Bonnie Draina
Soprano Bonnie Draina has wide-ranging interests in both pedagogy and performance. An avid interpreter of post-Romantic and contemporary art song, she performed new songs of Lee Hoiby on Colorado Public Radio in 2006; she has since returned to the KVOD studios with pianist Mutsumi Moteki to preview the world premiere of Sayaka Ishiguro's Hushaby Songs, and to perform selections from the Boulder Public Library's 2008 Earth Day concert, which was subsequently televised on Boulder Public Access TV. Operatic roles range from Mozart's Despina to Widow Glock in the world premiere of Sara McKinnon by Randall Shinn. As a winner of the 2006 Notes at 9,000 Emerging Artist Competition she has been featured in several collaborative productions, most recently performing selections from Granados' Tonadillas with Helander Dance Company at the Mad Cow Arts Festival in Boulder. In recent months she collaborated with guitarist Carey Harwood and hammered dulcimer expert Lucille Reilly to present a faculty recital of Appalachian music, and performed in recital and as the soprano soloist in broadcast performances of Messiah and St. Matthew Passion in the Bethany (KS) Messiah Festival. Bonnie will make her orchestral debut with the Boulder Philharmonic in November.
Bonnie teaches studio voice and vocal pedagogy at University of Colorado-Boulder, and is a respected pedagogue specializing in Body Mapping and somatic education of singers. Her research on training kinesthesia earned her an invitation to the University of Indiana, where she presented a webcast lecture as part of the New Vocal Educators Symposium in 2007. She is an active member of Andover Educators, based in Portland, Oregon, working to promote the health and abilities of musicians through somatic and sensory training; at CU-Boulder's College of Music she plays an integral role in the growing Musicians' Wellness Initiative. Dr. Draina holds DMA and MM degrees from the University of Colorado–Boulder and Westminster Choir College. Before moving to Boulder she taught at Princeton Theological Seminary and Drew University in her native New Jersey.
Contact: Bonnie.Draina@colorado.edu
