Baritone Emery Stephens, assistant professor of voice at Wayne State University, will be the 2014 Africana Artist-in-Residence.
During his visit to UNC Charlotte, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 24, through Friday, Feb. 28, Stephens will teach, will give a public lecture and performance and will conduct a master class for voice students in the Department of Music in the College of Arts + Architecture. The Department of Africana Studies in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences co-sponsors the Africana Artist-in-Residence program, which is in its sixth year.
African American art songs and spirituals will be the focus of Stephens’ residency. He has studied the topic extensively, and he has co-authored and presented research findings with University of Michigan faculty member Caroline Helton on their African American Art Song Survey at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference and the African-American Art Song Alliance Conference at the University of California’s Trevor School for the Arts. He also co-wrote “Singing Down the Barriers: Encouraging Singers of All Racial Backgrounds to Perform Music by African American Composers,” published by Jossey-Bass for its academic journal Scholarship of Multicultural Teaching and Learning.
Most recently, he co-authored “Diversifying the Playing Field: Solo Performance of African American Spirituals and Arts Songs by Voice Students from All Racial Backgrounds” published in the Journal of Singing.
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 5:30 p.m., Stephens will deliver the free, public lecture and recital “African American Voices in Classical Music” in the Rowe Arts Building Recital Hall; a reception will follow.
Stephens also will conduct workshops and presentations on African American spirituals for students at Garinger and Hough High Schools on Friday, Feb. 28.
An accomplished performer, teacher and researcher, Stephens is music director at Unity of Farmington Hills, too. He has sung with Arbor Opera Theater, Ann Arbor Symphony, Main Street Opera, Orchestra Canton, Carolina Ballet, Cape Fear Chorale, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera New England, Boston University Opera Institute, University of Michigan Opera Theater, Prism Opera, Cambridge Lieder and Opera Society, Opera-at-Longy and Operafest.
Prior to joining Wayne State University, Stephens held faculty positions at Eastern Michigan University and UNC Wilmington. He also taught secondary music education in the greater Boston area. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan; his master’s degree in voice performance is from Boston University.
Since 2009, the Africana Studies Department, in collaboration with the College of Arts + Architecture and with the support of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, has sponsored the Africana Artist-In-Residence program. Its goal is to showcase the work of artists and art critics whose original perspectives and creative energy advance a deep understanding of the experiences of Africana peoples worldwide. Previous artists-in-residence were T.J. Reddy, visual artist and civil rights activist (2009); Tayo Aluko, an award-winning singer known for his work on Paul Robeson (2010); John Perpener III, a dancer, historian and scholar (2011); Barbara Higgins Bond, an award-winning illustrator (2012); and Kasali Akangbe, a Nigerian master woodcarver, structure designer, folklorist and environmental activist (2013).