Versatile baritone Nathan De’Shon Myers to join ASU School of Music

Versatile baritone Nathan De'Shon Myers, who will join the School of Music in Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts in August, said he is excited to begin his new role as assistant professor of voice at ASU.

“Drawn in by the message of inclusion over exclusion, I was first convinced of the beauty of ASU by members of the voice faculty,” Myers said. “Since the arts can often be misrepresented as elitist, it was refreshing to learn of ASU's clear vision of increased accessibility for all students.”

Myers’ hybrid career spans 20 years and includes professional performance in opera, jazz and gospel, private voice instruction, classroom teaching, and leading and managing teachers.

“Nathan De'Shon Myers has established himself as an artist with international appeal,” said Heather Landes, director of the School of Music. “He is also a passionate and dedicated educator, having been recently featured in Old Navy’s national back-to-school campaign OnWard. Myers shows versatility and proves that he is a consummate baritone in multiple genres.”

“I feel that my eclectic background in a variety of professional musical environments from opera and musical theater to jazz and gospel will serve the ASU community and its students very well,” Myers said. “Having had a mixture of traditional and nontraditional educational experiences, I am sensitive to the needs of scholar artists who aspire to a variety of careers in multiple expressions of music. Through my ongoing professional stage performances and studio recording work, I continue to cultivate the skills that allow me to be creative and resourceful in a multi-dimensional approach to teaching and learning. It is my belief that singing is singing, and I am so excited to share the joys of the art of singing with students who are pursuing a wide range of careers in the art form.”

As the director of the music conservatory and head of opera studies at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Myers managed 300 students and 19 teachers and consultants. He designed collaborative initiatives such as the Opera Orchestra, the Nina Johnson Opera Aria Competition, a curriculum-based gospel choir, a collaborative pianist initiative and the Music Guild Legacy Fund. A member of the BTWHSPVA music faculty since 2012, Myers holds a Bachelor of Music in voice (opera performance) from the University of Tulsa, a Master of Music in voice from Southern Methodist University and a Performance Studies Diploma in opera from the Mannes College of Music.

Myers’ international solo career includes performing at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival (2017), the distinguished Deutsche Oper Berlin (2007–2012) for five successful seasons as a fest soloist, Opera Louisiane (since 2015) and the Salzburger Landestheater. He has worked with many opera companies and orchestras including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Central City Opera, Berliner Staatsoper, Theater Trier, Chautauqua Opera, Albany Symphony, Dallas Wind Symphony/Turtle Creek Chorale, Pittsburgh Symphony, Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Philharmonic, Oregon Lyric Opera, St. Louis Bach Society, Minnesota Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra and Denver Symphony. His Carnegie Hall solo debut included a collection of spirituals arranged expressly for his voice commissioned by the Albany Symphony.

Upcoming performances include a revamping of the role of Julian in the American opera, “Wading Home” for its South African debut tour in the summer of 2018. He also is a seasoned professional in the contemporary music industry with the anticipated release of his sophomore album “Found My Joy” and performance credits including award shows, movies and television appearances.

Visit Nathan De'Shon Myers' website for more information.