Dr. Louise Toppin will be joining our vocal students for a masterclass on Friday, November 11 at 12 p.m. in Guzzetta Recital Hall.  Dr. Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, oratorio and recital performances world-wide.  She is currently Professor of Music (Voice) at The University of Michigan.

The masterclass is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact 330-972-8301 or concerts@uakron.edu.

Dr. Toppin is represented by Joanne Rile Artist Management and has toured in “Gershwin on Broadway” with pianist Leon Bates and currently tours with Joseph Joubert, piano and Robert Sims, baritone.   Her scholarly research has culminated in the editing and publishing of 8 anthologies and collections of songs by African American composers with Classical Vocal Reprints in 2020-2021 including An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs.

Her most recent performances include co-curating and singing a festival in May 2021 of four concerts on Black Music in Hamburg, Germany with Thomas Hampson with Larry Brownlee, and Leah Hawkins, and in October 2021 appearing as soloist with the renowned Experiential Orchestra in New York City conducted by James Blachly, conductor, and a recital of the songs of Harry Burleigh on the Oxford Lieder Festival in Oxford, England.  The Oxford appearance marked the first appearance of African American Art Song on this prestigious festival.

As the co-founder and director of the George Shirley Vocal Competition that focuses exclusively on repertoire by African American art song, and Videmus (a non-profit organization that promotes the concert repertoire of African American and women composers), she encourages the performance and scholarship of African American compositions by students and scholars.   She is also the founder of the Africandiasporamusicproject.org that is a research tool to locate the repertoire of composers of the African Diaspora from the 1600s to the present.