Associate Professor
PH.D of Musical Arts in voice, and M. M in opera performance at Arizona State University
Dr. Kerry Ginger, mezzo-soprano, is active nationally as a voice pedagogue, performer, clinician, and scholar. Currently Associate Professor of Voice at Sewanee: The University of the South, she earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts in voice and Master of Music in opera performance at Arizona State University. As a voice instructor, Dr. Ginger enables her students to find a free and vibrant vocal production in all styles. She is a member of the Tennessee chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and participated in the highly selective NATS Intern training program in 2019.
Dr. Ginger has appeared as a soloist with Music in the Mountains, The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, Phoenix Opera, Quintessence, and Southwest Arts. An avid choral artist, she performs regularly with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Oregon Bach Festival, and True Concord Voices and Orchestra, and has also sung with Kinnara, Brevitas, Spire, sounding light, Helios, and the Phoenix Chorale. Dr. Ginger appears on Grammy Award-winning recordings by the Phoenix Chorale and True Concord for the Naxos/Chandos and Reference labels, as well as albums with Brevitas and Coro. She maintains an active schedule of oratorio engagements and recitals and heads a professional vocal quartet, Element.
Dr. Ginger’s research interests include feminist musicology, vocal music, and the intersection of music and culture. Her current research centers on women’s participation in twentieth-century Viennese modernism. She has presented at the College Music Society 2018 National Conference, the CMS Northwest, Southern, Rocky Mountain, and Southwest regional conferences, the West Central Regional Conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and Colorado Music Educators Association. She has published program notes for the Phoenix Chorale and HELIOS and liner notes for the Albany Records classical releases Songs to Fill the Void and Other Works by American Composers (2016) and Occident Meets Orient (2015). Committed to service within music, Dr. Ginger is the Performance area chair of the CMS Southern chapter and will serve on the executive board of the Mid-South region of NATS, 2021-2023. Dr. Ginger is also committed to best practices in teaching and assessment and recently participated in the CMS Summit 2.0 on music school curriculum development. A member of Sewanee's Undergraduate Research Advisory Council, she is passionate about promoting undergraduate scholarship, and regularly assists students in applied research, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships, and presentation opportunities like Scholarship Sewanee and NCUR.
Dr. Ginger has served on the vocal arts and music history faculties of Fort Lewis College, Grand Canyon University, and Phoenix College, and held a faculty associate position in music history and literature at Arizona State University. A native of Portland, OR, she is delighted to be a part of the Sewanee community along with her husband, tenor Erik Gustafson, and her cat, Sweet Pea.
