Cecelia Stearman is a native of Mississippi.  After graduating from Mississippi College, with a Masters in Vocal Performance, she taught voice at MC before setting her sights on Europe.  She spent 14 years living and singing in Germany and France, where she met her husband. She founded a Gospel Choir, in France, which is still active today-celebrating its 25th anniversary in February 2025.  From Europe, MS. Stearman relocated to Kirkwood, MO, where she taught voice at Missouri Baptist University and sang several opera seasons with Union Avenue Opera of St. Louis.  She founded yet another Gospel Choir, about to celebrate 20 years!  In 2015, she followed he husband to New York City.  There, she joined the board of City Lyric Opera.  From January to March of 2020, Ms. Stearman was in Germany, as Guest Conductor for a Gospel Project, with the German American Community Choir of Frankfurt.  COVID interrupted this project and brought her back to NYC and then, finally, home to Mississippi.  Now teaching voice at Millsaps College, she is also the Director of Music at Fondren Presbyterian Church.  

Ms. Stearman has performed opera, oratorio and recitals in theaters and concert stages on four continents and in numerous countries including venues such as the Uspinov Palace of St. Petersburg, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Odeon Herod Atticus of Athens and Carnegie Hall, in New York City. In addition, Ms. Stearman has recorded African-American Spirituals for German Public Radio.  Some of her favorite opera performances have included Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, The Countess in Pikovaya Dama, Jade Boucher in Dead Man Walking,  Erda in Das Rheingold,, Waltraute in Die Walkuere, the mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and the role of Erda in Siegfried.  In New York City she appeared with the Brearley Chorus singing the mezzo solos in the Palmeri Tango Mass.   She also presented the music of Mark Hayes, with the composer/arranger himself at the piano, a solo concert of cabaret music with Laura Bergquist, Broadway conductor, as Musical Director.  She had her debut at Carnegie Hall singing the solos in the Mozart Requiem and Durufle Requiem with DCINY. 

Music critics have praised Ms. Stearman as “commanding both vocally and physically,” KDHX Theater Review and as possessing “a pure alto sound… rarely heard… Her voice was rich, dark and liquid.” The Clarion Ledger.  

Accompanied by:

Katie Rowan serves as Collaborative Pianist and Instructor of Piano at Belhaven University, where she teaches applied and class piano and performs with students and ensembles. She is also the organist and pianist at Fondren Presbyterian Church and works with the music program at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. Katie values the role of music-making in the community and has spent more than a decade performing in concerts, theatrical productions, and other local events alongside vocalists, instrumentalists, students, and fellow musicians.

Katie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Belhaven University in 2014 and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Mississippi College in 2021. She is nationally certified through the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and is a member of the Mississippi Music Teachers Association (MMTA). She has completed all requirements for the Doctor of Arts in Music Education at William Carey University, and her degree will be conferred in December 2026.