Masterclass, Workshops & Educational Outreach
Masterclass for the George Shirley
Vocal Competition, May 2023
The George Shirley Vocal and Composer Competition focuses entirely on African American Vocal Repertoire and is open to singers of all ethnicities. Within this competition there are 4 vocal divisions and 1 composer division: High School (Ages 14-18), Collegiate Division (Ages 18-22), Pre-Professional Division (Ages 23-35), International Division (Ages 16-35) and Composer Division (Ages 18-35). This masterclass focused on the Pre-professional division of the competition.
Masterclass, Workshops &
Educational Outreach
George Shirley Vocal Competition, Ann Arbor, MI
2023 Moderator, “The Roots of Black Music” PAVA Symposium (Virtual)
2023 Masterclass, Baltimore City College High School, Baltimore, MD
2023 Masterclass, Washington National Opera - Opera Institute, Washington, DC
2023 Masterclass, Baltimore School of the Arts, Baltimore, MD
2023 Milnes Voice Festival, Florida Voice Project, Tarpon, FL
2022 Moderator, “Healing Through Music, Art and Medicine,”
The Benjamin A. Quarles Humanities and Social Science Institute, Morgan State University
2022 Masterclass, Washington National Opera - Opera Institute
2022 Masterclass, Savannah Voice Festival
2021 Masterclass, Nashville Opera (Virtual)
2021 Around the World Song Share, Presentation: “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, PAVA (Virtual)
2021 Guest clinician and Panelist, “Singing Down the Barriers”, University of Michigan (Virtual)
2021 “Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) Survey: Current State of Who’s Teaching
What in Non-Classical Music” paper (Co-author). Voice Foundation Annual Symposium (Virtual)
2020 Masterclass, Nashville Opera (HBCU Masterclass in conjunction with Tennessee State University
and the Nashville Opera)
2020 “Do Choral Conductors and Their Clientele Seek the Same Vocal Health Advice”, paper (Co-author).
PAVA Symposium (Virtual)
2020 “Vocal Health Practices of Choral Conductors” paper (Co-author). Voice Foundation
Annual Symposium (Virtual)
2020 Urban Choral Arts Society, Baltimore, MD (Virtual)
2019 “Do Classical Singers Maintain Training Program Post College” paper (Co-author), Voice Foundation
Annual Symposium, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Urban Choral Arts Society, Baltimore, MD
2019 Masterclass, George Shirley Vocal Competition, Ann Arbor, MI
2018 Workshop Presentation, “The Negro Spiritual,” Voice Foundation Annual Symposium, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Masterclass, George Shirley Vocal Competition, Ann Arbor, MI
2017 Masterclass, Baltimore School for the Arts, Baltimore, MD
2017 Masterclass, A Celebration of the Spiritual; National Association of Negro Musicians
Ben Holt Memorial Branch, Washington, D.C.
2012 Masterclass, Videmus@25 Festival, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
2012 Masterclass, Baltimore Summer Opera Workshop, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
2010 Masterclass, “Grady-Rayam Prize in Sacred Music Competition, Washington, D.C.
2008 Masterclass, National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., National Convention, Washington, D.C.
2008 Master clinician, Southwest Regional National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS),
Oklahoma City, OK
2003 Masterclass Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, OK
2001 Masterclass, Shenandoah Conservatory, Winchester, Virginia
2001 Masterclass, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, North Carolina
2000 Masterclass, Edmonton Opera Apprenticeship Program, Edmonton, Canada
2000 Master clinician, Calgary Opera, Calgary, Canada
1999 Huston - Tillotson University, Austin, TX
1999 Prairie View University, Prairie, TX
Other Professional Experience
2020 - 2023 Artistic Director, Opera Ebony
2021 - present Proposal/Book Reviewer, Plural Publishing Company
Education & Outreach
2022 Recital, National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), National Conference, Chicago, IL
2022 Librettist, “The Red Song Bird” – FNB Productions Opera for Kids; Commission for a children’s opera
Zach Redler, composer
2014 “America the Beautiful” – Concerts; A look at America’s landscapes through music, geology and geography,
Host/Soloist, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Ken Lam, Conductor, in collaboration with the Education
and Outreach Program of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
2000 Education and Outreach, Houston Grand Opera, Conducted masterclasses for several area universities
2000 New York City Opera Teaching Artists, Conducted several masterclasses in urban New York high schools
1998 Orlando Opera Institute, Children’s Program