Nancy Curry, M.M., PhD., has taught a variety of vocal and collaborative arts at the University of Victoria, the University of Nebraska, the University of Northern Colorado, Bethany College (Kansas) and several community colleges in Canada and the US.
An ardent proponent of bringing the vocal arts to the wider community, she has toured as music director/pianist with outreach ensembles for San Diego Opera, Nevada Opera and Edmonton Opera, performing original chamber operas, adaptations of classics, and concerts of arias and duets for schools and community centers. Her work with the University of Northern Colorado, Bethany College, and the University of Nebraska included performing as collaborative pianist on many recitals with students at all levels, both vocal and instrumental, as well as professional visiting artists.
In addition to her love for art song and extensive performing experience as a recitalist, Dr. Curry has music directed theatre productions for companies in Colorado, Nebraska, and Canada. Her music directing experience shows her specialty in modern operatic works, including productions of The Devil and Daniel Webster (Moore), Gianni Schicchi (Puccini), Trouble in Tahiti (Bernstein), Sweet Betsy from Pike (Bucci), La Divina (Pasatieri), The Secret Garden (Simon) and Street Scene (Weill). More recently, she music directed local productions of The Drowsy Chaperone (Phoenix Theatre, University of Victoria), 9 to 5 (VOS), George and Gracie: A Love Story (Where’s Noonan?, Victoria Fringe) and [title of show] (Urban Arts, Victoria Fringe). She is currently the music director of the Confidential Musical Theatre Project – Victoria Chapter.
As an ensemble singer in professional symphonic and opera choruses, she has performed with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Edmonton Opera Chorus, and the Omaha Symphonic Chorus, among others, under the batons of Simon Rattle, Andre Previn, Eduardo Mueller, and David Agler. She also studied vocal jazz with jazz arranging icon Phil Mattson, with whom she also studied choral conducting.
Dr. Curry received her training at the University of Alberta (B.Mus.), the University of Southern California (M.M.) and the Banff Centre, where she held faculty assistant positions as a coach-accompanist for opera, art song, and avant-garde music theatre programs. Among her mentors were Martin Isepp, Thomas Muraco, Gwendolyn Koldovsky, and Jean Barr in classical repertoire and John Hess and Richard Armstrong in avant-garde vocal repertoire and extended voice technique. She achieved instructor certification in Somatic Voicework, a contemporary commercial vocal pedagogy, with Jeannette LoVetri.
In addition to her work as vocal coach, accompanist, and music director, Dr. Curry holds an interdisciplinary PhD in applied theatre and curriculum studies from the University of Victoria, researching drama education with autistic individuals. She looks forward to publishing her award-winning dissertation and is working on developing a theatre company for and with autistic actors.