Bakara Nkenge‐Hinds

Biography

Bakara Nkenge‐Hinds is a Nashville based soprano and adjunct professor of music. She is an alumna of Belmont University where she received her Master of Music degree in vocal pedagogy and Michigan State University where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in music education. She is originally from Durham, NC and has been studying voice since 2007.

Bakara is very passionate about teaching in classroom and private settings. She served as the former Choral Director of Islands High School in Savannah, GA, where her students were accepted to Georgia All-State Chorus, Honor’s Chorus, and Southeastern Choral Arts Festival. Since moving to Nashville in 2018, Bakara has built an impressive private voice studio with students of varying ages performing at high levels around the country. Her teaching methodology is informed by artistry, healthy vocal technique, and voice science. In her master’s document: What You See is What You Get: Integrating Visual Performance Methodology into Vocal Pedagogy, she explored the impact that visual performance has on vocal music and provided tools to teachers and performers for how to incorporate it into their methodology. Bakara is always eager to continue learning in her field.

Since achieving her master’s degree, she has attended workshops and gained certifications through multiple vocal pedagogy institutes such as the Northwest Institute of Voice and the Somatic Voicework method. She has also been invited as a clinician to teach master classes to voice students at other universities. Bakara enjoys teaching and performing in the Nashville area. She has performed as a soloist with the Belmont University Chorale, the Nashville chapter of Opera on Tap, and the W. Crimm Singers. In addition to her private studio, she is also an adjunct professor of voice and theory at Trevecca Nazarene University and Belmont University, respectively. In her free time, Bakara enjoys jewelry making, traveling, and watching just about anything on Netflix.