Sandra Franks

The life of NATS member and beloved colleague Sandra Franks will be celebrated at a concert March 25 as part of the Region Auditions at the University of Memphis. Dr. Franks passed away from pancreatic cancer on April 12 of last year. She had been serving as the Memphis Chapter President.

In conjunction with the concert, the Mid-South Region will be requesting donations to establish the Sandra Franks Award for an Outstanding High School Singer, which will be given annually at the Mid-South Region Audition finals.

“We hope to create a permanent remembrance of Sandy that will be funded through the NATS Endowment,” said Carole Blankenship, NATS President and a friend and colleague of Dr. Franks at Rhodes College. “She was a very special person with hundreds of students who benefitted from her mentorship. Many of whom participated in NSA.”

The gala concert is Friday, March 25, at 7:30 pm at the Germantown Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. Former colleagues and students will perform. There is no charge for admission. Plans are being discussed to stream the concert as well.

Gifts to the Sandra Franks Award fund may be made online or by contacting the NATS national office at 904-992-9101.

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Dr. Franks served as a member of the faculty of the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music and an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Rhodes College. She served professionally as Treasurer and President of the Memphis Chapter of NATS, a presenter at The Voice Foundation's Symposium on the Care of the Professional Voice, and a contributor to the book The Larynx, edited by Robert H. Ossoff.

She maintained a private voice studio where she taught hundreds of students with diverse musical styles through the years. During summers she worked with young singers as vocal coach and director in the Opera Memphis Conservatory program.

As a Singing Voice Specialist and Vocal Pedagogue, Dr. Franks specialized in the care of the professional voice. She joined the Voice Team in the office of Jan H. Petri, M.D. / Voice Care Associates in 1996, assisted several local physicians in the diagnosis of voice patients, and directed research projects, seminars, and masterclasses throughout the Southeast.

Dr. Franks earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Mississippi, a Master of Music from Louisiana State University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from The University of Mississippi where her concentration was vocal pedagogy. Her beautiful soprano voice was heard regularly throughout the Mid-South area. She performed as a soloist with Opera Memphis, the Oxford Community Chorus, the Memphis Vocal Arts Ensemble, the Rhodes MasterSingers Chorale, Germantown Presbyterian Church, and as a recitalist with the Memphis Chamber Music Society.