{"id":128598,"date":"2022-08-29T10:46:44","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T14:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=128598"},"modified":"2022-10-25T13:28:57","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T17:28:57","slug":"elevated-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2022\/08\/29\/elevated-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"Elevated voice"},"content":{"rendered":"
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2013\u00a0 graduate and rising gospel star Isaiah Templeton returned to Wright State to perform with Elevation Worship at the Nutter Center. (Photo by Chris Snyder)<\/p><\/div>\n

Many noteworthy students have matriculated at Wright State University, where they\u2019ve navigated the tunnels alongside their fellow Raiders and graced the Quad with their presence.<\/p>\n

There have been actors (Brad Sherwood, Eddie McClintock), musical entertainers (Nicole Scherzinger), professional athletes (Joe Smith, Vitaly Potapenko, Frank Lickliter) and even a NASA astronaut (Michael Reed Barratt).<\/p>\n

Add to that list Isaiah Templeton, who graduated from Wright State with a bachelor\u2019s degree in organizational leadership<\/a> and is a rising star in the world of gospel music.<\/p>\n

The Charlotte, North Carolina, resident returned to his alma mater for a performance with Elevation Worship on Aug. 12, where his sonorous tones enthralled the masses in the Wright State University Nutter Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was extremely exciting to perform in the same arena where I received my high school diploma and my bachelor\u2019s degree,\u201d Templeton said. \u201cThis was a homecoming for me. I have definitely come full circle. I still have friends and family in Dayton, and I was elated that they got to see me in this element. Many of them hadn\u2019t, so it was a special night for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Templeton has released two solo projects, \u201cRoll in the Dirt\u201d in 2014 and \u201cThis Life\u201d in 2019. The former reached No. 25 on the Billboard Gospel Album charts in its debut year. Templeton has plans for a third release and will begin recording this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve recorded so I\u2019m excited about that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Templeton moved to the Dayton area the summer before his first year of high school after his mother\u2019s job transfer. He graduated from Centerville High School and subsequently continued his education at Wright State after being offered a great talent scholarship.<\/p>\n

Templeton initially majored in vocal education, but after two years decided it wasn\u2019t for him and changed his major to organizational leadership.<\/p>\n

While at Wright State, Templeton served as a campus tour guide and was a member of In His Presence (IHP) Gospel Choir. In fact, his favorite Wright State moment revolved around the choir\u2019s trip to the Bowling Green Gospel Fest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have friends to this day that I made in that choir and on those trips,\u201d he said. \u201cIHP was definitely \u2018my tribe\u2019 while I was at WSU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Templeton grew up around gospel music as his parents both were involved in the local church ministry. His mother oversaw the children\u2019s choir so he started singing as a little boy as far back as he can recall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I wanted to make gospel music my career when my dad overheard me singing one day in his car and turned and looked at me with a shock facial expression,\u201d Templeton said. \u201cThe look on his face as the affirmation I needed to pursue singing as a career. Today, my enjoyment comes from watching people get lifted and encouraged from the songs I\/we sing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Templeton serves as worship leader at churches in Charlotte and Atlanta, but gospel music is his bread and butter.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic has raised me and continues to pay me,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful I get to make a living doing what I love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Templeton would like to give back to latent musicians some of what gospel music has afforded him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to pour into the next generation of vocalists,\u201d he said. \u201cOne day I\u2019ll have a camp where they can come and cultivate their gifts. The future will always hold space for God and love for people. That will always be the priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although his path was altered somewhat and he took a bit of a detour while at Wright State, the lessons Templeton learned helped him become successful personally and professionally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWright State taught me it\u2019s OK to change your mind\u2026to start over,\u201d he said. \u201cTo keep starting over until it works. Leaving the music department, I felt like a failure. Music had always been my passion and it came so easy to me. But the style of music mixed with the theory kind of took the fun out of it for me. So I had to make a decision. I changed my course but I still finished. And in life, I\u2019ve learned that sometimes the course, the route, the plan changes … but you can still win. You can still finish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2013 graduate and rising gospel star Isaiah Templeton returned to Wright State to perform with Elevation Worship at the Nutter Center. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":128610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,4299,729,2037,2104,744,725,4896,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-alumni-profile","category-around-campus","category-arts-scene","category-teacher-education","category-education-human-services","category-home-news-sidebar","category-leadership-studies-in-education-organizations","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128598"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128626,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128598\/revisions\/128626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}