The National Association of Teachers of Singing is the largest professional association of voice teachers in the world and 2024 marks the 80th anniversary for the association.
In celebration of its 80th anniversary, NATS is honoring three extraordinary volunteers for their significant contributions to the advancement of singing and voice education: Karen Brunssen, Carole Blankenship, and Dan Johnson-Wilmot.
In recognition of Professors Brunssen, Blankenship, and Johnson-Wilmot, NATS is embarking on a fundraising initiative to name three prizes in the classical category of the National Student Auditions after our esteemed colleagues.
With over 15,000 student participants, the NATS National Student Auditions offer accelerated learning opportunities through the largest series of student voice auditions in the world.
Please join us in nurturing the talents of singers and contributing to the vibrancy of the vocal arts past, present, and future with a gift to the 80th Anniversary Fund. Make your gift today!
If you have questions or would like to discuss a major or planned gift to this special initiative, please contact Jen Jimenez, Development Director.
Special thanks to the members of ad-hoc NATS 80th Anniversary Committee, formed by President Diana Allan: Holly Bewlay, Karen Brunssen, Casey Carter, Alexis Davis-Hazell, Kathleen Ludowise, Jessica Posada, Richard Sjoerdsma, and Linda Snyder.
The History of NATS
The Origins
NATS was founded on March 23, 1944, in Cincinnati, Ohio, at a luncheon during the annual convention of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). A group of 13 teachers and 87 proxies voted to bring the association into existence that day with the purpose of "establishing and maintaining the highest standards of ethical principles and practice in the profession, and to establish and maintain the highest possible standards of competence in the voice teaching profession, to conduct and encourage research and to disseminate resulting information to the profession at large, and to encourage effective cooperation among vocal teachers for their protection, welfare and advancement."
The association came to pass through the efforts of committees from three organizations: American Academy of Teachers of Singing, the Chicago Singing Teachers Guild and the New York Teachers Association.
Founding members of the organization were John C. Wilcox, Chicago; Leon Carson, New York; Richard DeYoung, Chicago; Homer Mowe, New York; and Walter Allen Stults, Chicago. They comprised the first executive committee/board of directors and passed the presidency around among themselves for the first 10 years.
The NATS archives are housed at the University of Maryland’s Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library’s Special Collections in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (the Clarice). Information about the NATS Archive Collection, including a description of the collection, can be found online at the Performing Arts Library's Special Collections Website.
Click the links below to follow the history of the association by decade and other significant milestones.
The 1940s The 1970s The 2000s Gallery: National Conventions
NATS history is also displayed on downloadable banner images, linked below.
History of NATS logo
The official seal of NATS was the creation of its second president, Leon Carson, who succeeded Homer Mowe as Editor of The Bulletin. It first appeared in the May-June 1946 issue. Carson described it in the February-March 1951 issue to acquaint the membership with its symbolism.
"The official seal, circular in form, is encircled with two continuous rings or bands, the smaller representing the local and the other component units of the organization which serve to make up the national body, while the larger and outer circle is representative of the all-embracing unity and protectiveness of the national organization as an entity. In the small field between the inner and outer circles is found the honored name of the association. Also within this space is the date of organization inception. The stars are indicative of the three teacher organizations, the members of which were instrumental in the forming of NATS, namely, the American Academy of Teachings of Singing, the Chicago Singing Teachers Guild, and the New York Singing Teachers Association. Serving as a broken background in the large inside field of the seal is the traditional lyre, the symbol so closely allied with the singing profession. Implanted is the general map of the United States, reflecting the national scope of the association's membership and its wide-spread endeavors. This miniature map contains the outline of the eight large regional districts into which the country is divided for organization purposes. The tiny white dot in the lower southeastern corner of the Central District indicates the spot where the National Association was born, to be exact, the city of Cincinnati."
At the December 1981 business meeting of the association a revision to the seal was approved replacing the U.S. map with “nats” in lower case. The lowercase form had appeared first 14 years earlier on the October 1968 issue of The NATS Bulletin. This change recognized the organization's growing international status.
