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Congratulations Dr. Baker!

Dr. Sonya Baker has recently been appointed by the Governor to the Kentucky Arts Council Board of Director. 

 

Dr. Sonya Gabrielle Baker made her Carnegie Hall debut with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, singing music of Aaron Copland. This soprano has been heard in concert both nationally and internationally, including concert appearances in Sardinia, Italy, the Troy Music Hall in New York, Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Syracuse University in New York. Noted for her performances of American music, Baker's most recent performances included a solo recital of American music in Charleston, West Virginia and the presentation of a solo lecture recital entitled "Creating the Best of All Possible Worlds" presented for the Murray Civic Music Association featuring music by American women Libby Larsen and Ruth Schonthal. These composers are two of five American women art song composers represented on Baker's debut recording, SHE SAYS , released in October 2004. In 2003, Baker had the honor of appearing as a soloist at the US Ambassador's residence in Moscow and joined members of the Yale Alumni Chorus in to sing on the palace stage of the Kremlin last April. Nearer home, Baker was the soprano soloist for the Paducah Symphony's gala opening concert at the Four River's Performing Arts Center and she appeared there again in April 2005. Equally at home in opera, highlights of Baker's operatic roles include Elisabetta in Verdi's DON CARLO , Donna Anna in Mozart's DON GIOVANNI , Monisha in TREEMONISHA , and the title role in the U.S. premiere of Mascagni's PINOTTA . In 1998, Baker was invited to visit China as a soloist in performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and other choral works. Baker has also sung solos in several choral masterpieces including Bach's Magnificat , Poulenc's Gloria and Mendelssohn's Elijah with Robert Shaw conducting.

Baker is currently Associate Professor of Voice at Murray State University in western Kentucky. Along with a Doctor of Music from Florida State University, Baker holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University and a Bachelor's of Arts in American Studies from Yale University. Her voice teachers have included Yvonne Ciannella, Rita Patané, Lili Chookasian, and Virginia Zeani. Baker has also worked with renowned teachers, coaches and directors such as Frank Corsaro, Evelyn Lear, Jerome Hines, Douglas Fisher, Michael McConnell and Craig Rutenberg.

Baker has received numerous academic and vocal awards including the Arthur J. and Glenna B. Collins Memorial Scholarship to attend the Stean's Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago and a University Fellowship from Florida State University. As a recipient of a Dissertation Research Grant from FSU, she visited the Marian Anderson Collection at the University of Pennsylvania. The resulting lecture recital entitled, "For Thee We Sing: The Historical Implications of Marian Anderson's 1939 Easter Concert," includes interactive web site materials and has been presented at several universities including Florida State, Syracuse, and Ohio Northern Universities, the Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium in Newfoundland, Canada, and most recently at the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts in Lexington, Kentucky.

Baker is a frequent guest artist and teacher, having appeared regularly at the Virginia Governor's School for the Arts and having completed three summers on the faculty at the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts. In addition to her singing and teaching engagements, Baker has performed in children's theater, served as a vocal coach for soul music, and worked as a youth self-help facilitator.

 

A farewell to Annazette...

 

 

 

 

 

BFSA Members show support for the banquet

Dr. Brian Clardy, Dr. Pearl Payne & Dr. Debbie Owens

 

 

African American Homecoming Banquet Speaker

Ms. Elana Kornegay Thompson '00

 

Homecoming 2007

African American Banquet

Next BFSA meeting:

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

at 12:00 p.m.

BFSA Congratulates Dr. Doris Clark Sarr

(Director of Adventures in

Math & Science Program)

for the recent completion

of her PhD program

 

select articles from

Today's Drum.Com

 

Select Articles from Today's Drum.com

'Jena 6' case in La. spurs copycats

October 10, 2007 - At least a dozen racial incidents have occurred across the country since the case

 

 

 

The Innocence Project: Freeing Those Who Were Wrongly Convicted

October 10, 2007 - There have been 208 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States. 125 were African Americans.

 

 

 

 

Minority Male Mentoring

October 7, 2007 - N.C. General Assembly appropriated $475,000 to expand program from 5 to 20 community colleges.

 

 

 

 

Update: Sharpton To Isiah: Apologize Or Else

October 7, 2007 - Isiah Thomas pleads innocent on 'ho' remark as Al Sharpton calls for

 

 

Charles Pierce Recognized as First African-American Chemical Engineer in the United States

October 6, 2007 - Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) will recognize Charles Warner Pierce as the nation's first-known African-American degree-holding chemical engineer.

 

 

select articles from

Diverse Issues

 

Study Notes College-access Barriers Faced By Asian American Students
Despite the pervasive “model-minority” myth of overachieving Asian Americans easily getting into U.S. colleges and universities, a study at the University of California, Los Angeles has found that more Asian American students are facing problems in accessing higher education opportunities than ever before.
Oct 11, 2007, 20:50

Columbia Professor Targeted With Noose: “I Will Not Be Silenced”
NEW YORK
Hundreds of students and faculty members at Columbia University in New York City rallied Wednesday afternoon to protest the hanging of a noose on the office door of a popular African-American professor.
Oct 10, 2007, 19:41


Jury Deliberates Fate of Texas Southern University’s Former President
HOUSTON
The first full day of jury deliberations in the trial of Texas Southern University’s former president, who is accused of spending more than $500,000 of school money to lavishly furnish and decorate her homes, ended Tuesday without a verdict.
Oct 9, 2007, 20:31


Perspectives: Houston, We Have a Problem Over the “Ghetto Handbook”
Not since the Oakland, Calif. School Board voted in 1996 to recognize Ebonics as a language to be factored into its speakers’ English classes — sparking a national debate — has there been so much focus on African-American speech patterns.
Oct 9, 2007, 20:20


Rutgers To Recruit Future Students — Starting in Eighth Grade
Officials at Rutgers University in New Jersey hope that a new pilot program will help lure more minority and low-income students to the state institution.
Oct 8, 2007, 20:25

 

 

 

 

 

   
 
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