Barbara Hill Moore, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Meadows Foundation Distinguished Professor of Voice at Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts, in cooperation with the National Association of Teachers of Singing, is establishing the Barbara Hill Moore Award for Emerging Teaching Artists. Through a generous challenge grant, Professor Hill Moore seeks to establish an endowment to support a biennial award to facilitate professional development of a NATS teacher of singing who is also pursuing an active performance career.

The award will be given to a NATS Artist Awards finalist with a minimum of five years of teaching experience. The NATS Artist Awards is a competition for singers whose artistry indicates that they are ready for a professional singing career and to encourage them toward that goal through participation in the competition. The winner of the Teachers Who Sing Award will be someone who has a bright future on a dual-career track.

”My dear colleagues, we are so blessed to be engaged in a profession we LOVE, vocal music — singing and teaching singing. Let’s continue being the best example of our love for singers and for singing, by providing opportunities for our beloved students.”

— Barbara Hill Moore

Support the Barbara Hill Moore Award for Emerging Teaching Artists through our donation form, or contact the NATS Executive Office at (904) 992-9101 for assistance.

Professor Hill Moore has, herself, had a distinguished teaching and performing career. She began teaching at the SMU Meadows School of the Arts in 1974 and served as chair of the voice department from 1977 through 1992. Prior to her SMU appointment (1969-1974), she taught at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, the St. Louis Public School System, and the St. Louis Archdiocese. A National Endowment for the Arts Grant recipient, she received a bachelor’s degree from Lincoln University of Missouri and a master’s degree as a graduate fellow from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois.

Professor Hill Moore has performed with orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. She was a frequent performer in Western Europe, especially Germany, where she sang in opera, concert and recital, premiering the works of many American composers.

She serves NATS as a member of the Advancement Committee, as the Region Development Liaison for the Texoma Region, and as a member of the advisory committee for the American Negro Spirituals Categories. She has been Region Governor for the Texoma Region and on the Board of Directors for the NATS Foundation. She served as a master teacher for both the 2008 and the 2022 NATS Intern Program.

Professor Hill Moore was recently recognized with the “Lift Every Voice and Sing LEGACY AWARD” from the National Opera Association.

Professor Hill Moore is president of the board and founder of the Barbara Hill Moore & Bruce Foote Foundation. In the summer of 2011 Professor Hill Moore founded and directed an international study abroad program — SMU-in-South-Africa — teaching and directing a class in musical theater, hosted by the Opera School and Choral Academy (OSCA) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa.

Former students of Professor Hill Moore have been featured with opera companies throughout the world, including the Metropolitan, St. Louis, Houston, Dallas, New York City, La Scala, Salzburg, San Francisco, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, Santa Fe, Fort Worth and Cape Town operas.