Nancy McDuffie: voice

A native of Roanoke, Virginia, Nancy McDuffie, first began vocal study under the guidance of Oscar McCullough of Hollins University. Ms. McDuffie later received degrees in both Music Education and Vocal Pedagogy from East Carolina University while studying with Gladys White. Ms. McDuffie earned a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from the State University of New York at Fredonia studying there with Dr. David Evans. While at Fredonia, she was the recipient of the prestigious SUNY Opera Award for her performances as Musetta in La Bohemé by Puccini and Laurie in Aaron Copland's The Tenderland. Ms. McDuffie has also successfully competed in various vocal competitions, placing first in the State and Regional levels of the National Association of Teachers of Singing competitions.

Ms McDuffie's impressive list of performances includes dramatic roles, solo vocal concerts and numerous operatic and oratorio roles. She has been featured with Opera Roanoke as Tosca in Puccini's Tosca, Baby Doe in Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Fiordiligi in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti. On the concert stage, she has been a featured soloist with the Roanoke Symphony, the New River Valley Symphony, The Audubon String Quartet, and the Virginia Tech Chamber Music Series. In the spring of 1998, Ms. McDuffie performed the soprano solos in Honeggar’s King David under the baton of Maestro Robert Shaw in a performance with Virginia Tech combined choruses and the Blacksburg Master Chorale before an audience of 3,000.

Ms. McDuffie enjoys a variety of musical styles and particularly excels at 20th century vocal works. In the summer of 2000, Ms. McDuffie attended the International Congress of Chamber Music for Saxophone in Montreal, Canada where she performed a premiere work for soprano, saxophone and piano by composer Kent Holliday. Also in the summer of 2000, Ms. McDuffie performed a vocal program of “Opera and Song” in Dolgellau, Wales. In May 2003, Ms. McDuffie premiered a commissioned set of songs by Jon Polifrone of poetry by contemporary singer and entertainer, Jewel. Recently, Ms. McDuffie was selected to sing at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Chamber Music Convention in New Orleans summer of 2004 to perform a piece by 20th century composer, Ellwood Derr.

Ms McDuffie regularly serves as soloist for various civic, community and university organizations and designs and performs multi-media concerts for the Alumni Association of Virginia Tech annually. In spring of 1997, she was invited to perform for the International Rotarian Foundation in Los Angeles, California and recently sang as a featured soloist for a benefit concert for the American Cancer Society. Ms. McDuffie has also had the honor of performing at many political functions in Washington D.C. for dignitaries such as President Ronald Reagan, Vice-President Dan Quayle, the Ambassador of Kuwait, and most recently the President of Taiwan in 2002.

Having been a faculty member in the Department of Music at Virginia Tech for 15 years in vocal studies, Ms. McDuffie is presently serving as secretary for the Virginia Chapter of National Association of Teachers of Singing and is pursuing post-graduate study in laryngeal science.