Agile Vocalist

From Opera to Negro Spirituals and Beyond with Alexander Taite

Rachel Medanic Season 4 Episode 9

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Oakland born Alexander Taite has had the passion and talent for music all his life. He started on piano at age 8 and by age 16 had completed high school studies and went on to teaching at Oakland School for the Arts right after college. He's known as an opera and choral singer director throughout the Bay Area and has created a one-man show called Deep River: The Flow of Negro Spirituals Through Time.

Alex has sung every season with the San Francisco Opera since 2007 and has directed myriad choruses, choral projects, and been in bands. In this episode we...well honestly, we laugh a lot. This was a particularly fun conversation. We cover Alex's career, his life's work dedication to negro spirituals and how he continues to learn the depths and nuances of this mostly overlooked and forgotten part of both black and musical history. In addition to directing and singing, Alex is a vocal coach and his role with students takes on a variety of forms.

More about Agile Vocalist, including artist biographies, liner notes and additional visual material for every episode can be found on the Agile Vocalist web site.

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