Allison Gaines

Allison Gaines is a versatile soprano vocalist hailing from Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 2025, she expects to complete her Voice Bachelors of Musical Arts degree in Voice and Multidisciplinary Studies at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) studying with Dr. Rose Mannino. For all four years of her undergraduate program, Allison has been in SMTD’s prestigious Chamber Choir conducted by Dr. Eugene Rogers, performing such works as Mendelssohn’s Elijah on tour in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis himself, and premiering new works including When the Caged Bird Sings by Nkeiru Okoye and White Birds by Jēkabs Jančevskis, in which she was a soloist. Allison is the soprano section leader at the First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, and was previously the soprano section leader at Bethlehem United Church of Christ, Ann Arbor.

For the past two years, Allison has been the Artistic Director and singer for Touch of Blue: New American Vocal Ensemble, the University of Michigan’s first and only vocal jazz ensemble. Touch of Blue integrates her passions for performing vocal jazz, artistic collaboration, and organizational leadership. She is the featured soloist on Touch of Blue’s 2024 single, “Come Sunday.” In 2023, Touch of Blue obtained grants from SMTD’s Excel Lab and the Arts at Michigan Initiative to present their “Discover Possibility” concert at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, which featured many new works by contemporary composers and allowed Allison to showcase her and her collaborator Harry Castle’s arrangement of Harry Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin’.” Most recently, Touch of Blue was the featured performer at the University of Michigan’s Winter Commencement Ceremony.