One of the greatest musical experiences is collaborating with another musician. Having a great accompanist is essential when preparing a recital, exam or festival performance. Donna has over 20 years of accompanying experience, and has performed extensively in recital with both singers and instrumentalists, including numerous CBC Radio broadcasts. Whether playing with a beginning flautist or a professional soprano, she approaches the rehearsals and performance with the same professionalism and enthusiasm.

Vocal coaching and repetiteur work

As a respected and busy vocal coach and repetiteur in Vancouver for many years, Donna had the pleasure of working with many young singers. She has studied with renowned diction specialist Nico Castel (Metropolitan Opera; Manhattan School of Music) and coaches English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, as well as Czech. She has been a repetiteur and rehearsal pianist for Vancouver Opera, Burnaby Lyric Opera, UBC Opera Workshop, VAM Opera Studio, and Nuova of Edmonton. The founding musical director of Opera Breve, Donna has music directed various productions of opera and musical theatre works, a sampling of which is listed below.

Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss)
Street Scene (K. Weill)
Annie (C. Strause)
La voix humaine (F. Poulenc)
The Telephone (G. Menotti)
The Bear (W. Walton)
Cinderella (Cendrillon) (G. Massenet)
The Bartered Bride (B. Smetana)

"I have appreciated all your coachings and comments so much! You have been an artistic inspiration and Vancouver will miss you." Sarah Kanakos, soprano