We are excited to welcome Dr. LaToya Lain to our voice faculty as an assistant professor. Dr. Lain has been on the voice faculties o
f institutions such as Central Michigan University and New York University. Equally at home on the stage as she is in the studio, Dr. Lain has performed all over the nation and globe from the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Germany to Carnegie Hall in New York City.
“I am thrilled that LaToya Lain is joining our faculty this year. She brings a wealth of experience in voice teaching and music directing, and I am excited about the ways her diverse research and performing interests will enrich our Department. We are all delighted to welcome her to the Voice Area.” -Dr. Jeanne Fisher, Area Head for Voice
Applauded for her “wonderfully rich,” “powerful,” and “captivating” voice, American singer LaToya Lain, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana, studied voice at the University of Cincinnati – College Conservatory of Music, Florida State University, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Before joining the voice faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Lain served on the voice faculties of Central Michigan University, New York University, and Oakwood University.
LaToya’s most recent engagements include performances of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Hamburgische Oper, and the Köln Philharmonie. She recently presented solo recitals at the American Church in Paris, the Dutch Reform Church in Harare, Zimbabwe, and at the Reapertura de la Iglesia Santa Teresa in Cochabamba, Bolivia. She also presented recitals and master classes at Oberlin College & Conservatory of Music, the University of New Mexico, University of Delaware, Murray State University, SongFest in Los Angeles and The International Congress of Voice Teachers in Stockholm, Sweden. She continues to sing opera, oratorio, and perform solo recitals throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Africa.
In June 2017, she made her Carnegie Hall Debut as the soprano soloist in Ralph Vaughn William’s Dona nobis pacem, under the baton of Maestra Nina Nash-Robertson. She has also been a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, and St. Matthew’s Passion. Ms. Lain’s operatic roles include “Brünnhilde” in Die Walküre, “Countess Almaviva” in Le Nozze di Figaro, the title role in Carmen, “Suzuki” in Madame Butterfly, “Polinesso” in Ariodante, “La Principessa” in Suor Angelica, “Baba” in The Medium, and “Ježibaba” in Rusalka.
This past summer, Dr. Lain performed as the featured soloist in concert with the Saginaw Choral Society, she was one of eight singers chosen to participate in the Opera Stage Program for Dramatic Voices in Berlin, Germany, she musically directed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Bay View Summer Music Festival, presented a solo recital at the National Association of Teachers of Singing National Convention in Las Vegas, and served on the voice faculty of the Montecito International Summer Music Festival in Los Angeles, California.
Dr. Lain’s research includes the intensive study and performance practice of Negro Spirituals. She has performed her lecture recital “Narrative of a Slave Woman: Songs of Hope, Justice, and Freedom” on concert stages and universities throughout the world. Consequently, she was one of 57 experts invited to author a short chapter in The Voice Teacher’s Cookbook: Creative Recipes for Teachers of Singing, as part of a series addressed to various groups of musicians. Her chapter is called “Delectable Diction and Dialect in the Negro Spiritual” and it was published this summer by Meredith Music Resources.
This coming season, LaToya will hold an Artist-in-Residency at the Shenandoah Conservatory, where she will present master classes and a solo recital in collaboration with The Juilliard School Head of Collaborative Piano and internationally acclaimed pianist, Margo Garrett. She will also be an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Minnesota, where she will present a joint lecture recital with famed composer, Libby Larsen. LaToya will also present solo recitals and concerts in Cincinnati, Chicago, Michigan, and Florida.
“I’m overjoyed for this opportunity to work alongside some of the most gifted and talented faculty in this country, and to be able to teach students of this caliber is the dream of any educator. I feel truly blessed to begin the next chapter of my career at this great university!” -Dr. LaToya Lain