Bio
Donna Wickham was raised in a musical family in the town of Ft. Morgan in Northeast Colorado. She took an interest in music at an early age,and began piano studies at the age of five. Shortly thereafter, Donna began composing, and gave a recital of her own compositions at the age of six. A musically curious child, she dabbled in woodwinds, learning both the flute and oboe, and picked up guitar on her own. At the age of twelve, she was accepted as a piano student with Rupert Goodbrod from the University of Northern Colorado.
Donna had never studied voice, but singing always came naturally to her. It was assumed that she would major in piano in college, but she decided to major in Lyric Theater at the University of Denver. A year after beginning studies at DU, the Lyric Theater program was cancelled. She spent another year at the Lamont School of Music studying music education, but her interest waned. As a vocalist, she was banned from all jazz courses, and that’s what she wanted to study.
Then life happened: She married, moved away and got a job. There were a few musical opportunities, singing and playing keyboards in a cover band, and several gigs in choral music, but work always came first. 13 years later, one of her favorite professors from college walked into a restaurant that she was managing. He told her that all of her old credits were still good. It took about five minutes for her to decide to go back to school.
She quickly shed her old life, finishing a BM degree in classical vocal performance, and a Masters Degree in conducting. At the same time, she always sang with jazz groups and took every jazz course she could fit into her schedule, along with private lessons in jazz piano. She also began working as a jazz musician, singing with various groups in the front range area.
Shortly after completing her Master’s degree, she was hired to teach vocal jazz at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. Her passion has been to create a program that opens the door for vocalists who have the ability to function as complete jazz musicians; improvising, writing and arranging right alongside their instrumental counterparts. After several years of devoting herself to the musical success of her students, her own music has begun to surface again……
Stay tuned – this story has just begun!