Danielle Steele

Danielle Steele, Assistant Director of Choral Activities at Earlham College, has a multifaceted career as a conductor, educator, clinician and singer. She recently finished her tenure as Interim Director with MUSE, Cincinnati’s Women’s Chorus, an inclusive, feminist choral community.

Ms. Steele is the organizer of the national Transgender Singing Voice Conference, a bi-annual conference exploring the unique needs of transgender singers and intersecting issues that affect transgender musicians’ lives. Her research involves the vocal pedagogy and integration of transgender singers into their preferred-gender ensemble. In 2016, Ms. Steele collaborated with Butterfly Music Transgender Chorus in Boston, serving as their vocal clinician. Recently, she presented a vocal workshop on singing for transgender speech clients at the Speech Language Pathology Department of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching facility of Harvard. Her most recent workshops with Midwest-area choruses and universities focus on LGBTQ awareness and creating a safe and welcoming choral classroom. Ongoing projects include an interview series with conservative Christian pre-service educators who are struggling with how their faith and allyship to transgender students intersect. Ms. Steele received her bachelor’s degree at Butler University where she conducted the Indianapolis Children’s Choir under Henry Leck. She earned her master’s in vocal performance  at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in choral conducting.