Composers

Roy Belfield

1968 -

About

Roy Belfied (b. 1968) is a native of Petersburg, Virginia, began his undergraduate studies in music at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in music from Morehouse College in Atlanta, masters' degrees in music education and organ performance from Florida State University in Tallahassee, and the doctor of musical arts degree in organ performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. He has done additional studies in vocal pedagogy and choral conducting at the University of Alabama and Pennsylvania State University. Belfield has studied choral conducting with David Morrow, Rodney Eichenberger, Scott Anderson, and Lynn Drafall, and piano with Marilyn J. Breeden, Buckner Gamby, and Moses Hogan. Belfield's principal organ teachers have included Carl G. Harris, Jr.; Clarence E. Whiteman; Herman D. Taylor; Joyce F. Johnson; Michael L. Corzine; and John Obetz. As an educator, Dr. Belfield has taught students from pre-school to college. As a church musician, he has served six denominations throughout the country. As an accompanist, Belfield has collaborated with numerous choirs, vocalists and instrumentalists. In 2012, he accompanied Wake Forest University music faculty member and tenor Richard Heard, as they recorded a CD of art songs and spirituals by Florence B. Price. As composer and arranger, Dr. Belfield has written works for chorus, voice and piano, and organ. His choral and organ works are published by Hal Leonard Corporation, MorningStar Music, GIA Publications, and Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc. Dr. Belfield’s scholarly articles have been published in The American Organist and the Choral Journal. His primary research includes the music of Undine Smith Moore and Phillip McIntyre. Recently, he edited The Organ Music of Phillip McIntyre, which is published by Wayne Leupold Editions, Inc. Dr. Belfield is Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at Texas Southern University in Houston. Dr. Belfield frequently serves as choral adjudicator, guest conductor, concert organist, and accompanist across the country. His performance venues have included the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C; Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York; Bennett College; Fayetteville State University; Hampton University; Pennsylvania State University; Salem College; Spelman College; the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Virginia State University; Wake Forest University; and Winston-Salem State University. His European performances as a concert organist and accompanist have taken him to Schorndorf, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic. He continues to accept choral commissions for school and professional chorus and for special church celebrations. In 2006 and 2011, he was commissioned by Pennsylvania State University to compose works for Essence of Joy, a choral ensemble that promotes the African-American choral tradition. Belfield is currently Assistant Professor of Music, University Organist, and Assistant Director of Choral Studies at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. At Winston-Salem State, he teaches Music Theory, Choral Arranging, and accompanies the Winston-Salem State University Choir. He also serves as director of Schola Cantorum, the University Men’s Ensemble. Belfield served on the faculty at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama before coming to Winston-Salem State University.

Related Information

http://www.morningstarmusic.com/composers/b/belfield, https://www.giamusic.com/bios/roy-belfield-jr

Works by Roy Belfield

Title Collection Voice Type Range Poet
Guide My Feet High F4 - G5 Biblical
My Little Dreams Voice D4 - Gb5 Georgia Douglas Johnson
So glad I'm here Voice E4 - A5 Biblical
You can't make me doubt him Voice D4 - G5 Biblical