Bio

Donna-Marie Broomfield (nee Hughes) MA, LTCL, DipABRSM, MISM 

Donna-Marie (Lyric Mezzo-Soprano) studied voice privately with Isabel Morrow (1998-2007) and Alison Kettlewell (2007-2013) whilst pursuing a very busy and successful career in Media Advertising Sales and Sales Management. From 2004 until 2010, Donna-Marie juggled a semi-professional singing career with 'the day job' and finally took the plunge to go fully professional in 2010. It was also at this time that a chance meeting with a couple of very persistent and enthusiastic children encouraged Donna-Marie to branch into teaching singing - which then prompted an intense self-imposed programme of continued professional development.

Since then, Donna-Marie has taken part in masterclasses with world-renowned baritone Donald Maxwell and has had coaching sessions with British Soprano Liza Hobbs and American Soprano Julia Radosz.

Donna-Marie has performed in operas and opera galas as a solo artist and with various companies and societies throughout England and Europe.  Opera/Operetta Roles performed include Susannah (The Marriage Of Figaro), Lady In Waiting (Macbeth), Witch (Macbeth), Casilda (The Gondoliers), Melissa (Princess Ida), Countess Ceprano (Rigoletto), Gianetta (The Elixir Of Love), Mabel (Pirates Of Penzance), Aline (The Sorcerer), Constance (The Sorcerer), Dido (Dido & Aeneas), Belinda (Dido & Aeneas), Acis (Acis & Galatea), Anna Gomez (The Consul), Lucy (The Telephone) and Lady Dunmow Cover (A Dinner Engagement). Donna-Marie will soon be playing Gretel in Humperdink's 'Hansel and Gretel' and The Faun in Dunhill's 'The Enchanted Garden' with Staircase Opera in 2024.

Oratorio soloist work includes Little Organ Mass (Haydn), Regina Coeli KV108 (Mozart), Exsultate Jubilate (Mozart), Ich Bin Vergnugt Mit Meine Glucke (Bach), Laudate Dominum (Mozart), Goria (Poulenc), Gloria (Vivaldi), The Messiah (Handel), Mass In C Minor (Mozart), The Seasons (Haydn), Saint Paul (Mendelssohn), German Requiem (Brahms) and Coronation Mass (Mozart).

Over the last few years, Donna-Marie has also performed at many exciting venues and events, including Buckfast Abbey, Ugbrooke House, The Bahrain Grand Prix, The American Express Community Stadium Brighton, International Marbella Film Festival, Le Manoir Aux Quatre Saisons-Oxford, Marriott Hotel Group, The Goring Hotel-London, Ocean Village Festival Gibraltar, International Gibraltar Boat Show, Duquesa Castle Spain, El Monasterio De San Martin Spain, West Ham FC, Brighton & Hove Albion FC, the RNLI Proms, Torquay United FC, Exeter Chiefs RC, Torre Abbey, Powderham Castle and In 2010 Donna-Marie was shortlisted for the "BBC Radio 2 Dame Kiri Opera Prize".

From 2011 to 2014, Donna-Marie performed regularly as a solo classical artist for Thomson Holidays 5* Sensatori Resorts in Tenerife, Crete, and Egypt.

In April and May 2013, Donna-Marie performed to over 35,000 football fans at the Amex Stadium, Brighton, for Brighton & Hove Albion. In August 2015, she sang for a memorial match for Brighton & Hove Albion, which was broadcast live on Sky TV.

Since 2015, Donna-Marie has enjoyed a busy performing life a little bit closer to home and regularly performs in Concerts, Events and Oratorio in the South West and is a regular soloist with Exeter-based Staircase Opera.

Donna-Marie also runs a very busy private singing and piano teaching practice from her music studio in Torquay (since 2010), is a Peripatetic Singing and piano Teacher at the Maynard Independent Girls School in Exeter (since 2016), and started studying the cello in 2018.

Donna-Marie's continued professional development is very important to her, and she is fully invested in furthering her skills and knowledge on an ongoing basis.  In June 2024, she attained an MA in Vocal Pedagogy with The Voice Study Centre and the University of Wales Trinity St David.  Research interests within her MA included Hydration, The Impact of Wind Instrument Playing on the Voice, Voice Science, Hormones and Hormonal Transitions and their Influence on the cis Female Singing Voice, Music Performance Anxiety and her final thesis: Finding Practical Solutions for Music Performance Anxiety: Do Parasympathetic Tools Work for Singers?

Her future research interests include Belting, Trauma-Informed Voice Teaching, The Singing Teacher Counsellor, Child Learning Development, SEND, and Child-Centered Teaching Methods.