Rate My Professor Cera Babb

Dr. Cera Babb is the Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where she conducts the Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Tenor/Bass Ensemble, and Treble Choir. She teaches courses including Conducting I, Conducting Lessons, Vocal Pedagogy, Choral Pedagogy, and Music Education. As an active clinician, she works with honor choirs, all-state choirs, and choral festivals across the country, focusing on fostering enriching, meaningful, and musically excellent experiences for musicians and their communities. Under her direction, four different UWRF choral ensembles have been selected as national finalists in competitions such as the American Prize in Conducting.

Before her appointment at UWRF, Dr. Babb taught choir and courses in music education and music history at Alma College. She has worked with nonprofit, community, children’s, and intergenerational choirs nationwide, valuing the impact of communal music-making on various communities. Dr. Babb holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Michigan State University, a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from the University of Oregon, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from the University of Delaware. Her research interests include assessing the impact of choral music on communities, investigating the work of underrepresented musicians, developing choirs with the use of tuning forks, and fostering student success at the post-secondary level. She presented a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project titled 'Challenging Conventional Methods of Listening Through an Equity-Minded Lens' in post-secondary conducting courses, demonstrating improved student efficacy in listening skills through student-selected, culturally relevant repertoire. Dr. Babb is a 2024-25 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars Program Fellow.