Sonya Hester
MUSIC and the BUSINESS OF MUSIC MASTER CLASS ARTIST
I’m Sonya D. Hester, and I’ve been playing instrumental music since 8 years old. My parents are Nancy G. Diggs and the late Charles E. Lovelace. I’m a mother of 2, and I am excitedly expecting my first grandchild. I am a lover of music, and participated in choir and band in every phase of my education. One of the highlights of my musical involvement is having been the first female to march snare drum in the famed Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band. The late Professor Conrad Hutchinson, our then Band Director, shaped much of who I am today as a musician. Dean Dardanella Ennis cultivated my love for the English language, and I currently serve as Associate Professor of English for Southern University at Shreveport, and Minister of Music/Associate Minister for the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. I also served as the former Choral Director for SUSLA. I’ve been blessed to share on a number of musical recordings and productions, and have composed for Gospel recording artists. Music is the universal language which everyone speaks, and it has greatly enriched my life for the better.