Dr. Jennifer McQuade, Canadian coloratura soprano, is in demand as a teacher, performer, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the U.S. and Canada. She holds a Doctorate of Arts in Music with emphasis in both pedagogy and performance from the University of Mississippi. She is a highly skilled teacher who brings her performance experience to the studio to the tremendous benefit of her students.  Dr. McQuade is the Founding Director of the Valdosta Academy of Performing Arts where she teaches voice, piano and prepares aspiring high-school musicians for college auditions to become music majors.  In addition, she coaches clients who are preparing for performance auditions in music and theatre. Dr. McQuade teaches students of all ages from the youngest children to senior adults. She also offers coaching sessions for voice teachers who are seeking to polish their teaching and performing skills.

 

Dr. McQuade has twenty-five years of teaching experience including as a university faculty member and instructor at institutions including Le Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique in Montréal, Canada; the University of Mississippi; the University of Central Oklahoma; Oklahoma Baptist University; and Minot State University.

 

Dr. McQuade has credits in opera, oratorio, and musical theatre including appearances with Western Plains Opera Company as Gilda in Rigoletto and The Queen of The Night in Die Zauberflöte.  She has appeared in several Valdosta area recitals including with members of the Valdosta State University faculty.

 

She is unique in that she has extensive training in the more traditional operatic and art song styles of singing as well as in contemporary commercial music styles such as Musical Theatre, Jazz, Cabaret, Pop, Rock, Country, Folk, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues and Rap. She has been certified by Shenandoah University's Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute in Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method.

 

Dr. McQuade has presented research and performed at National Association of Teachers of Singing and College Music Society conferences.  In 2013, McQuade shared her research at the 8th International Congress of Voice Teachers, held in Australia.  In addition, her article, The Effect of the Position of the Zygomatic Musculature of the Experienced Baritone Singer on the Voice Spectra, was published in the Journal of Singing (February/March 2016).  In August 2017, she attended the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Stockholm, Sweden where she took part in the round-table discussion, Cinderella Meets Cendrillon: Musical Theatre & Opera Living Under the Same Roof, with colleagues Allen Hendersen, Mark McQuade, and David Sisco. Subsequently, their research has been published in the Journal of Singing (November/December 2018)

 

Her collegiate teaching responsibilities have included teaching Applied Voice, Diction for Singers, Vocal Pedagogy, Auditioning for Singers, Music Appreciation, Musical Theatre History, Graduate Music History, Music Appreciation, and creating / directing high-profile contemporary a cappella vocal ensembles. Dr. McQuade currently serves as the Director of Choirs for Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia.

 

McQuade holds a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University, an Artist Diploma from The University of Western Ontario, a Master of Music in Solo Voice Performance from McGill University, and a Doctor of Arts in Vocal Pedagogy from The University of Mississippi.

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