Next month, American Idol season two winner, Ruben Studdard, will teach a masterclass for performing arts majors at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC).
The class, which will take place on March 7 and 28, will include first-hand experience from Studdard on how to prepare for the music industry while attending UTC.
“I am extremely excited,” said Studdard in an interview with Diverse. “I never thought that this would be something I would be doing but it’s turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made.”
Ruben Studdard
The Grammy-nominated artist will be working hands-on with UTC’s Singing Mocs, a contemporary singing group that specializes in pop, acapella and vocal jazz.
“The main objective is to give music students the opportunity to speak to somebody that’s actually in the music industry,” said Studdard, “something that I wish I had when I was in school. I want to talk to them about how to protect your voice, talk to them about making sure that knowing their material is important. In this business, the young people aren’t as prepared as they were years ago.”
“This is an emergent process,” said Stuart Benkert, head of UTC’s Department of Performing Arts. “We want diversity. We want inclusiveness and we need that to grow hopefully exponentially on several levels. Ruben is a fine musician and has a great wealth of experience that all talented musicians don’t bring the same talent to the table.”
The opportunity for Studdard to give this class happened when UTC’s Vice Chancellor for diversity and engagement, Stacy Lightfoot, asked Studdard to sing the national anthem at a home football game last year. A friendship with the singer blossomed when she was the executive director of his Ruben Studdard Foundation for the Advancement of Children in Music Arts, which hosted music summer camps for middle and high school students in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala.
