Music Professor To Retire After Nearly Three Decades At North Campus
After nearly 30 years, Carol Ann Steele is ready to sing her last note at Miami Dade College.
The music aficionado, who has served as a music professor teaching vocal, ear training and sight-singing courses at North Campus, is scheduled to retire on June 30 due to family reasons.
“To say that MDC benefitted from her tenure is an understatement,” said Andres Quiroga, the chairperson of the arts and philosophy department at North Campus who was her student in 1990. “Professor Steele leaves footprints in the sand that are not easily filled.”
Steele conducts the North Star Singers and College Choir. She previously led The Chamber Singers of MDC for eighteen years.
The North Star Singers specialize in jazz and pop music and the College Choir sings traditional classical music. They perform at 9/11 ceremonies, Black History events and holiday concerts.
“When her choirs perform both on and off-campus, the audiences leave with a lasting positive impression and image of MDC,” said Christopher Stewart, a North Campus associate instructor who assists Steele in purchasing music charts, instruments and wardrobes for her choirs. “She has competently prepared her students not only for their career goals and aspirations but for the trials and tribulations of life. Her leadership puts them on the righteous path.”
The student performers she leads have showcased their talents at malls, nursing homes, fire departments, commencement ceremonies and at Coral Gables Baptist Church.
“Working with students, teaching, performing and making music together with them has been the highlight of my career,” said Steele, who has a bachelor’s degree in music from Palm Beach Atlantic University and a master’s degree in music from the University of Miami.
The last concert she’ll oversee will take place on April 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Coral Gables Baptist Church, 5501 Granada Blvd.
“She takes a lot of time and dedication to construct a show,” said Anthony Barrios, who has taken four sight-singing classes with Steele and was part of the North Star Singers in the fall and the College Choir last spring. “She doesn’t make these performances about her, she makes [them] about us, for us to sound the best we can for our audience. Because of her hard work we want to work harder.”
Steele’s passion for music began in Alexandria, Virginia.
“It was just always there in me,” Steele said. “I would always sing as a child, be part of choirs and study music as I grew up.”
She applied to work at MDC after graduating from UM. Three decades later, her teachings will live on through the hundreds of students she has taught.
“I’m very fortunate to have had a wonderful career,” Steele said. “It always goes back to the students that have really become like family to me. It has been an honor and blessing to work with them.”
