Dr. Kyla Dean Pitcher

The Arts

Mezzo-Soprano, Dr. Kyla Dean Pitcher, is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, currently residing in New York City.  Dr. Pitcher initially moved to New York to study voice privately with retired Juilliard professor Charles Kellis, and for two years she taught English as a Second Language with the New York City Public School System.  Currently, she is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at York College / City University of New York, and runs her own private voice studio.  

Dr. Pitcher earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Howard University in Washington, DC, a Master of Music degree in Opera Theatre from the University of South Carolina, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance from Louisiana State University.  

Dr. Pitcher  has a broad range of recital repertoire with pieces that span from the Baroque to the contemporary periods, and some of her operatic roles include Dorabella, from Cosi Fan Tutte; the Sorceress from Dido and Aeneas; Dorinetta from Li Sposi Per Accidenti (Studio Lirico – Cortona, Italy); and Annie from Porgy and Bess (Pensacola Opera, Pensacola, Florida).  

Currently, Dr. Pitcher is in negotiations with Durant Publishing Company to publish a biography on Lenora Lafayette, an opera singer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana who overcame social and racial barriers to become the first African American to sing at Covent Garden in London, England.

More recently, Dr. Pitcher was appointed to a dual position of Director of the Honors Center and Assistant Professor in the Department of Visual, Performing, and Communication Arts at Alabama A & M University in Huntsville.