Candace Johnson received her Doctorate of Musical Arts in 2006 in voice performance at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Shirley Verrett.  Candace now holds a Chancellor's postdoctoral fellowship in the department of music at the University of California, Berkeley. There she conducts research on African-American solo song literature to analyze the interaction of text, melody, harmony, and black music idioms. Her research is mentored by composer and scholar Olly Wilson.  Candace has gained coaching and instruction from Oliva Stapp (Opera San Jose), Willis Patterson (University of Michigan), George Shirley (University of Michigan), David DiChiera and Suzzanne Acton (Michigan Opera Theatre), Grace Bumbry (Jessye Norman Master Class Series), and Stephen Penn (New England Conservatory of Music). Candace has performed the lead soprano roles in Puccini's Suor Angelica, Menotti's The Medium, and Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne.  She has given sponsored recitals and made guest appearances throughout the states of Tennessee and Michigan and in select cities across the country. Her numerous honors and awards include winning scholarships, concerto competitions, being a finalist in the National Leontyne Price Competition, garnering a bronze medal in the National ACT-SO Competition, and previously holding the title of Ms. Black Tennessee. As well, she has been featured on a CD project accompanying Willis Patterson's New Anthology of African-American Art Songs, and on the TV special "My Life as an Opera" with Michigan Opera Theatre and Detroit's Channel 4. Performing since the age of 5, Candace also has experience in music theater, television commercials, popular songwriting, and piano performance. In addition to performing and research, Candace enjoys giving lecture-recitals and workshops on vocal health and performance skills. To share her knowledge with youth, she teaches applied voice at UC Berkeley's community music outreach program, the Young Musician's Program. She is also on faculty at Revival Center Ministry's Training Institute in Vallejo, California, where she designed the voice curriculum and teaches a group-based voice class.  Candace recently founded Sweet Psalm Music, a business that provides pedagogical and performance services to a diverse clientele.