"From choral and jazz vocal student to Interim Professor of Voice at Western Michigan University, Liz has proven her talents on and off stage in spades."
​- John Sinkevics, Local Spins

Liz Townsend is an accomplished vocalist, pedagogue, arranger, and clinician. She is a doctoral teaching fellow at the University of North Texas where she is pursuing a DMA in Jazz Voice Performance. Her research interests are in vocal pedagogy and voice science and she is working to contribute research in jazz vocal styles. Prior to her doctoral studies, she served as an adjunct professor at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, and Southwestern Michigan College. Well-versed in many vocal styles, her teaching is rooted in voice science and she is committed to helping each of her students find the most sustainable use of their instrument while allowing room to explore their own artistry.

Liz recently released her debut album, Along the Way, which features original music along with her arrangements of beloved jazz standards. Her original composition, "To Elizabeth," earned her a spot as a finalist in the Ruth Wales du Pont Collegiate Composition Competition held in Winterthur, DE. She performs regularly including as a soloist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Epiphany Center for the Arts in Chicago, and at the Edison Jazz Festival. In addition to her solo work, Liz is a sought after vocalist and has recorded as a supporting vocalist on several albums and arrangement demos.

She has been invited as a guest clinician to work with collegiate and high school choirs across the country including recently with the Vocal Jazz Academy in Dallas, TX and the Onondaga All-County Vocal Jazz Ensemble in Upstate New York. She was first able to pursue her passion for teaching as the choral director at Mattawan Middle School and as the K-8 music teacher at William C. Abney Academy. She later transitioned to collegiate teaching by serving as the director of vocal jazz ensemble Gold Company II (GCII) at WMU for whom she regularly wrote arrangements. Her arrangements have been performed by world-renowned vocal jazz groups and have been featured on music-reading sessions including at the Jazz Education Network Conference and the American Choral Directors Association National Conference.

Liz has worked with many esteemed musicians and pedagogues including Ben Folds, Michael Mayo, Steve Zegree, Marci Rosenberg, Tom Burke, and Lisa Thorson, as well as the members of säje, New York Voices, and the world-class faculty at WMU and UNT. She has additional training through Maddie Tarbox’s Vocal Function 101 and Estill Voice Training and has completed all three levels of Somatic Voicework™ - The LoVetri Method.

Liz holds a masters degree in Jazz Voice Performance from WMU where she studied with Greg Jasperse. She also earned a bachelors degree from WMU in Choral Music Education during which time she studied classical voice with Dr. Rhea Olivaccé. She currently studies with Rosana Eckert and Jennifer Barnes and with Dr. Mark Tempesta in the field of vocal pedagogy.

Liz is a member of the Jazz Education Network (JEN), National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), The Voice Foundation, American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society.