Cindy Candelaria

Mezzo-Soprano

Mrs. Cindy Candelaria-Pieve, mezzo-soprano, is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Slippery Rock University, where she teaches applied voice and related courses. She earned a BA in Secondary Music Education from the University of Puerto Rico and studied classical voice performance at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. Mrs. Candelaria completed an MA in Vocal Performance at CUNY Hunter College while teaching music in Puerto Rico and New York City schools.

She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice with a Cognate in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she taught applied voice to musical theatre majors, non-majors, and graduate conducting majors, as part of her Teaching Assistantship. She also served as an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Xavier University, working with Theatre, Music Theatre, Music Education, and Voice majors.

Her operatic roles include Mrs. Coyle in Owen Wingrave, Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Cathleen in Riders to the Sea, Gertrude in Hansel und Gretel, and more. She premiered two new roles during her MA studies and has performed in opera choruses with Ópera de Puerto Rico. As a recitalist, Mrs. Candelaria has performed with Messa Di Voce, Cincinnati’s Music for All Seasons, and the Museum of the City of New York. She also has extensive experience in choral conducting and singing across various genres, including commercial music, gospel, latin-jazz, and Latin American folk and popular music. 

Now based in Western Pennsylvania, Mrs. Candelaria has presented on The Versatility of the Voice for the SRU’s chapter of Students of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (SNATS) and the Pennsylvania Collegiate Music Educators Association (PCMEA), as well as the Mid-Atlantic (MAR-AMTA) and Great Lakes Region (GLR-AMTA) conferences of the American Music Therapy Association. Mrs. Candelaria serves as Vice President of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Tri-State Chapter.