Tara Warfield, soprano, is the Chair of Music and Musical Theatre at Shorter University. She also serves as the Director of Opera, Voice Area Coordinator, and is Assistant Professor of Voice. Her teaching experience includes studio voice, vocal literature, vocal pedagogy, lyric diction, and opera workshop. In addition to her teaching duties, Warfield serves as a faculty mentor for the SNATS (Student National Association of Teachers of Singing) chapter. Dr. Warfield’s students have earned numerous performance awards in state and regional NATS auditions.
An Illinois native, Warfield holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Eastern Illinois University. She continued her graduate studies at The University of Iowa earning a Master of Music degree in vocal performance and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance and pedagogy. Her principal teachers include Jerry Daniels, Katherine Eberle-Fink, Stephen Swanson, Shari Rhoads, and Gary Race. Dr. Warfield’s musical interests include American art song, vocal pedagogy, and Mozart’s operatic and song literature.
Since beginning her collegiate teaching career in 2003, Warfield has performed numerous faculty and solo recitals as well as worked as an active soloist performing with the Coe College Concert Choir, the Starkville Mississippi State University Symphony Chorus, the Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale, The University of Iowa Choirs, and the Mississippi State University State Singers. The State Singers debuted her arrangement of O Come O Come Emmanuel in the fall of 2015. Her recent directing credits include Into the Woods, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Guys and Dolls and numerous operatic scenes from Mozart to Strauss.
Dr. Warfield is a member of the National Teachers of Singing (NATS) as well as Mu Phi Epsilon and Pi Kappa Lambda. She is active with church activities and enjoys spending time with her husband, Duane and son, Eli.