the Colorado Bach Ensemble, the Longmont Symphony Orchestra, Cantabile Ensemble, St. John’s Cathedral in Denver, and the Rocky Mountain Chorale.

McCahan was recently awarded first place at the 2022 NATS Artists Awards in New York City and was a semifinalist in the 2022 Franz Schubert and Modern Music competition. She is the winner of the inaugural 2020 World of Bach Competition and the 2020 Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition. She received the 2019 Frances MacEachron Award from the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition in New York, and the 2018 Career Advancement Award from Opera of the Rockies.

An avid performer of contemporary works, she recently performed in the premiere of Ben Morris and Laura Fuentes’ new opera The Fall of Man: And Other Tales at the ATLAS Institute. She has workshopped other roles with the CU New Opera Workshop including Brittomara in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s If I Were You, and has premiered works with the Pendulum New Music series. She performed with Jónsi & Alex at their Denver performance of the “Riceboy Sleeps” 10th anniversary album tour, and contributed vocals to the soundtrack of Adam Sandler’s “Uncut Gems.” McCahan also contributed to “Mirror State,” an interdisciplinary virtual exhibit in collaboration with the NEST Studio for the Arts, and she has worked as teaching artist and composer with the Colorado Lullaby Project in conjunction with Carnegie Hall.

McCahan will spend summer 2022 as a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she will perform in George Benjamin’s opera Lessons in Love and Violence as well as in the vocal fellows’ recitals. She has also been a fellow at SongFest and CoOperative programs. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire, and master’s degree and artist diploma from the University of Colorado Boulder as a student of Abigail Nims.

Learn more at clairemccahan.com.

BARBARA (BARBIE) NOYES of Golden, Colorado, is a collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and educator. A versatile performer, Noyes can be found collaborating with musicians in a wide variety of genres including, chamber music, opera, orchestral ensembles, new music ensembles, and choral music. In 2021, she served as music director for Southern Illinois University’s chamber opera performances as well as the Composer Fellows’ Initiative program as part of the CU New Opera Workshop (CU NOW) at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Noyes received fellowships to study at both Aspen Music Festival as well as Music Academy of the West where she studied with Jonathan Feldman. During her two summers in Santa Barbara, Noyes was a finalist in the Duo Competition, performing 20th- and 21st-century masterpieces with Colin Benton, tuba, and Chas Barnard, cello. In 2018, she made her Carnegie Hall debut with oboist Kristen Weber at Weill Recital Hall. An ardent lover of contemporary repertoire, her doctoral thesis project culminated in a recorded album of André Previn’s music for voice and piano duo, bringing to the concert hall Previn’s unheralded art song library.

Noyes received her doctorate and master’s degree in collaborative piano at the University of Colorado Boulder, studying with Margaret McDonald and Alexandra Nugyen. There she was a répétiteur for Eklund Opera, performing operas under the batons of Nicholas Carthy as well as Phillip Hesketh and Caleb Harris. She previously earned a bachelor’s degree in music composition from Willamette University where she studied composition with John Peel as well as piano and chamber music with Anita King. An avid language-learner, Noyes pursued French language and cinema studies in Paris at the Sorbonne Université and the Institut Catholique and later, innovation in music technology at IRCAM’s ManiFeste summer academy for composers. Noyes currently holds the position of collaborative pianist at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. This summer, Noyes is serving as staff collaborative pianist at the Meadowmount Festival in upstate New York.

LAUREN CARR is from Kankakee, Illinois. She graduated from Elmhurst University located in Elmhurst, Illinois. She recently moved to the Big Apple to pursue her dream as a performer. Since the 2020 NATS National Musical Theatre Competition, due to the pandemic, she was able to work on personal and mental growth and was grateful for it! In March, she began her journey with The Mine Agency in New York. She is so excited to be here and share the gift God gave her!

DAVID YOUNG is a tenor from Houston, Texas, and a graduate of DePauw University where he received a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance. His previous credits include: Monty Navarro (A Gentleman’s Guide), Conrad Birdie (Bye Bye Birdie), Prince Charmant (Cendrillon), Don Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro), Captain Corcoran (H.M.S. Pinafore), Sir Francis (Where’s Charley), George Banks (Mary Poppins), and Sir Roderic (Ruddigore). Young also has achieved great success in competitions nationwide: NATS Musical Theatre Competition 2022 (1st Place), Hal Leonard Vocal Competition 2019 (1st Place), Tri-State College Vocal Competition 2020 (1st Place), the Opera Grand Rapids College Vocal Competition 2020 (1st Place), SAS Performing Arts Company Vocal Competition 2020 (Finalist), James Toland Vocal Competition 2020 (Finalist), Lotte Lenya Competition 2021 (Emerging Artist), and the American Traditions Vocal Competition 2021 (Quarterfinalist). Most recently, Young joined the first national Broadway tour of Fiddler on the Roof. Young recently signed with Dave Secor of Daniel Hoff Agency. Follow Young on social media @davidyoungsings or learn more at davidyoungsings.com.

Barbie Noyes

Lauren Carr

Amanda Hopson

AMANDA A. HOPSON recently completed 24 years at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, as the senior staff accompanist and coordinator of keyboard studies. In August, she begins a new appointment as coordinator of collaborative piano at Butler University in Indianapolis. She has been an accompanist since the age of 10 and has performed and recorded with vocalists, instrumentalists, and choral groups for more than 40 years.

Called “a rare jewel” by esteemed choral conductor Jan Harrington, Hopson was one of the early accompanists for the GRAMMY Award-winning choir Conspirare and has performed under the baton of legendary conductor Joseph Flummerfelt. She has accompanied vocalists in master classes given by artists such as Frederica von Stade, Elly Ameling, Thomas Hampson, Nathan Gunn, Jake Heggie, Jason Robert Brown, Stephanie J. Block, Laura Benanti, and Alice Riple. She also has been heard in concert with former King’s Singer baritone Gabriel Crouch and dramatic soprano Lise Lindstrom.

In 2013, she collaborated with tenor Kerry Jennings on a Centaur Records recording entitled, “In My Memory: American Songs and Song Cycles,” featuring works by Libby Larsen, Tom Cipullo, Lori Laitman, and Richard Pearson Thomas. The CD was favorably reviewed, with Hopson described as “an equally fine musician, finding the character of the various accompaniments to perfection,” and the CD itself as “not to be missed.” It is featured on Larsen’s website as the reference recording of her cycle, “My Antonía.”

Where Do We Go From Here?

Albert Rudolph Lee

Tenor ALBERT RUDOLPH LEE’S performances have been described as “vocally sumptuous,” “musically distinctive” and even “acrobatically agile.” Having appeared with Opera Theater of Saint Louis, Palm Beach Opera, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia Orchestra, Saint Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, the Collegiate Chorale of New York City, Caramoor International Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival, Lee’s operatic and oratorio roles include Don Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Almaviva in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore and Ferrando in Così fan tutte and the tenor solos in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Handel’s Judas Maccabeus, and the Rossini’s Stabat Mater.

Throughout his performing career he also has worked to preserve and expand the performance of Negro spirituals in domestic and international performances with the American Spiritual Ensemble. In addition, Lee performed a recital of art song settings of Langston Hughes poetry in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. He is a featured soloist on a recording of works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker on Albany Records singing musical settings of the Walt Whitman poem, “When lilacs last in dooryard bloomed,” a poem written as an elegy to Abraham Lincoln after his assassination.

Most recently, he appeared as tenor soloist in Adolphus Hailstork’s “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes” with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, joined the British-based classical crossover group Vox Fortura in domestic and international performances, and made appearances with the New Haven Symphony, the Keene Chorale of New Hampshire, and Opera Las Vegas. He completed his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree in music at the Juilliard School, and his doctorate in music at Florida State University with a doctoral treatise titled, “The Poetic Voice of Langston Hughes in American Art Song.” He serves as associate professor of music and the inaugural Director of Equity, Belonging, and Student Life at the Yale University School of Music.

Alejandra Valarino Boyer

Daniel Fung

ALEJANDRA VALARINO BOYER is director of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, which is an international destination for young professional pianists and string players, classical singers, and jazz musicians who are enhancing their talents as collaborative artists. With more than 10 years of experience in arts administration, Valarino Boyer is a strategic leader with experience in community engagement, production management, and program development through her work at Seattle Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

She has experience in designing learning programs for youth and adults, building and growing authentic community partnerships, and producing theatrical productions. An advocate for racial equity, she founded BIPOC Arts, an online database that celebrates opera professionals of color. Valarino Boyer is a current participant in the 2021 Sphinx LEAD program and serves on the board of directors for Opera America.

Pianist DANIEL FUNG enjoys a multifaceted career as musician, collaborative artist, and coach. His performances have taken him around the world including his native Canada, United States, and Europe. As a soloist, he has given numerous recitals and performed with the Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton Symphony orchestras. He has collaborated with numerous instrumentalists including members of the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Notable vocal collaborations include appearances at Marilyn Horne’s festival at Carnegie Hall, The Song Continues and live-streamed master classes with Renée Fleming, Eric Owens, Elly Ameling, and Joyce DiDonato. An alumnus of the University of Calgary and the Juilliard School, Fung has worked as score consultant with the Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD team and is currently assistant teaching professor of vocal coaching and collaborative piano at University of Missouri-Kansas City. Fung delights in new culinary experiences, world travel, and the latest Dodo YouTube channel videos.

Art Song Composition Award Recital

Jeffrey Ryan

JEFFREY RYAN grew up training his ear with Petula Clark, The Partridge Family and Captain and Tennille, playing saxophone and flute in high school bands, singing in two choirs, and writing his own songs for voice class. Now, as a freelance composer based in Vancouver, Canada, he finds inspiration in the world around him and creates music that runs the gamut from orchestral and chamber works to opera, art song, and choral music.

Praised for his “strong personal voice” (Globe and Mail) and recipient of SOCAN’s Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award, Ryan’s music engages audiences in concerts and broadcasts around the world. Major recent projects include Miss Carr in Seven Scenes for mezzo and piano, and Scar Tissue, a collaboration with poet Michael Redhill for vocal sextet and piano trio.

Recordings of Ryan’s music have garnered multiple JUNO and Western Canadian Music Award nominations. His discography includes the portrait CDs Fugitive Colours (Vancouver Symphony/Gryphon Trio) and Quantum Mechanics, along with many individual works. Ryan was the Vancouver Symphony’s composer-in-residence (2002 to 2007) and composer laureate (2008/09). He was an affiliate composer with the Toronto Symphony (2000 to 2002), and is currently composer advisor for Music Toronto. He holds degrees from Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Toronto, and Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with acclaimed composer Donald Erb. Ryan won the first prize in the2021 NATS Art Song Composition Award for his work, “Everything Already Lost.” Read more at jeffreyryan.com.

MICHAEL PREACELY — an American baritone currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky — has proven himself a rising star on the operatic stage. Over the course of his burgeoning career, Preacely has worked with numerous major and regional opera houses and orchestras in the United States and abroad and has consistently garnered critical acclaim. Preacely’s international career has spanned the globe, having featured performances in Europe, Asia, Russia, and Canada. Domestically, the Cincinnati Opera, Opera Company Philadelphia, Opera Memphis, Kentucky Opera, and Cleveland Opera rank among the multitude of reputable opera companies with whom Preacely has been featured as a performer.

Likewise, he has performed alongside many of the nation’s top leading orchestras, including the Cincinnati Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Hilton-Head Symphony, Asheville Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Pops, the Cincinnati Pops, the American Spiritual Ensemble, and most recently the American Pops Orchestra. Alongside his noteworthy stage credits and history of critical acclaim, Preacely also has received a great many accolades, including his reception of awards in the Fritz and Jensen Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Currently, Preacely is on faculty with the University of Kentucky as a lecturer in voice. Preacely’s upcoming engagements include a debut with Finger Lake Opera, featured soloist at the NATS national conference, and featured soloist with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir.

ERICSSON HATFIELD (b.1995) is a composer, performer, and educator. His compositions integrate classical and modern techniques to create a fresh musical language. He received first prize for his work Constellations as the youngest applicant in his category to the Tribeca New Music Festival. In 2020, he won the Kristen Pankonin Award at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), resulting in a commission to compose his first song cycle — “God’s World” — for solo voice and piano. In 2022, Hatfield won first prize in the NATS 2022 Art Song Composition Award for “God’s World.”

His work as an educator includes the manual “Techniques of Canonic Counterpoint,” to be published in 2022 in addition to lecturing at several forums on compositional technique, such as the SFCM Counterpoint Club. He studied composition at the European American Musical Alliance (EAMA) in Paris with David Conte, with whom he is currently studying in the master’s degree program (2022) at SFCM .

As a violinist, Hatfield received his bachelor’s degree (2018) in music performance at New York University, where he studied under Cyrus Beroukhim, Stephanie Chase, Gregory Fulkerson and Radim Kresta. He also attended the Meadowmount School of Music for three summers where he studied violin with Sally Thomas, Ann Setzer and Steven Rochen. Hatfield remains an active teacher and chamber musician.

SAHOKO SATO TIMPONE, mezzo-soprano, is a native of Tokyo who grew up in Japan, Germany and the U.S. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and has since performed in many operas and concerts throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. She is a graduate of New England Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music, and she received her doctorate in music from Rutgers University. She is assistant professor of voice at Florida State University and also has been invited as a guest artist and faculty member at the Alion Baltic International Music Festival in Estonia and at the Lunigiana International Music Festival in Italy. For more information, please visit sahokotimpone.com.

VALERIE M. TRUJILLO has been associated with opera companies including Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Wexford Festival Opera (Ireland), Chautauqua Opera, Ohio Light Opera and Opera in the Ozarks. Trujillo served as artist faculty at the Tanglewood Music Center, Ars Vocalis México (Mexico), Taos Opera Institute, Si parla, si canta (Italy) as well as the academic faculty at the Mannes College and Yale University. She served as a master teacher for the 2020 and 2021 NATS Intern Programs. She can be heard on the GRAMMY® Award-nominated Chandos release of Bennett’s The Mines of Sulphur. She can also be heard on the Mark Records, Albany and Azica labels. Trujillo received her training from Eastern New Mexico University and the University of Illinois. She teaches on the faculty at Florida State University where she is professor of vocal coaching and accompanying, and serves as the coordinator of the voice and opera programs.

Ericsson Hatfield

Sahoko Sato Timpone

Valerie Trujillo