South Holland resident’s singing, teaching, caring acumen resonates all the way down to New Orleans

She taught for 34 years at Chicago Public Schools, while sharing her love of singing with audiences and students.

But Joyce Carter, a mezzo-soprano, who has performed with the Chicago Opera Theatre, Apollo Club, Iliana Community Chorale, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Lake Forest Symphony, isn’t done yet. 

“I loved the opportunity to express myself creatively with my voice and share it with others,” Carter said. “I love teaching.”

Now in her 70s, the South Holland resident spends her days teaching voice part-time at South Suburban College, and piano to students in her home.

“I’m doing things with passion and with purpose and I enjoy working,” she said.

That passion in her professional life as well as her activities off the clock recently earned her the Alumnus of the Year award from her alma mater, Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically Black university in New Orleans.

“Mrs. Carter taught us how to serve without shining,” said Chantel Shackleford, Xavier’s National Alumni Association president. “She taught us how to give without bragging and how to be silent when we wanted to speak up.”

Carter, who grew up in Mobile, Alabama, volunteers at many nonprofit organizations including Links, Inc., South Suburban Chicago Chapter. She is chapter president of The Society, Incorporated Chicago Chapter for the Arts and is on the advisory board of the The African American Network of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association.

One of her favorite gigs is being a Chicago Alumni Association member for Xavier University of Louisiana, where she mentors incoming students and graduates. She received her undergraduate degree in music from Xavier and a master’s degree in music from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

“My (late) husband and I both were graduates of Xavier and we have always been dedicated to the education of children and helping them find their way,” Carter said.

Her daughter, Jocelyn A. Carter, is a physician and scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and her son, James F. Carter, is an investment banker.

Growing up in Mobile, Carter showed an early talent, so her parents arranged voice lessons and she performed in her church.

She studied at Westminster Choir College in summers while in high school and went to college at Xavier, where she performed as Bess in a New Orleans Symphony production of “Porgy and Bess.”

Carter was a finalist for the Chicago Lyric Opera School and participated in the Adult Metropolitan Opera National Council regional auditions before moving on to a career in teaching.

Maggie Garner, one of Carter’s voice students at South Suburban College, said she has a knack for helping build essential pronunciation and breathing skills.

“Mrs. Carter is very good at helping you understand why you do what you do in terms of pronunciation and breathing,” Garner said. “When you have a dense song with a lot of lyrics, you need to constantly be prepared with what you do next and you do that with breathing and pronunciation.”

Garner said her teacher is also persistent, but kind.

“She is a stickler … if she hears you do something wrong, she won’t let you go ahead and do that,” said Garner. “But she’s very nice about it and she’s always on your team. She’s very human. You’re going to form a human connection, regardless.

“I honestly hope to follow in her footsteps, a little bit.”

Christine Coburn Whack, who took private lessons from Carter from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, couldn’t say enough about her teacher.

“She helped me understand how to use my diaphragm correctly to support my singing,” said Whack, a marketing professional who performs “positive music that crosses and blends different genres.” “She also helped me stylistically grasp the song’s intention and convey that through my emotions, delivery and overall performance.”

That helped Whack with her past performances in Vienna, Austria, New York and Nairobi, Kenya, too.

“Mrs. Carter is one of those teachers who makes a lasting impression on you,” Whack said. “Her expansive knowledge, ability for depth, and passion for teaching have been a blessing, and our time spent together sharing music at her piano will always be a special place in my heart.”

Carter, says she enjoys life between her teaching, volunteering and being a member of St. Mark United Methodist Church of Chicago.

“I do live alone but in my heart, I’m not by myself,” said Carter. “I have the Holy Spirit here with me, too.”

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.