BIO
Natalie Cummings, Soprano, has been praised as having “(a) lush, full-bodied and beautiful tone” by the Austin-American Statesman and “a big voice that didn’t sacrifice purity of tone for volume” by the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A teacher and performer from Austin, Texas, Dr. Cummings holds a Bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a NYU-trained Vocologist.
Equally interested in solo and choral performance and pedagogy, she was awarded the Joan Frey Boytim Award for Independent Teachers from the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and served as a section leader for the 2021 TMEA All State Treble Choir. In 2024 she served as a NATS Intern and was awarded the NATS Emerging Leader Award and was the Independent Studio Teacher Liaison for the Texoma region of NATS.
Her research, which focuses on the alignment of solo and choral pedagogy, voice science, equity and accessibility in the voice studio, and issues of gender and race in vocal pedagogy, has been published in the Journal of Singing and presented at conferences including NATS, PAVA, TMEA, ACDA, and TCDA. She founded the UWSP Opera Outreach program which brings free, educational operatic performances to over 1,000 local school children, and secured grant funding to maintain the program.
Dr. Cummings is an advocate for increased accessibility in music education, and helped to revise the Texas Solo & Ensemble repertoire list to include music by a diverse composers and in a variety of languages. She was a founding member of the Texoma NATS High School Fellowship committee which worked to bring scholarships for private lessons to students from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds. She also serves as the COFAC representative on the UWSP EDI Policy Committee.
A two-time Houston District winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards and National Semi-Finalist of that same competition, Dr. Cummings has also twice been awarded Second Place in the Texoma NATSAA Competition, as well as earning the 2023 Linda Poetschke People’s Choice and the Liederkranz Awards, along with numerous others. She enjoys making music with her husband, Austin who is also a performer and music educator, and her two very theatrical children.