Dr. Louise Toppin
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Dr. Louise Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, oratorio and recital performances worldwide. She has appeared for many years in Gershwin shows with pianists Leon Bates and Joseph Joubert. Her 19 CDs include Ah love, but a day, featuring music by women composers; La Saison des fleurs; and Songs of Love and Justice, Vol. I, a collection of songs by Adolphus Hailstork. She has edited nine anthologies and a choral work published by Classical Vocal Reprints and Hildegard Press, including Rediscovering Margaret Bonds and An Anthology of African and African Diaspora Songs.
Dr. Toppin’s recent performances include co-curating and singing at a festival on Black Music in Hamburg, Germany, with Thomas Hampson, Leah Hawkins and Lawrence Brownlee; a solo appearance with the Experiential Orchestra in New York City; a recital for the Oxford Lieder Festival in England; a residency with Duke University as a scholar/artist; the 150th anniversary celebration of the ratification of the 13th amendment for Congress and President Obama at the U.S. Capitol; and Masters of the Spirituals in Lincoln Center, which is currently touring. She serves on the education committee for the Denyce Graves Foundation and on the boards of Opera Ebony and The Hampsong Foundation. In addition, she is co-founder and director of the George Shirley Vocal Competition and Videmus (promoting African American music), and founder/editor of the African Diaspora Music Project research tool. She is also a professor of music (voice) at the University of Michigan.