Jeannine Tesori and Dawn Upshaw have joined Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), as professors in the practice.

Both joined the faculty in July and will each teach one course per semester. Both are appointed in the Department of Music and Tesori also holds a fully joint appointment in Theater, Dance and Performance Studies.

In a statement, Marc Robinson, the dean of Humanities in the FAS said,  “We are so lucky to have two titans of the music world joining the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Jeanine Tesori’s profound works for music theater and Dawn Upshaw’s glorious performances in opera houses and concert halls have changed lives. I am thrilled that Yale students will now learn from their vast experience.”

Tesori has written the scores of multiple Broadway musicals, including “Kimberly Akimbo,” “Fun Home,” “Caroline, or Change,” “Shrek The Musical,” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” She also wrote the opera “Grounded,” which had its premiere at the Washington National Opera, followed by the Metropolitan Opera. Other operas include “The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me,” and “Blue.”

Meanwhile, Upshaw is an acclaimed singer who has performed nearly 300 at the Metropolitan Opera. She has made a point of working closely with composers and has premiered more than 25 works. She was the first vocal artist to be named a MacArthur Fellow and was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008.

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