Music students at Harvard University are about to get a serious treat. Announced on Monday, Esperanza Spalding will join the faculty as a professor in Harvard’s Department of Music teaching songwriting, arranging, improvisation and performance.
The four-time Grammy award-winning singer has put out five studio albums with three placing No.1 on U.S. jazz charts. Her accolades include everything from an NAACP Image Award to the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for the Performing Arts.
So, it makes perfect sense that the 32-year-old will be educating the youth on elements of music.
As noted by Harvard’s press release, this is not Spalding’s first time teaching. The talent taught bass in private lessons, ensembles and classes at Berklee College of Music from 2005–2008 on the heels of graduating from there with a Bachelor of Music.
In March 2016 Spalding released her fifth studio album, Emily’s D+Evolution that was co-produced by David Bowie’s longtime collaborator Tony Visconti. In addition to performing around the world, she recently curated an exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and took a two-week writing intensive in Lisbon, Portugal.
Homegirl is definitely #goals. Harvard students have a lot to look forward to!