Jeryl Cunningham-Fleming

About Me

Dr. Jeryl Cunningham-Fleming, a native of The Bronx, NY, has been praised for her “gorgeous, full voice” (Lexington Herald-Leader). Her vocal artistry has been heard in more than ten countries and across four continents. She has performed as a favored soloist for prestigious ensembles and venues, including the Boys Choir of Harlem, the American Spiritual Ensemble (ASE), the United Nations, Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, and Lincoln Center. Dr. Cunningham-Fleming received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Mannes School of Music-The New School and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kentucky.

Her repertoire spans opera, oratorio, choral masterworks, jazz, and art song, but her interpretation of the African American spiritual remains a distinctive hallmark of her artistry—rooted deeply in her heritage and honed through years of performance and scholarship.

Before embarking on her extensive solo career, Dr. Cunningham-Fleming gained her initial conducting experience with the renowned Boys Choir of Harlem and Girls Choir of Harlem, where she developed her early passion for choral leadership. She is now both a regular soloist and a conductor with the American Spiritual Ensemble (ASE), an internationally acclaimed group that performs Negro spirituals, opera, jazz, and Broadway repertoire, celebrating the Black experience across the United States, Europe, and South America.

Dr. Cunningham-Fleming has recorded several CDs with ASE, released a solo CD titled Stand the Storm: Anthems, Hymns and Spirituals of Faith and Hope (2016), and was an integral part of two widely viewed PBS documentaries featuring the Ensemble: The Spirituals (Dos Vatos Productions, 2007) and American Spiritual Ensemble (KET, 2017). She was recently a featured soloist on Courtney Carey’s debut recording, I Wanna Be Ready (2023).

Outside of her performance engagements, Dr. Cunningham-Fleming was Artist-in-Residence at the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City. Most recently, she was on the voice faculty at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.