Brian Carter
Education
Doctor of Musical Arts – Vocal Performance and Pedagogy – University of Michigan
Master of Music – Vocal Performance – University of Houston
Bachelor of Arts – Music and Voice – University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Bachelor of Science – Communications/Broadcasting – Appalachian State University
Biography
Greensboro native Brian Carter is a rock and classical music lecturer and classical singer. Originally trained as a cellist, he discovered classical singing in his late twenties and went on to pursue vocal studies, earning degrees from UNCG, the University of University of Houston and the University of Michigan. He has been teaching as a lecturer in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at UNCG since 2018 and the UNCG Emeritus Society since 2020. In addition to his positions at UNCG, he also serves as a member of the voice faculty at Elon University. Prior to returning home to North Carolina, he was a Clinical Assistant Professor of Music at the Washington State University School of Music and a Graduate Student Instructor at the University of Michigan.
As a performer, Dr. Carter was heralded by the San Francisco Classical Voice as “a Wagnerian vocalist who can sing the sword out of Wotan’s tree.” On the operatic stage, he has performed with companies such as San Francisco Opera Company’s Merola Opera Program, Opera North, the Wagner Society of Washington DC and Greensboro Opera Company appearing in Der Freischütz, La Bohéme, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Katya Kabanova, Cavalleria Rusticana, Love for Three Oranges, Angélique, The Spanish Hour, Otello, Carmen, Don Pasquale, Tosca, Amahl and the Night Visitors and Un Ballo in Maschera, among others.
Dr. Carter appears frequently in concert with credits including Handel’s Messiah, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Faure’s Requiem, Daron Hagen’s Heart of a Stranger, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Requiem, and Missa Brevis in G, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, Finzi’s In Terra Pax, Copland’s Old American Songs, Bach’s Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, numerous renderings of Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ and the world premiere of Ming-Hsiu Yen’s Mandarin requiem Song of Life. Most recently, he performed as a vocal soloist for the album recordings of Nathan Hudson’s chamber works The Duck, God, and Music for Falling and Flying, to be released in 2024. He has appeared as a soloist for the Washington-Idaho Symphony, the North Carolina Symphony, the Northwest Symphonic Orchestra, the Dearborn Symphony, the Royal Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland, the North Carolina Music Educators Association, the Piedmont Wind Symphony, the Fibonacci Chamber Orchestra, and the Michigan Pops Orchestra, among others. Dr. Carter is an active recitalist and maintains a private voice studio as well as regularly teaching master classes and clinics for schools and universities, and lectures for regional organizations. He is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and has been awarded with inductions into Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda honorary fraternities.
Subjects Taught
- History of rock music
- Classical music appreciation