The University of Michigan Women of Color in the Academy Project will present its eighth annual Shirley Verrett Award to Tiffany Ng, university carillonist and assistant professor of carillon at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
Ng is being recognized for her significant contributions in teaching, performance, scholarship and service that supports the success of women in the arts from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Her commitment to inclusion is demonstrated by her efforts to recognize and incorporate women and non-western carillon repertoire in her teaching and service at U-M, organizers say.
Ng will receive the award at a ceremony Feb. 21 at Stamps Auditorium. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by a ceremony with special performances at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested at 2019shirleyverrett.eventbrite.com.
Ng earned a doctorate in musicology and new media studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation explored how two contemporaneous developments shaped each other: cold war technology and diplomacy, and the historicist revival of organ and carillon building in America and the Netherlands.
She earned a master’s degree in organ from Eastman and an artist diploma from the Royal Carillon School in Belgium. She has performed at festivals in 15 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. She also has premiered more than 40 acoustic and electroacoustic works. She serves on the faculty of the North American Carillon School.
The Shirley Verrett Award was created in 2011 by the Office of the Senior Vice Provost in honor of the late Shirley Verrett, a U-M professor who “would have walked the world over for her students,” organizers say.
Verrett was a James Earl Jones Distinguished University Professor of Voice at SMTD and an internationally acclaimed opera singer with more than 40 roles during the course of her four-decade career. She was one of the pioneering leaders in the generation of black opera singers, and her legacy continues to pave the way for female artists from diverse backgrounds.
The award is administered by WOCAP and housed at CEW+.
