The Conservatory announced Monday that vocalist La Tanya Hall will join the Conservatory faculty as Teacher of Jazz Voice. Hall’s employment will begin in the fall and marks the first time the Conservatory has hired a vocalist for such a position, the first of its kind in the Jazz Studies department. The move comes on the heels of an increase in prospective students interested in jazz voice instruction. The jazz voice students at Oberlin will also benefit instrumentalists in the Jazz Studies department, who will now be able to learn to accompany and perform with jazz singers.

Hall began singing professionally at age 13 with her father, a jazz pianist who performed worldwide. She has become a globally renowned musician herself, working with greats such as Harry Belafonte, Diana Ross, Bobby McFerrin, Burt Bacharach, Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle and soloing with the American Composer’s Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony. This month, she will begin a tour with Steely Dan that continues into the summer.