Donna Hinds Sawyers

Donna Hinds Sawyers, Soprano and Vocal Specialist, is co-founder and co-director of Studio Bella Voce. She holds a Bachelor of Music, Music Education emphasis, and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from The University of Houston. As a D.M.A. Candidate her studies focused on opera and contemporary music. Ms Hinds Sawyers served apprenticeships with University of Houston Opera Studio under the direction of Buck Ross, and Aspen Opera Theatre directed by Edward Berkeley. She pursued studies in vocal pedagogy, mentored by Elisabeth Howard, International Voice Clinician and creator of the Vocal Power Method. She has studied voice with Elisabeth Howard, Isabelle Ganz, W. Stephen Smith, and Richard Barrett. Vocal coaches include Arlene Shrutt, Gary Arvin, and Kenneth Merrill. She has studied art song with Paul Sperry, lieder with Elena Nikolaidi and contemporary opera with Carlisle Floyd. Certifications include Vocal Power and Texas All Level Certification in Music.

Ms. Hinds Sawyers is a well known performer and teacher in the Houston area. She has served on the music faculty of North Harris College for twenty years, teaching vocal studies, music academics, and music theatre. She is a frequent adjudicator and clinician for choral, music theatre, and vocal solo programs. Ms. Hinds Sawyers spent four years in the country music arena, serving as studio coach at Fireside Studio in Nashville, TN. She is also active in sacred music, as a performer and director.

Favorite opera roles performed include Mimi in La Boheme, The Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Alcina in Alcina, Baby Doe in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Susanna in Il Segreto do Susanna, and Miss Jessel in The Turn of The Screw. Stage roles include Maggie in Dancing at Lughnasa, Annelle in Steel Magnolias, and Rootie in Graceland. She has appeared as soprano soloist in concert and oratorio productions including The Creation, Messiah, Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, and Bach’s Magnificat.

Theatre credits include music direction/ conducting of Into the Woods, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Pippin, Little Shop of Horrors, The Fantasticks, Godspell, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Robber Bridegroom, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, and Fifty Years of Broadway Revue.

Recognitions include Academic Excellence Award, North Harris College (2002), and Kennedy Center Performance Award, American College Theatre Festival (1994). Ms. Hinds Sawyers is an active member of NATS, and TMEA.