Paul Robeson Scholar Award recipient, Los Cabos Children's Foundation Artist Ambassador, and twice-winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation Award, tenor Scott Piper is thrilled to return to Fresno, California.  Finishing his 10th year in higher education, Dr. Scott Piper has translated his professional success and artistic sensibility into a profound dedication to helping the next generation of vocal artists reach their musical and artistic goals. As the Norma L. Heyde Faculty Development Professor and Associate Professor of Music in Voice, Piper maintains a selective studio of undergraduate and graduate voice students in classical voice, contemporary singing, and musical theatre. His private studio at the University of Michigan draws students who are equally committed to exploring their deepest holistic potential and building bridges through the arts to their global community. In addition to his blossoming studio, he is humbled to now serve as chair of the Department of Voice. 

From the beginning of his career, Piper has been committed to seeking out ways to serve our global village through song. Whether through arts education outreach presentations in Costa Rica, as a member of Singers without Borders performing in the Philippines and China, or through his tenure of service as the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation Artist Ambassador, Piper has never strayed from embracing ways to be an advocate for and learn from underrepresented communities and various cultures. Over the past few years, Piper's scholarly interests turned toward the co-creation of MOOC available through the FutureLearn platform and COURSERA called, "Black Arts as Social Protest", and he served as project lead and associate editor for the recently published "An Anthology of African and the African Diaspora Songs" available through Classical Vocal Reprints. 

His interest in impacting the vocal arts at the international level has been highlighted through his education projects in Italy and Taiwan. In Piobbico, Italy, Piper stewarded the voice program at the Brancaleoni International Music Festival (Italy) for 5 years. In Taiwan, under the auspices of the prestigious Tunghai University Music Department in Taichung, he has performed in opera and recital, conducted performances of The Merry Widow,  led classes in vocal pedagogy, holistic wellness in the vocal arts, and presented master classes at the National Taiwan Normal University, Fu Jen Catholic University, National Sun Yat-sen University, National Kaohsiung Normal University, and the Taipei National University of the Arts. At the national level, Piper continues to be a sought-after clinician and is recognized as a specialist in the area of effective learning practices for the applied voice studio. As a proud member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, he was recently honored by being named a NATS Master Teacher for the NATS Intern Program and proudly serves the national organization through his participation in the Advancement and Mentoring Initiatives committees.

Piper is thrilled to lend his voice to the compositions of his colleagues at the University of Michigan. Among them, he has traveled to present the works of pianist and composer Logan Skelton as well as composer Erik Santos.  Piper’s vocal, musical and dramatic sensitivity extends beyond his performances in leading roles. In 2013, he was asked to prepare, direct and conduct the first-ever recording from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. Entitled Mater Eucharistiae, that CD debuted at #1 of the Billboard chart for classical albums.

In conjunction with his exemplary teaching and commitment to service, Piper maintains an active international performance profile. Recent successes include performances include appearances with Minnesota Opera, Opera Köln (Germany), Austin Lyric Opera, Israeli Opera, Dayton Opera, and Nashville Opera. He has sung under the baton of Placido Domingo, Leone Magiera, Steven Mercurio, Anton Coppola, Kenneth Kiesler, Steven White, Massimiliano Stefanelli, Mark Shanahan, Donato Renzetti, Joseph Mechavich, and Vjekoslav Sutej. Upcoming performances will include performances of THE SEER by Erik Santos.