Dona D. Vaughn
2006 Regional Judge

Dona D. Vaughn is Artistic Director or PORTopera in Portland , Maine , Director of the Opera Workshop at Manhattan School of Music, and Acting Coach for The Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Credits this season included Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci for PORTopera, Salieri's Falstaff for Wolf Trap Opera, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Conrad Susa's Transformations, and the New York premiere of Milton Granger's The Proposal for Manhattan School of Music. A devoted supporter of contemporary opera, she has directed the premiers of Roberto Hazon's L'agenzia Matrimoniale, Francis Thorne's Mario And The Magician, Richard Pearson Thomas' Café Vienna, Ray Luke's Droane's Wooden Image and The Bullfrog, New York premiere of Milton Granger's Talk Opera, and the European premiere of Carlisle Floyd's The Flower And The Hawk. Formerly a voice teacher at SUNY - Plattsburgh, Marymount Manhattan College , and Mt. Scenario College , she often adjudicates for vocal competitions including the Metropolitan National Council, Denver Lyric Opera Vocal Competition, and France 's Devivrevox. Additional credits include New York City Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Berkshire Opera, Anchorage Opera, Dayton Opera, New York Repertory Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, and the Florida Arts Festival. She has been a dramaturge for the O'Neill Conference on Opera and Musical Theater, The HB Playwrights Unit, and the University of Kansas New Play Festival . She was Assistant Director for the premiere of Tennessee Williams' Red Devil Battery Sign, and subsequently directed it and the first public performance of Williams' Spring Storm for Ensemble Studio Theater. She directed the Off-Broadway production of Murphy Guyer's World Of Mirth, and The Women and Last Night Of Ballyhoo for Minerva Productions. She began her career as a performer in the original Broadway productions of Company, Jesus Christ Superstar and Seesaw among others. A graduate of Brevard College (Alumni Hall of Fame & current Board of Trustees), she received a BA in music from Wesleyan (Outstanding Alumni Award), and the MA in theater from Hunter College . She studied acting with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen, and dance with Martha Graham.

Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Brooksville , Florida , she lives in New York with her husband, actor/singer Ron Raines and their daughter, Charlotte Vaughn Raines.

Return to List of Judges