Scott Santoro

Instructor of Music, Vocal Coach

Education

  • BM - Albion College
  • MM - University of Alabama
  • DMA - University of Alabama

Research Areas

  • Collaborative piano; piano performance

Bio

Dr. Scott Santoro joined the School of Music faculty in the fall of 2022 as Instructor of Music, vocal coach, and a member of the music staff for the UA Opera Theatre.  He received both his DMA and MM in Piano Performance from The University of Alabama where he studied under Dr. Kevin Chance, and did secondary studies in voice collaboration, diction, and repertoire. Dr. Santoro’s doctoral research focused on particular muscles in the shoulders, back, and core. His thesis was titled “Understanding the Muscles of the Shoulders, Back, and Core: Injury Prevention for Pianists.” Dr. Santoro was awarded graduate assistantships in both his degrees at The University of Alabama. His assistantship included serving as the collaborative pianist and assistant conductor for The University of Alabama Opera Theatre while also assisting, coaching, and perfor,img with the departments voice students. During his time at The University of Alabama, Dr. Santoro has been involved in various productions through The University of Alabama Opera Theatre. Recent highlights include being the collaborative pianist for UA Opera Theatre’s Thérèse Raquin (2022, National Opera Association – NOA – First Place winner in Division II, Opera Production Competition), serving as the Music Director for “In Too Deep,” a UA Opera Theatre scenes program (2021), as well as serving as the collaborative pianist for the productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors (2016-2022), Die Zauberflöte (2021), and the world premieres of Michael Ching’s Remove Shoes Before Entering (2020) and Joseph Landers’ Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (2019). In the Fall of 2022, Dr. Santoro serve as conductor and music director of the Opera Theatre’s production of The Gondoliers. Other performances outside of The University of Alabama Opera Theatre include performances with both the Huxford Symphony Orchestra and the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra.
Dr. Santoro won various awards throughout his time at The University of Alabama. In 2020, Dr. Santoro was awarded the Clara Wells Fellowship in the Collegiate Division. Dr. Santoro was also the winner of AMTA at the district level in both 2021 and 2019. He was also the pianist for UA Opera Theatre’s Letters to Quebec from Providence in the Rain (2017), which was awarded second place in the National Opera Association’s production competition.
Before attending The University of Alabama, Dr. Scott Santoro attended Albion College where he received the Bachelor of Music degree and several performance honors under the tutelage of Dr. David Abbott. Dr. Santoro’s interest in piano pedagogy was nurtured at Albion as he was awarded a grant to study piano pedagogy in Albion College’s scholarship program, The Foundation for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (FURSCA).