Brittney Boykin, assistant professor and Director of Choral Activities at Georgia Tech, has earned national recognition with compositions featured on two Grammy-nominated albums. The projects, Black Pierrot with Sidney Outlaw and Warren Jones, and In This Short Life with Devony Smith and Danny Zelibor, are nominated for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album at the 2026 Grammy Awards.

Boykin describes composition as something that grew from passion rather than long-term planning. What began as a hobby has evolved into work recognized on a national stage.

On In This Short Life, soprano Devony Smith performs three selections from Boykin’s larger 14-song cycle, Moments in Sonder, set to poetry by Maya Angelou. The cycle reflects on shared human experiences, exploring themes of time, connection, aging, and emotional growth.

The album Black Pierrot includes Boykin’s seven-song cycle, 26 Ways of Looking at a Black Man, originally commissioned through a collaboration involving Merola Opera in San Francisco. The work draws from 26 poems by Harlem Renaissance poet Raymond Patterson, distilled into seven thematic pieces centered on spirituality, vulnerability, love, and emotional complexity within the Black male experience. The album also features a 1945 song cycle by William Grant Still, creating a cross-generational dialogue within the classical tradition.

Beyond her professional achievements, Boykin remains deeply committed to her students at Georgia Tech. She highlights the unique makeup of the university’s choirs, which include students majoring in fields such as engineering and biology rather than performance. By emphasizing creativity within a STEM-focused environment, Boykin sees music as part of Georgia Tech’s broader mission to improve the human condition.

In addition to her Grammy-nominated work, Boykin has held a residency with Minnesota Opera, received a commission from Finger Lakes Opera for its first opera, and completed two commissions at The Kennedy Center. Through both composition and teaching, she continues to expand the reach of classical music while mentoring the next generation of creative thinkers.