Rate My Professor Norah Duncan

Norah Duncan IV is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Music at Wayne State University within Arts and Culture, where he serves as Area Coordinator for Organ Performance, directs the WSU Concert Chorale, and coordinates choral concerts for the department. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Detroit in 1974, a Master of Fine Arts in Organ Performance from Wayne State University in 1975, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Church Music and Organ Performance from the University of Michigan. Duncan served as music director for the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit for over 26 years, the second longest-serving Roman Catholic cathedral musician in the country, directing music for major Archdiocesan liturgies including Pope John Paul II's historic 1987 visit to Detroit. He established the Gregorian Institute of Detroit with the Benedictine Monastery in Solesmes, France, for the study of Gregorian chant, presented papers on liturgical music at international congresses in Rome, Dublin, and for the Diocese of Enugu and Archdiocese of Abuja in Nigeria, and currently directs music at Holy Name Church in Birmingham, Michigan. As a consultant, he served on the editorial review board for Oregon Catholic Press and the music review committee for the revision of Lead Me, Guide Me, the African American Catholic hymnal, and was a member of the Education Board of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

A prolific performer and composer, Norah Duncan has given organ recitals throughout the United States and Europe, including recent performances in Trier, Germany, and Sydney, Australia. He has directed choirs in collaborations with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphonic Civic Orchestra, Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra, and Macomb Symphony Orchestra, performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 2004 and 2005, American Choral Directors Association conventions, Michigan Music Educators State Conventions, and throughout Europe. His compositions, published exclusively by GIA Publications, include Unity Mass (2010), the internationally acclaimed Duncan Alleluia featured in Lead Me, Guide Me, Three Canticles, Evening Hymn, Christ the Victorious, and Holy Name of Jesus Gloria; he received the Wayne State University Murray Jackson Creative Scholar in the Arts Award in 2024 for his cantata JOURNEY: From Slavery to Freedom. Duncan also contributed to the Detroit Lions' fight song Gridiron Heroes by singing it with the Johnny Trudell Orchestra from 1998 to 2003. His honors include the Award for Excellence for Musical Direction from the American College Theater Festival in Washington, DC; Sr. Thea Bowman Award from the Archdiocese of Detroit; Spirit of Detroit Award; Mother Teresa Duchemin Award for exemplary community service; and the first Changing Lives Through Music Award from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.