Singing Down the Barriers
Registration Deadline for 2024’s program extended to April 15, 2024!
Singing Down the Barriers (SDtB) is an intensive exploration of the repertoire of African American, African and African Diaspora concert composers for the university student, apprentice, teacher (private, high school or university), coach, choral conductor, church musician, professional singer, or organization administrator. The institute offers an approach to performance and is also designed to provide a historical perspective and discussions to examine our contemporary attitudes toward performing/understanding this music. Questions such as “who is allowed to sing this repertoire” are examined and addressed in sessions throughout the two week institute.
Week 1 of SDtB (online) is an intensive introduction to this repertoire. In tandem with a directed curriculum of readings, resources, recordings, and reflective exercises, the SDtB Institute in Week 1 seeks to help participants overcome the barriers that prevent successful engagement with and eventual performance of African American and African Diaspora concert repertoire including art song, opera arias and spirituals. Attendees will take part in lectures and panels with scholars and artists specializing in this repertoire, join in discussions on practical topics, and explore repertoire in small group breakout sessions. From poetry analysis and historical background to surveying the songs of contemporary African American composers, attendees will leave with a stronger understanding of the cultural context and performance practices needed to successfully sing, teach, coach and present this repertoire.
Week 2 of the SDtB Institute (in-person) is designed as a follow-up to Week 1 (or previous participation in the SDtB Institute) and will focus on performance aspects and practical applicability of information from Week 1. Daily coaching and lessons, sessions to help navigate singing/teaching dialect as well as guided readings, discussion groups, and sessions on special topics (including individual composers), will continue to enrich knowledge of repertoire from artistic, administrative and vocal practitioner stances.
SDtB Institute is an adult summer intensive offered through U-M’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance and is offered in partnership with the Hampsong Foundation via the Classic Song Research Intiative.
Program Dates:
(Online) June 3 – June 7, 2024
(In-Person) June 10 – June 14, 2024
*Final Registration Deadline: April 15, 2024
*Housing + meal options are now longer available for those who register for the in-person program.
See below for Tuition & Housing Information, as well as Registration Requirements
2024 GUEST ARTISTS
Justin Austin
Possessing a “mighty lyric voice” (The New York Times) and praised in Opera News as “vocally impressive, verbally elegant,” Drama Desk Award nominated baritone Justin Austin has appeared on concert and operatic stages across the globe since the young age of four. Born into a family of opera singers, his early career took him to venues such as Teatro Real, Bregenzer Festspiele, Lincoln Center, and The Kennedy Center.
As this year’s Marian Anderson Vocal Award winner, Justin is featured in recital at The Kennedy Center, presented by Washington National Opera. He also gives solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Pickman Hall with the Celebrity Series of Boston, and Spivey Hall in Atlanta this season. On the operatic stage he makes a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago, starring as Young Emile in Terence Blanchard’s Champion; Washington National Opera’s production of Romeo and Juliet, portraying Mercutio, at The Kennedy Center; Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in The Barber of Seville, playing Figaro; and the Metropolitan Opera in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. Justin also joins Des Moines Metro Opera for the world premiere of Damien Geter’s full-length American Apollo; stars in the New York premiere of Lyric Fest’s COTTON, composed by Damien Geter, at the 92nd Street Y; and performs in two renditions of Fire Shut Up In My Bones: Opera Suite in Concert at the Kimmel Center and then with Strathmore and Washington Performing Arts.
Last season, the “standout” (Operawire) baritone appeared as Ned Keene in Peter Grimes at the Metropolitan Opera; sang Carl Nielsen’s third symphony with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Alan Gilbert; premiered Damien Geter’s song cycle COTTON alongside Denyce Graves with Lyric Fest in Philadelphia and Washington Performing Arts at The Kennedy Center; and premiered a new edition by Damien Sneed of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in the roles of Scott Joplin/Remus. Justin also sang on a concert tour of Our Song, Our Story, a tribute recital to African American operatic pioneers Jessye Norman and Marian Anderson, with music director Damien Sneed, giving performances in Tucson, St. Louis, Washington D.C., Akron, and Aspen.
With a “velvety-dark baritone” (Cleveland Classical) described as “heroic” by Broadway World, Justin has received accolades and awards from The Recording Academy, NAACP, George London Foundation, Washington National Opera, Opera Ebony, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Manhattan School of Music, NANM, Choir Academy of Harlem, and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. He is the recipient of a 2023 Mabel Dorn Reeder Award from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, which goes to “the single artist in each season with the greatest potential to make a significant contribution to the art form of opera.” Justin is under the tutelage and mentorship of Catherine Malfitano.
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, Justin Austin is an alumnus of the Choir Academy of Harlem, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Heidelberg Lied Akademie, and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. and B.M.). To learn more, visit www.justin-austin.com.
Taylor Raven
Taylor Raven is a “vocal sensation” (Washington Classical Review) and quickly establishing herself in opera, concert, and recital. Ms. Raven began the 22/23 season with her debut at the San Francisco Opera for a trio of operas including the world premiere of John Adams’ new opera Antony and Cleopatra (Charmian), Dialogues des Carmélites (Sister Mathilde) and La traviata (Flora). Other highlights this season include debuts with Kentucky Opera in La Cenerentola (Angelina) and Chicago Opera Theater in The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing (Joan Clarke). She looks forward to her return to Des Moines Metro Opera for her role debut as Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen. On the concert stage, she will make her debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in La fanciulla del West (Wowkle) conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and return to the Memphis Symphony to perform Handel’s Messiah. Highlights from the upcoming 2023-24 season include returns to San Francisco Opera as Fatima/Omar’s Mother in Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ Omar and to Seattle Opera as Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Past engagements include debuts with Des Moines Metro Opera in Pique Dame (Pauline), Finger Lakes Opera in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina), and Handel & Haydn Society for Beethoven Symphony No. 9 conducted by Marin Alsop. A graduate of the Young Artist Program at LA Opera where she was seen in La clemenza di Tito (Annio), Don Carlo (Tebaldo), the Kosky production of Die Zauberflöte (Zweite Dame) conducted by James Colon, and Hansel and Gretel (Sandman). As a Filene Artist at Wolf Trap Opera she performed in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina) and L’heure espagnole (Concepción). On the concert stage she made her Alice Tully Hall debut appearing with the American Symphony Orchestra for a concert of Bach arias conducted by Leon Botstein.
In 2018-2019 Taylor made her Los Angeles Philharmonic debut as a soloist in the Hollywood Bowl performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. She appeared with the New West Symphony in Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky and made her Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut as a soloist in Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied as a part of their May Festival. In 2017-18 Taylor performed with Wolf Trap Opera and the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, making a Naxos Classical recording of Bernstein’s Songfest. She won 1st prize in the 2018 Loren L. Zachary competition and is a recipient of a 2017 Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.
Workshop Faculty
Louise Toppin
Program Director, Prof. of Music (Voice), University of Michigan
Louise Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United States, Europe, Czech Republic, Sweden, Uruguay, Scotland, China, England, New Zealand, the Caribbean, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Bermuda, Japan, and Spain.
Toppin has appeared in recital on many concert series including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center. Orchestral appearances include: the Norrköping Symphony (Sweden), the Czech National Symphony, Mälmo Symphony Orchestra, (Sweden), Tokyo City Orchestra (Japan), The Montevideo Philharmonic (Uruguay), the Scotland Festival Orchestra (Aberdeen, Scotland), the Honolulu, Toledo, Canton, North Carolina, Charlotte, Lafayette, Erie Chamber and Raleigh Chamber Symphony Orchestras, The Bach Aria Group, Phoenix Bach Consort, and the Washington D.C. Bach Consort with conductors such as: Murry Sidlin, Paul Freeman, Richard Aulden Clark, Justin Brown, James Meena, Vladmir Ashkenazy, and Gearhart Zimmerman.
Toppin’s opera roles include: the title role in the world premiere of the opera Luyala by William Banfield, Treemonisha in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, Mary in William Grant Still’s Highway One, Maria in the world premiere of Joel Feigin’s opera Twelfth Night, the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Magic Flute, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Clara in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. She most recently was contracted to sing Clara in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess for Baltimore Opera, Opera Carolina, and Piedmont Opera companies.
Christie Finn
Hampsong Foundation & Classic Song Research Initiative, University of Michigan
American soprano Christie Finn is actively involved in the world of contemporary vocal performance and new music theater. Finn has performed as a soloist with the Asko | Schönberg Ensemble (Netherlands), ensemble variances (France), the Hezarfen Ensemble (Istanbul, Turkey), Nadar (Belgium), Oerknal! (Netherlands), oh ton-ensemble (Germany), VocaalLAB (Netherlands), and Voces Suaves (Switzerland), as well as several ensembles in New York City, including ekmeles, the S.E.M. Ensemble, Experiments in Opera, and Tactus. She is a co-founder and member of the experimental music duo NOISE-BRIDGE, collaborating with clarinetist Felix Behringer, and Co-Artistic Director of ExVoCo. She is also a permanent member of CrossingLines (Spain) and Forum Neue Vokal Musik (Germany).
International festivals and concert series include the Bregenzer Festspiele (Austria), the Beijing Modern Music Festival, ensems (Valencia, Spain), klarafestival (Brussels, Belgium), Hamburg International Music Festival, (Germany), Festival Mixtur (Barcelona, Spain), MUSICON (Durham, U.K.), and Resonant Bodies (New York City, U.S.A.) In the Stuttgart area, festivals include Musik am 13., Südseite Nachts, Klangraum, Sommer in Stuttgart, Konzertreihe für aktuelle Musik, tonArt (Esslingen a. N.), musica nova (Reutlingen), Zeitgenuss (Karlsruhe), and Opernfestspiele Heidenheim. Finn is a two-time winner of an interpretation prize at the International Stockhausen Concerts and Courses (Kürten, Germany) and was awarded a prize in the Karlsruher Wettbewerb für die Interpretation zeitgenössischer Musik 2014.
Caroline Helton
Assoc. Prof. of Musical Theatre (Voice), University of Michigan
Caroline Helton is a pedagogue, performer and researcher who teaches Voice in the Department of Musical Theatre at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Over the past decade, she has performed and recorded classic song repertoire by composers whose art was suppressed, and through her teaching, recordings, and publications, she is a tireless advocate for integrating the canon of American vocal music to reflect and respect its true diversity.
As a concert and recording artist, Dr. Helton’s area of interest is bringing to light newly rediscovered repertoire by Jewish composers whose lives were affected by World War II. Along with pianist Dr. Kathryn Goodson, the duo has recorded three compact discs of rare song repertoire by Italian Jewish composers from the first half of the twentieth century, in collaboration with Aloma Bardi, musicologist and President of the International Center for American Music. Their series of recordings is entitled Songs from a Lost World of Italian Jewish Composers, and features first recordings of art songs by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vittorio Rieti, Leone Sinigaglia, Renzo Massarani and Guido Alberto Fano, among others.
Emery Stephens
Asst. Prof. of Music, St. Olaf College
Emery Stephens, baritone, joined the music faculty at St. Olaf College in 2019, where he teaches voice students and music-related courses. Praised by the Boston Phoenix for his singing “with ringing suavity and articulate intelligence,” he performs a diverse vocal repertoire, from traditional to contemporary. A versatile and charismatic singer, Dr. Stephens has performed with the Boston Art Song Society, Bridge Chamber Music Festival, Abridged Opera of Ontario, Wilmington Symphony, Carolina Ballet with members of the North Carolina Symphony, Arbor Opera Theater, Michigan Philharmonic, Ann Arbor Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera/Opera New England, Michigan Philharmonic, Michigan Opera Theatre’s Community Education Programs, and the Detroit Jazz Festival in a revival of Dave Brubeck’s The Gates of Justice with renowned jazz pianist Jason Moran and his trio, The Bandwagon. He has performed works by American composers, such as True Witness: A Civil Rights Cantata by Jodi Goble and the role of Brother Dosher in a blues opera De Organizer by James P. Johnson with lyricist Langston Hughes, recorded by Naxos Music. As a narrator, he has collaborated with Michigan Philharmonic on the Passion of John Brown by Jesse Ayers and Paddle to the Sea by Andre Meyers, and the jazz-inspired Sweet Music in Harlem premiere by Andy Kirschner with the Ann Arbor Symphony.
Program Highlights
Specific program highlights will be posted in the coming weeks. For a sample of what to expect from 2024’s program, click below for the final schedule from last year’s workshop:
Tuition & Housing Information
Tuition options for the 2024 Singing Down the Barriers Workshop are listed below. Participants will be able to select their preferred option via the workshop Acceptd ® application.
Program Tuition
*WITH HOUSING + MEALS
- $1000 – In-Person Participation + Housing & Meals
- $700 – STUDENT In-Person Participation + Housing & Meals (with valid Student ID)
*Housing + meal options are no longer available to registraints.
WITHOUT HOUSING + MEALS
- $500 – In-Person WITHOUT Housing & Meals
VIRTUAL OPTION
- $350 – Virtual Week Participation
IMPORTANT NOTE: Cost provides housing 3:00 P.M. Sunday, June 9, 2024, through 12:00 P.M. Saturday, June, 15, 2024. Meals provided will include breakfast, lunch, and dinner, beginning with dinner on Sunday, June 9, 2024, and ending with brunch on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Housing / Meal Information
Participants will be housed in the following dormitory: Baits Housing
Participants will receive meals in the following dormitory: Bursley Dining Hall
Tuition will include all program activities for the duration of the week. Those participating during the second in-person week must pay for their own travel to and from Ann Arbor, MI, and should plan to arrive by June 9, 2024, and depart on June 15, 2024, for the in-person program
Registration Requirements
Registration forms must be received by the final registration deadline of April 15, 2024.
To register to the 2024 Singing Down the Barriers Program, you must complete the online Acceptd ® application and pay the $50 non-refundable application fee. The following items will be required for your 2024 Singing Down the Barriers Registration to be considered complete:
Required for ALL Participants
All participants, regardless of chosen track, must complete the following items to apply for the 2024 program:
- Complete the Online Acceptd ® Application
- Pay the non-refundable $50 application fee
- A one-page introduction of the participant, including why they are interested in participating in this program
Required for Participants Interested in Performing
Those wishing to perform during next summer’s in-person program must submit the additional materials with their registration.
- Upload a video of the participant singing a work by an African American composer via the online Acceptd ® application.
- Upload a repertoire list of works by African American or African Diaspora composers that the participant has already performed AND a list of some works the participant would like to perform via the online Acceptd ® application. This should be done in one document.
Contact Us
Office of Engagement & Outreach-Youth & Adult Programs
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Stearns Building │ 2005 Baits Drive │ Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: (734) 936-2660
Email: [email protected]
Emails and phone lines are monitored at the following times
Monday – Friday, 9:30 A.M. – 4:00 P.M. EST