Rebekah Smeltzer Staley holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. She also holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Tennessee, in her hometown of Knoxville, and the Master of Music degree from Texas State University. Dr. Smeltzer Staley has a keen interest in how the voice functions and can work most efficiently, which led to the completion of a certificate in Vocology from the National Center for Voice and Speech in 2016. As a performer, Dr. Smeltzer Staley has been seen with Opera in the Ozarks, Austin Opera, Opera NEO, the Broward Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Opera, and is a founding member of Austin’s own One Ounce Opera. She specializes in contemporary music, and has premiered over a dozen works. Dr. Smeltzer Staley’s students have been members of the TMEA All-Region choirs, and have received high scores at both local and state Solo & Ensemble competitions.