Dr. Alan Stevens
Alan Stevens is Associate Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at East Tennessee State University. Currently, he also serves as the Interim Director of Choral Activities. Prior to coming to ETSU, Dr. Stevens resided in Tucson, AZ, where he was the Assistant Director of the Tucson Chamber Artists, a professional choir and orchestra composed of musicians from across the United States. Dr. Stevens conducted works including Brahms' Begräbnisgesang and Copland's Four Motets, in addition to preparing and performing Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Mozart's Requiem, Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil (Vespers), and many other works. For two seasons, he was a member of the Grammy-winning Phoenix Chorale, under the direction of Charles Bruffy. Dr. Stevens appears with the Chorale on the album Northern Lights, released in 2011 on the Chandos label. Prior to Tucson, he spent two years as a freelance musician in New York City, where he studied voice with the late Shirlee Emmons. He performed in a variety of opera, theatre, and choral productions, and sang with The Young New Yorkers' Chorus.Dr. Stevens taught middle and secondary vocal music in Illinois public schools for six years, during which time his choirs won multiple awards at the regional and state levels. He was recognized each year in Who's Who Among American Teachers and received the Educator of Distinction Award from the National Society of High School Scholars in 2004. Dr. Stevens maintains an active career as a tenor soloist, and is engaged this fall to appear in Mozart's Requiem at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO. He is devoted to the research and discovery of early-American music, pre-1850. His dissertation focused on the performance practice of William Billings' music, and Dr. Stevens was recently selected to present on this topic at the 2013 National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association. He received undergraduate degrees in music education and vocal performance from Millikin University, where he studied conducting with Brad Holmes.Dr. Stevens completed the Master of Music degree at Northern Illinois University and the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Arizona, where his primary mentors were Bruce Chamberlain and Elizabeth Schauer. Dr. Stevens is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Recording Academy, National Association for Music Education, Chorus America, National Association of Teachers of Singing, College Music Society, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Lambda Theta, and Phi Mu Alpha.