Meet Our Students: Donna-Marie Broomfield

Lyric soprano Donna-Marie Broomfield has performed in oratorios, operas and opera galas, both as a solo artist and with various companies, throughout England and Europe. She has performed at many exciting venues and events, including the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, Brighton & Hove Albion FC’s Amex Stadium (where she performed in front of 35,000 people live on Sky Sports), and Sensatori’s 5* Resorts in Crete, Tenerife and Egypt.

From 2004 to 2010, Donna-Marie juggled a semi-professional singing career with ‘the day job’ in radio and newspaper advertising sales management, before she finally took the plunge to go fully professional in 2010. That same year, a chance meeting encouraged her to branch into singing teaching, and an intense programme of CPD and study saw her attain certifications such as ABRSM Grade 8 Music Theory, Piano and Singing; a DipABRSM in Vocal Teaching; and an LTCL in Voice Recital.

In April 2021, fuelled by years of interest in engaging in and conducting research, and an insatiable thirst for more knowledge, Donna-Marie enrolled on our MA Voice Pedagogy programme, attracted by the opportunity to research alongside “unrestricted access to an extensive range of ongoing professional development materials”.

Since commencing her MA, Donna-Marie has relished the “round-the-clock accessibility” of Voice Study Centre content and has treasured the “exceptional support and guidance” from her tutorial team. Furthermore, studying with the Voice Study Centre has enabled her to “take the initiative” and guide her own learning journey according to her interests, pace and preferences, exploring topics relevant to her teaching practice in the process.

Donna-Marie's MA research has focused on wind instrument playing and the implications for singing, hydration, voice science and acoustics; and the influence of hormones and hormonal transitions on the voice. Donna-Marie’s interest in hormones and the voice in particular inspired one of her own students to research it for her Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), which in turn earned her acceptance into the University of Oxford.

Alongside her studies, Donna-Marie continues to perform and has been a Peripatetic Singing & Piano Teacher at The Maynard School, an independent girls’ school in Exeter (UK), since 2016. In addition, she runs a very busy private singing and piano teaching practice from her music studio in Torquay. Studying for her MA has transformed her approach to teaching to embody greater flexibility and open-mindedness, especially when exploring solutions to hurdles. Her investment in furthering her knowledge has also led to a significant demand for her teaching services, resulting in a hectic schedule of 70 weekly lessons and a healthy waiting list!

When asked what the future holds, she drew attention to her current investigation into music performance anxiety (MPA) for her final MA project but added that her passion for learning will continue long after her MA is complete! Ever committed to continuing her professional development, Donna-Marie aims to add many more strings to her bow, including belting, counselling and the trauma-informed approach to singing teaching.

You can find out more about Donna-Marie at www.donnamariehughes.co.uk