As an educator, Mr. Norris commenced teaching at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in the fall of 1986, where he discovered his true calling. During his tenure at Interlochen, Mr. Norris has been an instructor of Voice at the National Music Camp and the Interlochen Arts Academy. A rough count of the number of voice lessons that Mr. Norris has given can be placed as being well over 23,000. In addition to his role as a private studio voice instructor, he created the Opera Workshop programs at both the Interlochen Academy and the Interlochen Summer Camp. Mr. Norris also founded the Advanced Vocal Program at the Interlochen Arts Camp, and also played a foundational role in creating the Contemporary Vocal Music Program at the Academy. Mr. Norris’ former students have attended the finest music schools in the United States, including the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School, the conservatories of Eastman, Peabody, New England, Oberlin, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Boston, San Francisco, Manhattan and Mannes, and numerous universities including, Northwestern, Indiana, University of Michigan, USC, UCLA, NYU, DePauw, Denver, Lawrence, Vanderbilt, Rice, DePaul, Michigan State, Florida State, Carnegie Mellon, Boston, Berklee, and Roosevelt, as well as many other fine schools.
Norris students have proceeded to enjoy professional vocal performance careers in diverse genres, from opera to musical theater. They have appeared in many European opera houses and U.S.-based companies, including the New York Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, and Chicago Lyric Opera, amongst many other companies.
Mr. Norris was honored to be named as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts Instructor, and the U.S. Department of Education’s National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts designated Mr. Norris as a Distinguished Teacher in the Arts. Mr. Norris' twenty National Young Arts Competition Winners and 5 Presidential Scholar in the Arts Finalists are honors of particular note. Upon his retirement from the Interlochen Center for the Arts following 38 years of service, Mr. Norris was bestowed with the Byron Hanson Lifetime Achievement Award.
As an editor and author, in the early 2000’s Mr. Norris presented the compilation of “Italian Songs and Arias,” In the current year, Mr. Norris is pleased to present his new book “The Practical Singer” – a compilation of technical concepts and stories to sing and live by.
Along with his wife, harpist Sylvia Norris, Mr. Norris has given many concerts and recitals of songs from Bach to Broadway. They have often produced gala concert evenings with other singers highlighting operatic, art song, holiday, or Broadway themes. Together, they have been featured performers on the Regent Seven Seas Ship Voyager.
Jeff and Sylvia are the proud parents of three children and four grandchildren, and they make their permanent home in Traverse City, Michigan.
