In the coming school year, Yale Divinity and ISM students will have the opportunity to be coached in voice, keyboard, and percussion by three new artists-in-residence who are coming to Yale as part of ISM’s Interdisciplinary Program in Music and the Black Church. As well as offering individual coaching, Tyson Jackson, John Paul McGee and Trineice Robinson-Martin will also participate in regular studio classes to help the students hone their skills for the leadership of congregational song.
Tyson Jackson discovered his love for music at the age of three and his passion for it developed through playing the drums at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Florida. He attended several arts institutions and has been mentored by world-renowned artists Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terence Blanchard, Darren, Barrett, AJ Wright, Terri Lynn Carrington, Ralph Peterson, Tia Fuller, Sean Jones, and Nona Hendryx. Tyson says, “It’s truly an honor to be a part of this esteemed program.”
John Paul McGee is a masterful musician, dynamic preacher, producer, published author, and educator. He began his career in church music at the age of twelve as full-time minister of music at Waters AME church in Baltimore. As a keyboardist, vocal arranger, producer, and songwriter, he has been privileged to grace stages across the world with many popular gospel, jazz, R&B, and classical artists. Dr. McGee is currently the assistant chair of the Piano Department at Berklee College of Music. John Paul commented that he is humbled and honored to be part of the work to “further the work on the frontlines in lifting Black sacred music to new heights in today’s philosophical conversations, while also assisting Yale Divinity students in their development at the piano bench and organ console.”
Trineice Robinson-Martin has dedicated her career to performing and developing resources for teaching jazz, Gospel/Christian, R&B, rock, country, and pop singing styles in an applied private voice lesson setting. Dr. Robinson-Martin is a jazz voice instructor, lecturer, and director of the Jazz Vocal Collective Ensemble at Princeton University. Her other roles include serving as the executive director of the African American Jazz Caucus, Inc. Trineice says that she is excited and honored to be a part of this “incredibly progressive movement towards embracing and recognizing the importance of pedagogy and practice of Black gospel music”, noting that “Black sacred music is one of America’s indigenous art forms, yet the training of musicians has traditionally been minimized or completely overlooked in academia.”
Image: Left to right: Tyson Jackson, John Paul McGee, and Trineice Robinson-Martin