Duane Martin Foster

Duane Martin Foster is a native of St. Louis MO and an Alumnus of Morehouse College and Northwestern University. His career spans from musical theatre and opera to dance and film, having accomplished the highest level of excellence in each discipline. He received his dance training and certification from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, performed the role of Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess at Lincoln Center with NY City Opera and appeared as Coalhouse Walker , Jr. alongside Four-Time Tony Award Winner Audra McDonald in the Broadway smash hit musical, Ragtime, which garnered four Tony Awards. While in NY, Foster also performed in three wonderful seasons of A Christmas Carol directed by Susan Stroman, two City Center Encores; House of Flowers and Purlie, starring opposite of Blair Underwood. He was also a member and soloist for the acclaimed Broadway Inspirational Voices. He has appeared at some of the great regional theatres around the country including Hartford Stage, Alliance Theatre and the Papermill Playhouse. In St. Louis he has appeared for two summer seasons at the Muny in Camelot and Showboat. His concert appearances include Robert Ray'the Gospel Mass (Tenor Soloist) at Carnegie Hall, and 5 seasons as a soloist with the Saint Louis Symphony's In Unison Choir. Foster's big screen credits include The New Leave It To Beaver Movie as the choreographer(1996) and Preaching to the Choir (2006) (He is the man running down the street while putting on his choir robe and hitting a high D-Flat.) He also appears on the soundtrack for Preaching to the Choir (track#7) and Pennies for the Boatman (July 2010). Foster appears on recordings with Linda Eder, Christy Baron, The Broadway Inspirational Voices and the Original Cast Recording of Ragtime. Discovering a higher calling and need to inspire the youth, Duane moved back to his native St. Louis in 2006. He was appointed Theatre/Dance Instructor at Normandy Middle School. While there, he transformed a ghost town of a theatre program into a thriving and innovative force for the Normandy School District. He is the choir director for the Normandy High School in St. Louis. This is a position previously held by legendary St. Louis choral conductors Joan Brown and Dwayne Buggs. He is also the founding Director of the Normandy Performing Arts Academy and the Normandy Dance Academy (NDA), who hosted Houston Ballet and Alvin Ailey in residence for the 2010-2011 school year. In June 2011 he traveled to New Haven, CT to receive the Yale Distinguished Music Educator Award. This award is given to 50 public school music educators from all over the United States.