Carol Ann Modesitt is a professor of music and former chair of the department of music at Southern Utah University, where she has taught voice, opera, diction and vocal pedagogy for more than three decades. She joined the faculty at Southern Utah University in 1993, helping establish and develop the school’s voice program into one of the best in the region, and guiding her students to win more than 200 state- and national-level awards for performance. Currently, she is the head of Southern Utah University’s voice department and director for the school’s award-winning musical theater and opera productions. During her time with the university, Ms. Modesitt has directed more than 40 student productions of repertory classics including “La Boheme,” “Don Giovanni” and “The Marriage of Figaro,” and contemporary works like Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah.”
A nationally regarded operatic vocalist, Ms. Modesitt made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2002, and spent two years touring with the Great American Songbook Concerts between 2016 and 2018. A versatile performer, she has played leading roles in both operatic and musical theater productions, including Mimi in “La Boheme,” Cio-Cio San in “Madame Butterfly,” Sarah in “Guys and Dolls,” and Marian the librarian in “The Music Man.” Ms. Modesitt has competed internationally throughout her career, and was a regional finalist in the 1987 Carnegie International Competition. She has been a featured soloist during international tours with the New Hampshire Friendship Chorus and the Pemigewasset Choral Society, and was an artist-in-residence at Plymouth State College between 1990 and 1993.
Ms. Modesitt’s passion and talent for music developed at a young age and was encouraged by her sixth-grade teacher, Carol Brown, and her high school choral director, Norma Holmes, after she transferred districts. She credits her career to the early support and structure provided by her teachers, and she is committed to helping her students develop and refine their potential in the same ways. Ms. Modesitt holds a Bachelor of Arts in music performance from Utah State University and earned a Master of Music from Eastern Kentucky University in 1973. As a professional, she has studied under Betty Jean Chipman, Vera Rosza, and Martin Isepp of the Glyndebourne Opera, and continues to emphasize her continued growth as a performer, director, and educator.
Ms. Modesitt began teaching in 1978 as an assistant professor at Utah State University and was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1984 until 1990. Throughout her career, she has also held faculty positions at Iowa State University, Seton Hill University and Duquesne University, in addition to teaching workshops and developing educational software for Reindeer Educational Network. Ms. Modesitt is the former president of the Cedar City Arts Council and treasurer of the National Opera Association, and has served as president of Cedar City Music Arts since 2012. She directed the 2013 NOA Collegiate Scenes Competition and has held organizational roles in several industry conferences, including committee work for the 2018 NATS Conference and acting as the local host for the 2019 NOA National Conference.
Ms. Modesitt remains active in leadership with the College Music Society, Opera America, the National Opera Association, the Music Teachers National Association and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She has been recognized for her contributions to the local arts community with numerous awards from the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce and local governments, and she sits on the board of Iron County Police Canines in addition to her arts advocacy work. Previously, Ms. Modesitt has been profiled in numerous editions of Marquis Who’s Who of American Teachers, Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who Among American Women.
