Dr. Jolie Rocke, a native New Yorker and renowned soprano, is sharing the gift of song across the world. She has performed as a featured soloist in opera and concert tours of the USA, Europe, and Far North Queensland Australia. She was a young artist for two seasons with the Houston Ebony Opera Guild. Hartford Courant writer and critic Owen McNally marveled, gifted, versatile vocalist who was much at home soaring on opera arias and celestial hymns as she is getting down with funky blues and earthy jazz, just might, at long last, have the whole world in her hands thanks to her soulful album, Rock of Ages: Hymns for the Soul. Her other recording projects include, Jolie Rocke Brown in Concert and E’en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come, which are all available through cdbaby.com, iTunes.com, amazon.com, and other media outlets.

Acclaimed as a singer and music educator, Dr. Rocke was honored by the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in 2012. The Amistad Center for Art & Culture housed at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, honored her with the 2014 Spirit of Juneteenth Award. While her singing career continues to soar, her dedication to training and providing performing opportunities for young artists is unwavering. Jolie draws from her life experience when she takes the stage or works with aspiring young artists. Her passion for music and the desire to pass it on to her students leads her to produce concerts, direct community arts programs, and train aspiring singers as a private voice teacher, coach, and mentor. for more than twenty years Dr. Rocke served as a music teacher in the public schools of Hartford, Connecticut.

Jolie earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Early Childhood Education from Loyola College in Baltimore, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Hartford’s Hartt School. Currently a Lecturer of Music at Prairie View A&M University, she has taught (TX), Texas Southern University, San Jacinto College, Manchester Community College (CT), and the University of Connecticut. In 2022, she led the charge to re-establish the John ‘Blind” Boone Symposium for the Boone Heritage Foundation in Missouri. She most recently founded HBCU Arts, a program designed to showcase, promote, and celebrate students, faculty, and alums from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In addition to teaching, performing, presenting master classes, and lecturing nationally, Dr. Rocke is the Director of Music at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston and Owner of Rocke Vocal Studio in Houston, TX www.jolierocke.com

A native of Galveston, TX.  Melissa is a proud alumnus of Prairie View A&M University where she received a B.A. in Music and the University of Houston where she received a Master in Music Education with a concentration in choral conducting.

 Melissa began her music educator career in Early Childhood and elementary in LaMarque, TX. She then later became the assistant choral director at Eisenhower HS in Houston, TX. While she served at Eisenhower as the assistant, she received multiple Sweepstakes awards with her junior varsity choir. She later was promoted to be the head choral director at Nimitz Sr. High School and continued to receive the same achievements with her varsity level choirs.

 Melissa served as the interim choral director at her alma mater Prairie View A&M University and Houston Ebony Opera Guild for their African American Music Gala and Juneteenth concert  in 2023. Currently, Melissa serves as choral conductor of the Galveston Heritage Chorale and La Marque High School choir. She is a member of TMEA, TCDA, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and Junior League of The Woodlands.

Mr. Carter is an active member of the Houston arts community, serving as the Founder and Artistic Director of Voices of Houston, a choral ensemble dedicated to preserving the performance and practice of the Negro Spiritual. Under his leadership, Voices of Houston was named the 2023 first place winners of the Detroit Spiritual Festival Competition and the 2023 featured choir for the National Association of Negro Musicians Inc, National Convention, performing works for Rosephanye Powell and Roland Carter. This spring, Voices of Houston will served at the featured ensemble for the Houston Grand Opera concert, “Giving Voice”, founded and hosted by renowned Tenor, Lawrence Brownlee. 

With a strong passion for Negro Spirituals, Christopher founded the Houston Festival of Negro Spirituals. This annual festival is dedicated to the education, preservation, and performance of Negro Spirituals by collaborating with high school, collegiate, community, and professional choirs. 

In 2013, Christopher founded Voices at BGSU (Bowling Green State University), a student centered choral ensemble dedicated to the preservation of the Negro Spiritual. Under his direction, the choir competed and toured across the US, and served as the guest ensemble in the 2017 Underground Railroad Concert of Negro Spirituals, hosted by Kathleen Battle.

Mr. Carter has served in church ministry for the last 10 years at various churches in Ohio and Texas. He is the newly appointed Director of Music at Westbury United Methodist Church where he oversees the musical operations for various ensembles such as choir, band, and handbell.

Christopher is passionate about choral music with emphasis on Negro Spirituals. He believes that music is ministry and is a source of true solace and healing.