Colleagues and students will remember Anna Mooy for her calm yet observant ways, how she supported her friends and made people feel like they mattered.
An email was sent Jan. 16 from Interim University President Courtney White that Anna Mooy, director of vocal studies, died Jan. 15.
Terri Metcalf-Peterson, part-time instructor for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, occasionally worked with Mooy and vocal students.
“Working with student singers can be especially challenging with their varied egos and can be a bit like ‘herding cats,’” Metcalf-Peterson said. “[Mooy] was quite good at serving the students’ needs, growing their singing potential and the program while maintaining great relationships with her colleagues.”
Mooy received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice from Brigham Young University, where she met friend and colleague Nancy Allred, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and professor of music.
Nearly 40 years ago, Allred and Mooy were music students and sang in BYU Singers for three years together. Mooy was a premiere singer and Allred was her accompanist.
Mooy studied for her doctorate at the University of Minnesota. She received honors such as Regionalist Finalist for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions on two occasions and has performed with Dale Warland Singers, Utah Symphony and The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. Her mezzo-soprano voice has also been heard as far as Carnegie Hall in New York City.
She taught music at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, North Central University, Bemidji State University, BYU Provo, BYU Hawaii and St. Olaf College.
Allred said: “She had a spirit of warmth and goodness about her. She was kind, gracious and elegant. I will miss her, and I will continue to carry her love and legacy in my own teaching.”
After her time at St. Olaf, she moved to St. George in 2022 and taught part-time. She began full-time in January 2023 and was appointed as voice professor to carry the voice area while the department began searching for a new voice faculty member.
Sara Pruther Vazquez, a senior digital film major from Ibiza, Spain, took private non-major voice lessons from Mooy in fall 2022 to spring 2023. Vazquez said Mooy was encouraging and serious when she needed to be. She always picked up on the little things and genuinely cared about her students’ improvement.
One specific thing Mooy said to Vazquez was to be loud and unapologetic when singing. It helped Vazquez transform not only as a singer but as a person.
“I grew more confident because of the safe space I had around her, and I have nothing but grateful feelings for her in my heart,” Vazquez said. “She was the first person to take my singing ambitions seriously, and that meant a lot for me. I want to say my condolences to her family and to other students I know who are saddened by this news.”
Funeral services will be Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. at Canyon Mortuary in Cottonwood Heights and a viewing at noon.
Allred said: “I will miss Anna Mooy. She has been a light of friendship, love and caring in my life. She has been a true friend to me all these years. Her legacy of beautiful singing and glorious teaching will live on through her students.”
