HBCU fellowship

Launched in 2020, Nashville Opera’s HBCU Fellowship Program works with longtime partner Tennessee State University along with Fisk University to present masterclasses and roundtables intended to provide access, promote inclusion, and expand career pathways for developing African-American artists. Nashville Opera received an Art Works award from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as an Innovation Grant from Opera America and the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation to support this enhanced partnership.

Nashville Opera Fellows from TSU and Fisk coach with some of the most respected Black artists in the United States. Patrick Dailey and Gwendolyn Brown serve as project managers for the program and work with the 105 Voices of History to create a secondary cohort of HBCU students who tune remotely in from around the country. Due to the pandemic, masterclasses were streamed during the inaugural season. Plans for 2023-24 include both Zoom and live masterclasses.