Episode 37: Doctors and Divas
Dr. Angelique Clay
Heralded for her “soaring lyric soprano voice,” Dr. Angelique Clay has garnered accolades for performances in the United States, Europe, and South America. Operatic roles include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, the title role of Susannah from Floyd’s American drama Susannah, and Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Dr. Clay’s oratorio repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brahms’ Requiem and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass.
Dr. Clay has recorded and toured as a featured soloist with the American Spiritual Ensemble throughout the United States, Spain and Brazil. Dr. Clay has performed with international and regional orchestras such as the Slovak State Philharmonic, in Kosice, Slovak Republic; Sinfonia Warsovia in Poland; Cincinnati Orchestra, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Missouri Symphony Society; Knoxville Symphony Orchestra; Lexington Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra and Arcadiana Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Clay is in the process of completing a recording project entitled Songs for the People: Art Songs of African-American Women Composers to be released soon. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kentucky and is currently an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Clay has students who are performing in opera house throughout the United States, including, the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Chicago Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Des Moines Opera.
Jeryl Cunningham
Jeryl Cunningham’s vocal artistry has been heard in more than ten countries and on four continents. Her versatile and vibrant voice, paired with her fervent advocacy of African American music, makes her a favored soloist for leading ensembles, including the Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, The Boys Choir of Harlem, and American Spiritual Ensemble; and prestigious venues, including the United Nations, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall.
Dr. Cunningham's repertoire encompasses opera, oratorio, choral masterworks, jazz, and art song. But, interpretation of the African American spiritual is a high point of her artistry, drawing on her rich heritage. Her debut CD entitled, Stand the Storm: Anthems, Hymns and Spirituals of Faith and Hope was released in 2016. Dr. Everett McCorvey, producer of the new album, founder and music director of the American Spiritual Ensemble, is a champion of Jeryl’s artistry, asserting: “Jeryl is one of the true vocal artists of this generation. Her silvery soprano voice floats with great ease throughout all of the registers. Every song on her new recording is a master class in vocal technique, legato singing, and skillful vocalism. Her album was a joy to produce and a joy to experience.”
Dr. Lori Celeste Hicks
Dr. Lori Celeste Hicks; singer, composer, vocal coach, clinician, professor, and arts administrator; serves as the Chair of Humanities and Performing Arts at her Alma Mater, Kentucky State University. Dr. Hicks has moved audiences with her warm voice, magnetic personality, spiritual arrangements and soulful compositions. Her training, research, and passion have allowed Dr. Hicks to embark upon numerous projects in the areas of Black Music and African American Repertoire. As the creator of the “5S Vocal Method” Dr. Hicks has presented numerous workshops and masterclasses on healthy singing techniques and exercises to singers and speakers of all ages, vocal styles, and skill sets, particularly in Gospel and Musical Theater. Her lecture workshop, “From The Black Church To The Opera Stage: Transforming Students from the Gospel Belt to The Classical Sound” presented at the 2018 National Association Of Teachers of Singing (NATS) National Conference. Her recital series, “Music of My Voice: A Portrayal of the African American Experience through Classical Music: In Stage, Song, and Spirit” is a multimedia presentation of songs and arias by black composers which continues to be performed at universities and churches all over. Her debut CD, “Music Of My Voice” released In 2014, is a collection of spirituals and songs all composed, arranged, and performed by Dr. Hicks. 2011 marked a pivotal year for Dr. Hicks, becoming the youngest composer commissioned by the Negro Spiritual Scholarship Foundation (NSSF), and making her much-anticipated Carnegie Hall debut as the featured soprano in Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass. Since, she has returned to the Carnegie Hall stage with the professional voices of the EXIGENCE ensemble and the SPHINX organization. Dr. Hicks debuted in 2009 as Opera Theater of Pittsburgh’s “magnetic” Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess., and with El Paso opera in 2010 where she “completely amazed everyone with her beautiful voice and warm personality.” Other title roles include Mimi (La Boheme), Fiordiligi (Cosi Fan Tutte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), and the world premiere of James P. Johnson’s Jazz Opera Dreamy Kid. Her concert performances include Verdi’s Requiem, Saint-Saens’ Oratorio de Noel, Bach’s Magnificat, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, “A tribute to Black Pioneers in Music” alongside tenor George Shirley, and Charleston Symphony’s inaugural “Colour of Music Festival”. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Hicks holds a Bachelors of Music Education from Kentucky State University, a Masters of Music from Bowling Green State University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Marcía Porter
Award-winning soprano Marcía Porter made her New York solo recital debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2005. An active recitalist, the soprano has performed in numerous venues throughout the United States, Italy, Brazil, and the Czech Republic. Porter has sung at such prestigious international festivals as the Prague Proms, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the Ravinia Festival, and the Ameropa International Chamber Music Festival. She has performed with such national and international organizations as the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, Beijing International Symphony Orchestra and the Camerata Filarmonica Bohemia (Prague, Czech Republic). Porter has also performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Chautauqua Opera, Dayton Opera, and Chicago Opera Theatre. Critics have praised her: “...Ms. Porter ...performed so vibrantly that it seemed a shame to drop the curtain so quickly… uniformly excellent ...quality voice,” “vocally and physically attractive,” “assured and winsome,” and “…Porter, whose lovely first vocal entrance, nearly 45 minutes into the first act…was one of the highlights of the evening.”
Louise Toppin
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. She has appeared in recital on many concert series including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Broadway’s Hudson Theater, and Lincoln Center. Her most recent Lincoln Center appearance was in June as a part of the Masters of the Spirituals program to honor composers Jacqueline Hairston, Roland Carter and Lena McLin. Represented by Joanne Rile Artist Management, she toured in "Gershwin on Broadway" with pianist Leon Bates and currently tours in that show with Joseph Joubert, piano and Robert Sims, baritone. She has recorded eighteen compact disks of primarily American Music including solo CDs Songs of Illumination, (Centaur Records), and on Albany Records Ah love, but a day, He’ll Bring it to Pass, (Joseph Joubert, piano), Witness with the Czech National Symphony, Heart on the Wall with the Prague Radio Symphony and La Saison des fleurs, CDs with three publications including A Hall Johnson collection from Carl Fisher publisher. Her newest releases due out in 2020 are Songs of Love and Justice and Summer.Life.Songs (two CDs of songs for soprano by Adolphus Hailstork); Duos (with countertenor Darryl Taylor on African American vocal chamber music) and The Soprano Songs of T. J. Anderson with pianist John McDonald.
Sequina DuBose
On the concert stage, Sequina DuBose has performed throughout the Czech Republic, Bermuda, Martinique, and Paris. Most notably, she has performed as a soloist and ensemble member with Kathleen Battle in Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey, a concert series and tour which culminated in a performance at the Metropolitan Opera with Kathleen Battle. She has also appeared as a soloist and ensemble member in two separate national tours with famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performing Marsalis’ works All Rise with Morgan State University Choir and Abyssinian Mass with Chorale le Chateau under the direction of Damien Sneed. In the 2018/ 2019 season, Dr. DuBose created the role of Philomena in the world premiere of Nightingale and the Tower, an electronic chamber opera commissioned by the Ojai Arts Council Commission for Ojai Youth Opera Company. The pioneering new work from groundbreaking classical composer Jason Treuting and Grammy Award-winning musician Mikael Jorgenson combines orchestra, synthesizers, and earth harp. She also performed as the soprano soloist in the world premiere of Mark Lewis’ Elegy: In Memoriam of the Emanuel Nine, a work honoring the victims of the 2015 Charleston church shooting.