Conductor, tenor, and music educator, Dr. Jason A. Dungee has degrees from the University of Arizona, Westminster Choir College and Hampton University. Prior to appointments as Director of Choral Studies in South Carolina and Florida, he enjoyed 8 years as a successful high school choral music teacher in Newport News and Williamsburg, Virginia. He was a Conductor Fellow in the 16th Varna International Music Academy in Varna, Bulgaria and in March of 2020, Dungee was Co-Conductor of the first HBCU Tribute Choir for the Southern Division ACDA Conference.
Recently, Dr. Dungee has found success in popular music and entertainment as well. He was selected for 2 consecutive years to prepare choirs for the southeast leg of HBO’s internationally acclaimed touring production of The Game of Thrones Live Experience, featuring music from the hit TV program. While in South Carolina, he conducted sold out, critically acclaimed performances as guest conductor of the Charleston Gospel Choir and sang the tenor solo with the London Symphony Orchestra as they premiered Andre Thomas’ Mass.
Dungee’s article “A Pedagogy for Living: Applying Restorative, Anti-Racist Pedagogy to the Choral Classroom” was published in The Choral Journal and has led to him being in demand as a presenter for organizations and Universities across the U.S., including the Florida ACDA, Drexel University, and the Hopewell Valley Chorus. His research on the music of Dr. Adolphus Hailstork has been presented to several universities, including The University of Arizona and The University of Illinois-Urbana.
Currently, Dungee is serving as the Director of Choral Studies at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Bibliography
- Baker, David N., Belt, Lida M., and Hudson, Herman C. The Black Composer Speaks. Metuchen: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1978.
- Banfield, William C. Musical Landscapes in Color: Conversations with Black American Composers. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2003.
- Clarke, Colin. “Defining Self: Adolphus Hailstork in Interview.” Fanfare – the Magazine for Serious Record Collectors 36, no. 3 (January 2013): 40-44.
- Jones, Arthur C. and Jones, Ferdinand. The Triumph of the Soul: Cultural and Psychological Aspects of African American Music, edited by Arthur C. Jones and Ferdinand Jones. Westport: Praeger, 2001.
- Lomax, Mark Allison II. “The Black Composer: Identity, Invisibility and the Making of a Brand in the Digital Age.” DMA Diss., Ohio State University, 2013.
- Radano, Ronald, and Bohlman, Philip V. Music and the Racial Imagination. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000.