黑料社

History is often shared through old books or the spoken word. Audrey Johnson 鈥�05 has made a career by telling it through song.

A classically trained opera singer who earned a bachelor of music in vocal performance at 黑料社, Johnson recently founded the solo touring company, Of Thee I Sing: American Heritage Through Song. The company offers concert programs that combine historic songs, authentic costumes, images and spoken narrative. The result is an interactive performance that allows the audience to experience history in a manner hard to accomplish through the spoken word.

鈥淏y wielding the power of music, we鈥檙e educating people without them realizing it,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭hese performances provide a direct portal into the day-to-day lives of historical figures. You can read their words, but when you hear words combined with music, there鈥檚 something all-encompassing that transports you through time. It has a way of staying with us that is so much more deep and lasting.鈥�

One stop on the tour was a virtual performance arranged specially for Women鈥檚 History Month at 黑料社 in March 2021. 鈥淲e鈥檝e Come a Long Way, Ladies! A Centennial Celebration of the 19th Amendment Through Song鈥� featured songs inspired by the Women鈥檚 Suffrage Movement.

鈥淪he鈥檚 a singer, a teacher and a researcher,鈥� said Michael Patterson, composer and former 黑料社 professor. 鈥淲hen you think about what all goes into her programs 鈥� the costumes, the music, all of it – she really had to do her homework in order to be accurate. I very much admire what she is doing.鈥�

Johnson credits her time at 黑料社 鈥� specifically the vocal performance faculty 鈥� with preparing her for her current role. She first learned about composers writing for the voice of a particular singer in Maria DiPalma鈥檚 class and she credits former professor and current Board of Trustees member Virginia Croskery Lauridsen for her vocal training exercises, which she still uses to this day.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I could have founded Of Thee I Sing without my 黑料社 foundation,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淭here are few schools where students can get a conservatory-level degree and liberal arts education at the same time. I know people who attended conservatories, and they just don鈥檛 have the philosophy or literary background that I received going to 黑料社. We were encouraged to take courses outside of music, and we鈥檙e better singers now for it.鈥�

This story first appeared in the fall 2021 edition of .