Beyond her work as a classical soprano, Amanda performs and teaches a wide variety of musical styles. At home in the jazz club, national church arena, and alongside folk and global music collaborators, Amanda brings an authenticity and vibrancy to her music that creates profound connections with her audiences. A seasoned educator and workshop leader, Amanda also brings her expansive musical knowledge to communities around the country.
Beyond her work as a classical soprano, Amanda performs and teaches a wide variety of musical styles. At home in the jazz club, national church arena, and alongside folk and global music collaborators, Amanda brings an authenticity and vibrancy to her music that creates profound connections with her audiences. A seasoned educator and workshop leader, Amanda also brings her expansive musical knowledge to communities around the country.
Improvisation, circle-singing, global-fusion, American Songbook and beyond.
Improvisation, circle-singing, global-fusion, American Songbook and beyond.
Amanda is known for her ability to convey passion through her music, making intense connections with her audiences. Her ease of improvisation, solid grounding in vocal technique, and familiarity with global song infuse her singing with a depth of emotion that leaves her audiences spellbound. Invited to study at the prestigious Jazz in July Institute at the University of Massachusetts in 2001, Amanda studied with jazz legends Sheila Jordan, Billy Taylor and Yusef Lateef. In her early twenties, she was invited to sing with players from the Airmen of Note under the direction of Alan Baylock of the Alan Baylock Jazz Orchestra. In 2014, Amanda performed as a guest artist with Bobby McFerrin in his “Bobby meets” Cleveland concert and later spent a week studying improvisation and circle singing with Mr. McFerrin. Amanda’s most recent project, Beyond Boundaries explores many genres and styles and weaves them together into a project that is about our common human experience and the way we express that experience through song.
In August 2016, Amanda premiered her Beyond Boundaries project as the first concert of the brand new Underground Classical concert series. Held in a Cleveland fiber arts studio, people were invited to come hear music "among the art". The premise of the concert series is to support classical musicians who are branching out into other genres and still incorporating their classical training and roots into their work. The concert included jazz standards, global folk songs, music by Strauss and Purcell and original tunes. Check out more of the videos on youtube!
“Powell possesses a light, versatile voice with an expansive range. A trained classical musician, she brings abundant vocal technique and a keen ear to her improvisations. Her infectious spirit kept the audience involved. She got everyone to sing along with her and invited us to dance.
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“Soprano Amanda Powell gave passionate renditions of three songs from the Jewish and Arab quarters, demonstrating her background in jazz by bending notes and inflecting motifs with expressive phrasing and nuanced improvisations. ”
Connecting and enlivening worship through song.
Connecting and enlivening worship through song.
Amanda is a fresh voice in progressive church circles. Combining gifts of musicianship, leadership and story-telling, Amanda brings songs and stories from her world travels into worship. She invites people to experience a deeper connection to themselves, to one another and to the Spirit through "full-bodied" singing and worship.
“Amanda is high energy, spiritually attuned and deeply committed to helping others experience the Divine through music.”
Amanda’s work in worship and song leadership began during a trip to South East Asia in 2001, sponsored by the Global Ministries Division of the United Methodist Church. During this music tour, she witnessed and became passionate about the power that music has to connect people from different cultures. Over the past decade, Amanda has directed, performed and presented workshops for a number of regional and national ecumenical events including at Princeton Theological Seminary, Union Presbyterian Seminary, for The United Methodist Women's Assembly, the American Guild of Organists and for the Presbyterian Association of Musicians. Amanda has served as liturgist and worship leader at events with the World Council of Churches, The United Church of Christ Church House and the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. Amanda has worked in a number of local churches including Christ United Methodist, Northampton, MA, Trinity Episcopal, Upperville VA and Federated U.C.C, Chagrin Falls, OH. Currently, Amanda is Director of Music and Worship at Disciples Christian Church, Cleveland Heights, OH. Beyond her local and national church leadership, Amanda also works as a consultant with church communities who are in transition and looking to find their authentic "voice" in music and worship expression.
Amanda led an entire online worship service for Old South Church, Boston, MA. Here is the sermon that she shared during worship.
“Amanda Powell is gifted with a rare balance of what we normally expect from two contrasting people: fresh creativity as well as dependable organization, vocal as well as keyboard strength, a command of contemporary as well as early music styles, appreciation for traditional as well as global music treasures, exhibiting humor or seriousness as required in situations, innovative and yet respectful of grounded ritual.”
“Amanda worked closely with our team to select music that enhanced and deepened the program writing. She spent countless hours researching music that resonated with the age and demographics of our event. Amanda follows where the spirit will lead. Her own joyful spirit fills the room both when working closely together and when leading your group. And she easily moves to change music to meet the flow of your event and the calling of our God living and breathing with us in each space.”
Workshops, Residencies, Community building.
Workshops, Residencies, Community building.
Amanda loves bringing people together in community to learn and grow through singing, playing and conversation. A seasoned choral director, Amanda served on the music faculty of Foxcroft School (Virginia) and Wilbraham and Monson Academy (Massachusetts) as well as led choral workshops for numerous institutions including Lake Ridge Academy (Ohio) and Hawken School (Ohio). For Fernway School (Ohio), she developed a song-writing workshop for elementary students to compose songs on topics they are passionate about.
Expanding her interest in multi-genre and multi-cultural work exemplified on her album Beyond Boundaries, Amanda enjoys teaching people of all ages about improvisation and unique vocal styles. She has presented at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Youngstown State University, sharing songs and stories from her world travels and study. Amanda currently serves as Adjunct Professor of Voice at Cleveland State University and teaches a progressive curriculum of vocal technique and improvisation, exploring many genres with her students. Amanda teaches private voice lessons on a limited basis and offers workshops on the voice, improvisation and community-building through singing together.
“I can’t thank Amanda enough for the magical class that she gave to the Cleveland Institute of Music voice students.…for 90 minutes she kept them spellbound with fascinating stories and brilliant musicianship.”
