Carleen Graham
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor, Director of The Crane Opera Ensemble
Dr. Carleen Graham is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and was the director of the award-winning Crane Opera Ensemble from 1991 until her retirement in 2016. Her productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors, On The Town, L'Egisto, L'Enfant et les Sortiléges and Mikado have received awards from the National Opera Association, The American Prize and the American College Theater Festival. Her guest stage directing credits include the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Curso Internaçional de Música Vocal in Aveiro, Portugal, Baltimore Summer Opera Workshop, Tanglewood Music Center, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Opera Company, Eastman School of Music, and Central City Opera.
Dr. Graham earned a Doctorate of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University; a M.M. & G.D. in vocal performance from New England Conservatory of Music, and a B.M. in music education from Ohio University.
Deeply committed to the pedagogy and teaching of opera and music theatre, she is a recipient of the 2009 State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, the 2007 SUNY Potsdam College Foundation's Fund-Raising Volunteer of the Year Award, and the 2006 SUNY Potsdam President's Excellence in Teaching Award. She is an active presenter at conferences and her publications include articles for the Journal of Singing, Opera America Perspectives Series, and Classical Singer magazine.
Dr. Graham was the founding Executive Director of the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Opera Association. She was Director of the Center for Undergraduate Research at SUNY Potsdam from 2010-2013, a graduate of the State University of New York College Leadership Program in 2008, and was Chair of the Crane Music Performance Department from 2001-2004.