Mignon Dunn (born June 17, 1928, in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

) is an American dramatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

and voice teacher.

Life and career

Born in Memphis, Dunn grew up in

Tyronza, Arkansas Tyronza is a city in Poinsett County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 762 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Jonesboro, Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area and is in the Arkansas Delta. Geography Tyronza is located at (35 ...

and Memphis, Tennessee. She studied voice with Karin Branzell and

Beverley Peck Johnson Beverley Peck Johnson (June 12, 1904 – January 20, 2001) was an American voice teacher, soprano, and pianist who taught on the faculties of several institutions, including Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School. Her pupils included ...

. She made her official debut, in the title role of ''Carmen'', on September 8, 1955, with the Experimental Opera Theatre of America/

New Orleans Opera Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in ad ...

Association, with

Norman Treigle Norman Treigle (né Adanelle Wilfred Treigle (March 6, 1927February 16, 1975) was an American operatic bass-baritone, who was acclaimed for his great abilities as a singing-actor, and specialized in roles that evoked villainy and terror. Biograp ...

in his first Escamillo, conducted by

Renato Cellini Renato Cellini (; April 24, 1912 – March 25, 1967) was an Italian opera conductor. His father was Ezio Cellini, who was a stage director who worked with Arturo Toscanini. Metropolitan Opera Cellini went to the United States in 1947, w ...

, and directed by

Armando Agnini Armando Agnini (July 11, 1884 – March 27, 1960) was a successful Italian stage director of opera. Metropolitan Opera Born in Naples, Italy, he went to the United States as a steerage passenger on the S/S ''Auguste Victoria'' from Naples to New ...

. In 1956, Dunn made her first appearance with the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

, in a small role in ''Troilus and Cressida'', and sang with that company again in 1957, then in 1972 (''Carmen'') and 1975. The mezzo-soprano made the first of her 653 appearances with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

in 1958, as the Nurse in ''Boris Godunov'', conducted by

Dimitri Mitropoulos Dimitri Mitropoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος; The dates 18 February 1896 and 1 March 1896 both appear in the literature. Many of Mitropoulos's early interviews and program notes gave 18 February. In his later interviews, howe ...

. She went on to portray a great variety of roles with that company; her final performance there was as Klytemnästra, in ''Elektra'', in 1994. Dunn also sang with the

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

(the Nurse in ''Die Frau ohne Schatten'', conducted by

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

and directed by

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (19 February 1932 – 11 August 1988) was a French opera director, set and costume designer. Biography Ponnelle was born in Paris. He studied philosophy, art, and history there and, in 1952, began his career in Germany as a ...

, 1986),

Vienna Staatsoper The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Si ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

, Bolshoi Opera,

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

, and the

Verona Arena The Verona Arena ( it, Arena di Verona ) is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy built in 30 AD. It is still in use today and is internationally famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best p ...

(''Carmen'', directed by

Luca Ronconi Luca Ronconi (8 March 1933 – 21 February 2015) was an Italian actor, theater director, and opera director. Biography Ronconi was born in Sousse, Tunisia. After growing up in Tunisia, where his mother was a school teacher, Ronconi graduated ...

, 1970). She was married to Austrian conductor Kurt Klippstätter from 1972 until his death, on January 4, 2000. In recent years Dunn has become one of the foremost coaches and voice teachers in the US and internationally. She has served on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music since 1988. She is often called to adjudicate upper-tier vocal competitions. Dunn also taught on the faculties of the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, and

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

Commercial discography

* Verdi: ''Rigoletto'' (Peters, Tucker, Merrill, Giaotti; Cleva, 1964)

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

ive* Strauss: ''Salome'' (Jones, Cassilly, Fischer-Dieskau; Böhm, 1970) ive

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

* Thomson: ''The Mother of Us All'' (Putnam, Vanni, J.Atherton, W.Lewis, Booth; Leppard, 1977) New World Records * Charpentier: ''Louise'' (Sills, Gedda, van Dam; Rudel, 1977)

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

* Verdi: ''Rigoletto'' (Sills, Kraus, Milnes, Ramey; Rudel, 1978) EMI * Verdi: ''Requiem'' (Barker, Mauro, Plishka; Lombard) EMI/Erato

Commercial videography

* Strauss: ''Elektra'' (Nilsson, Rysanek, Nagy, McIntyre; Levine, Graf/Mills, 1980) iveDeutsche Grammophon

References

* ''Who's Who in Opera'', edited by Maria F. Rich, Arno Press, 1976. * ''The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia'', edited by David Hamilton,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

, 1987.

External links

* , with

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

(1968, audio only).
Interview with Mignon Dunn
October 5, 1984 American operatic mezzo-sopranos 1928 births Living people People from Memphis, Tennessee Singers from Tennessee Brooklyn College faculty Classical musicians from Tennessee People from Poinsett County, Arkansas Singers from Arkansas Classical musicians from Arkansas 20th-century American women opera singers 21st-century American women {{US-opera-singer-stub