African American Art Song Masterclass: 6-21-22 DR. EMERY STEPHENS - MAKE MUSIC DAY

The Art Song Preservation Society of New York presents
DR. EMERY STEPHENS
African American Song Masterclass
Hosted by Blair Boone-Migura
June 21, 2022, 11am – Virtually Via Zoom!

Shaunna Lucas, soprano F. Price (1887-1953)
Hold Fast To Dreams Langston Hughes (1901-1967)

Camille Nichols, soprano pianist Leslie Adams (b. 1932 - )
For You There is No Song from “Five Millay Songs” Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

Paulette Coppin, soprano and Toshiko Jones, pianist Hall Johnson (1888-1970)
A Birthday Song Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

Praised by The Boston Phoenix for his singing “with ringing suavity and articulate intelligence,” American baritone Emery Stephens has performed with the Windsor Classic Chorale, Abridged Opera of Ontario, Michigan Philharmonic, Community Programs of the Michigan Opera Theatre and the Detroit Jazz Festival, Arbor Opera Theater, Ann Arbor Symphony, Carolina Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera New England, Boston Opera Theatre, Handel and Haydn Society, Orchestra Canton, Main Street Opera, Boston Early Music Festival, and the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra. His solo concert repertoire include performances of Requiem Masses by Fauré and M ozart, Bach’s Coffee Cantata, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Schubert’s Mass in G, Handel’s Messiah, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Five Mystical Songs by Vaughan Williams, Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht, and Orff’s Carmina Burana, among others. As a narrator, he performed The Passion of John Brown by Jesse Ayers and Paddle to the Sea by Andre Meyers with the Michigan Philharmonic; JFK: The Voice of Peace by Daniel Welcher with the Handel and Haydn Society, and Sweet Music in Harlem by Andy Kirschner with the Ann Arbor Symphony.

Dr. Stephens is currently the National Board Member of Performance (2019-2021) for the College Music Society. He holds music degrees from Gordon College (Bachelor of Arts), Boston University (Master of Music), and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan. Dr. Stephens is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, College Music Society, and the African American Art Song Alliance.