SPILL THE T, DR. CHRIS!
Our storytelling team has been cooking up content!
Dr. Chris (whom we ever so humbly share with Harvard) is spilling the “Teaching T” and sharing their take on what makes BAE special. Browse through the video clips below to learn a bit more about the philosophies behind our methods, the decolonized classroom vibe we strive to create, and more.
Leave Dr. Chris a comment on Instagram or TikTok to let him know what you think!
Peruvian-American tenor Christopher Sierra is recognized for his artistic sensitivity and versatility in repertoire ranging from classical, musical theatre, to contemporary commercial music. He has performed with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States, some of which include Opera Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, Opera New Jersey, Spoleto Festival USA, New York Lyric Opera Theatre, Princeton Festival Opera, Long Island Opera, and the United Nations Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Sierra has also made solo debuts in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, and India. Most recently, he was invited to sing the tenor solo in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and was a featured soloist in Peter Bjerring’s Song of the Salish Chief at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. An avid recitalist, Dr. Sierra is a founding member of the Vocalis Consort, an ensemble dedicated to exposing audiences to song recitals that extend beyond the traditional Western European canon. In 2019, he was invited to perform a residency recital that celebrates the contributions of Latinx and Hispanic composers at Lewis-Clark State College and he presented mélodies by Henri Duparc at the 2018 College Music Society Pacific Northwest Regional Conference. As a recording artist, Dr. Sierra can be heard on The Flower of Beauty (2009) with the Westminster Choir, Landscape: Choral Music of Gerald Custer (2008) with Anam Cara, and Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir, Volume 2 (2007) with the Grammy-nominated Westminster Williamson Voices. He has sung under the baton of Pierre Boulez, Leon Botstein, Christoph Eschenbach, Ton Koopman, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, David Robertson, John Rutter, Emmanuel Villaume, John Adams, and Franz Welser-Möst during his tenure with the Westminster Symphonic Choir, MidAmerica Productions, and the New York City MasterVoices. Sought after for his research in crossing genres, Dr. Sierra has been invited to present lectures at College Conservatories and Universities throughout the United States, including The Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, University of Connecticut, Troy University, Belmont University, Florida International University, etc. His notable research and presentations also address vocal health, phonotrauma and rehabilitation, performance anxiety, and vocal pedagogy for gender-expansive singers. Dr. Sierra has led vocal master classes domestically and internationally at institutions like Stanford University, Indiana University at South Bend, University of The Bahamas, Iceland University of the Arts, and Fundación Cultural Armonía in Quito, Ecuador. He currently oversees the music program at the Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project in Tamil-Nadu, India and has taught developing musicians at the Tomas de Berlanga School on the island of Santa Cruz, Galapagos, as a member of Broadway for Arts Education, an organization committed to providing quality arts education to communities in need around the world. Prior to joining the faculty at Longy School of Music, where his responsibilities include teaching courses in the Vocal Studies Department and Masters of Music Education Program, Dr. Sierra has taught voice at Butler University, The College of New Jersey, Columbia University, Rutgers University, Monmouth University, and Washington State University. He is also currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice at The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, and has recently been invited to teach voice at reputable musical theatre intensive programs, including the New England Music Camp and the Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory. Dr. Sierra holds a doctorate of musical arts degree in voice performance from Rutgers University, a master of education degree in music education from Columbia University, a master of music degree in classical voice performance from Manhattan School of Music, and bachelor of music degrees in music education and voice performance from Westminster Choir College.On the concert stage, Dr. Sierra has performed works such as Bernstein’s Songfest, Schumann’s Spanisches Liederspiel, Britten’s Les Illuminations, Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Brahms’s Liebeslieder Walzer, Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, and Schubert’s Mass in G.
