About Natalie
Praised for her "lush, full-bodied and beautiful tone," American Soprano, Natalie Cummings is a teacher, performer, and researcher based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Dr. Cummings graduated with honors from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois with a Bachelor's of Music in Vocal Performance and a minor in Political Science. She spent a semester studying both music and government in Vienna, Austria where she performed in the IES Vienna Music Performance Workshop. After finishing her Bachelor's degree, she then returned to her home state to complete her Master's of Music in Opera Performance at the University of Texas at Austin where studied with David Small and Rose Taylor. After a decade of honing her performing and teaching skills, she then completed a D.M.A. in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance at UT-Austin under the supervision of Darlene Wiley, writing a treatise entitled Vibrato and the Feminine Voice. In 2024, she was awarded a Professional Development grant from the UWSP University Personnel Development Committee to complete her Certificate in Vocology from NYU.
Dr. Cummings was a NATS Intern in 2024 and has also been awarded the Emerging Leaders Award and the Joan Frey Boytim Award from the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Her research interests involve bridging pedagogical vocabulary between choral educators and teachers of singing, and between contemporary and Western classical style. She is particularly interested vocal vibrato and its applications in different genres of singing, and in January 2025, her research was published in the Journal of Singing.
Equity and access in private instruction is a core value for Dr. Cummings, who served on the inaugural committee to create the Texoma NATS High School Vocal Music Fellowship Award which awards funding to singers who otherwise would not have access to private vocal instruction. She frequently presents on the tenets of private voice studio ownership and maintenance, and coaches students toward more successful college entrance auditions, drawing on her years as a private studio owner. She has also served as the Texas State UIL Solo and Ensemble revision committee, prioritizing the addition of works by diverse composers on this influential repertoire list. She also spearheaded an opera outreach program at UWSP which reached over 1,000 school children with free performances. In Fall 2025, she will assume her role as College of Fine Arts and Communication representative on the UWSP Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Policy Committee (EDIPC).
A Houston District winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for two consecutive years, she advanced to the 2014 Semi-Final Round and was honored to perform on the Metropolitan Opera Stage. Dr. Cummings has also twice been awarded Second Place in the Texoma NATSAA Competition, as well as the Audience Choice, and the Liederkranz Awards at Texoma NATS, was a finalist in the Houston Gilbert and Sullivan Society Competition, Second Place in the Mid-Texas Symphony Vocal Competition, was a finalist in the Bel Canto Scholarship Foundation competition, Audience Choice in the Lois Alba Aria Competition and a semi-finalist in the Dallas Opera Guild Competition.
Dr. Cummings currently serves as Teaching Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where she teaches Applied Voice, Lyric Diction, Vocal Pedagogy, and supervises the student-directed opera outreach program.
Affiliations include: Pi Kappa Lambda, Sigma Alpha Iota, NATS, TMEA, ACDA
Dr. Cummings graduated with honors from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois with a Bachelor's of Music in Vocal Performance and a minor in Political Science. She spent a semester studying both music and government in Vienna, Austria where she performed in the IES Vienna Music Performance Workshop. After finishing her Bachelor's degree, she then returned to her home state to complete her Master's of Music in Opera Performance at the University of Texas at Austin where studied with David Small and Rose Taylor. After a decade of honing her performing and teaching skills, she then completed a D.M.A. in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance at UT-Austin under the supervision of Darlene Wiley, writing a treatise entitled Vibrato and the Feminine Voice. In 2024, she was awarded a Professional Development grant from the UWSP University Personnel Development Committee to complete her Certificate in Vocology from NYU.
Dr. Cummings was a NATS Intern in 2024 and has also been awarded the Emerging Leaders Award and the Joan Frey Boytim Award from the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Her research interests involve bridging pedagogical vocabulary between choral educators and teachers of singing, and between contemporary and Western classical style. She is particularly interested vocal vibrato and its applications in different genres of singing, and in January 2025, her research was published in the Journal of Singing.
Equity and access in private instruction is a core value for Dr. Cummings, who served on the inaugural committee to create the Texoma NATS High School Vocal Music Fellowship Award which awards funding to singers who otherwise would not have access to private vocal instruction. She frequently presents on the tenets of private voice studio ownership and maintenance, and coaches students toward more successful college entrance auditions, drawing on her years as a private studio owner. She has also served as the Texas State UIL Solo and Ensemble revision committee, prioritizing the addition of works by diverse composers on this influential repertoire list. She also spearheaded an opera outreach program at UWSP which reached over 1,000 school children with free performances. In Fall 2025, she will assume her role as College of Fine Arts and Communication representative on the UWSP Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Policy Committee (EDIPC).
A Houston District winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for two consecutive years, she advanced to the 2014 Semi-Final Round and was honored to perform on the Metropolitan Opera Stage. Dr. Cummings has also twice been awarded Second Place in the Texoma NATSAA Competition, as well as the Audience Choice, and the Liederkranz Awards at Texoma NATS, was a finalist in the Houston Gilbert and Sullivan Society Competition, Second Place in the Mid-Texas Symphony Vocal Competition, was a finalist in the Bel Canto Scholarship Foundation competition, Audience Choice in the Lois Alba Aria Competition and a semi-finalist in the Dallas Opera Guild Competition.
Dr. Cummings currently serves as Teaching Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where she teaches Applied Voice, Lyric Diction, Vocal Pedagogy, and supervises the student-directed opera outreach program.
Affiliations include: Pi Kappa Lambda, Sigma Alpha Iota, NATS, TMEA, ACDA
