Draayer, Suzanne R. 1952–

PERSONAL: Born September 23, 1952, in Hendersonville, NC. Education: Furman University, B.M., 1973; Vanderbilt University, M.S., 1976; University of Maryland, D.M.A., 1987.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Music, 142 Performing Arts Ctr., Winona State University, Winona, MN 55987. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, VA, adjunct professor of voice, 1984–89; Southern Utah University, Cedar City, assistant professor, 1989–93; Winona State University, Winona, MN, professor of music, 1993–. Also worked as public school music teacher.

MEMBER: National Association of Teachers of Singing (state president, 1994–2002; regional governor, 2002–06).

WRITINGS:

A Singer's Guide to the Songs of Joaquín Rodrigo, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 1999.

Canciones de España: Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain (High Voice), Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), Volume 1, 2003, Volume 2, 2005.

Canciones de España: Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain (Low Voice), Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), Volume 1, 2003, Volume 2, in press.

Contributor to periodicals, including Journal of Singing.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Canciones de España: Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain (High Voice), Volume 3, and Canciones de España: Songs of Nineteenth-Century Spain (Low Voice), Volume 3.

SIDELIGHTS: Suzanne R. Draayer told CA: "I became interested in Spanish vocal music while completing my doctorate in voice at the University of Maryland. The requirement for the dissertation/tape project was to record and write about songs never before recorded or no longer available on recording. A vocal literature class at the university, studying Russian, Spanish, and African-American song composers and their vocal repertoire, made apparent the lack of Spanish songs available in the United States. My neighbor at the time was a native Spaniard, returning to Spain each summer to teach and to visit his family. He asked me to water his indoor plants and to collect his mail. In return, I asked him to bring me Spanish vocal music. As a result, my dissertation/tape project focused on song cycles of Joaquín Turina and Joaquín Rodrigo. Articles for the Journal of Singing followed, and eventually a book on the songs of Rodrigo. I enjoy a very close, personal relationship with Cecilia Rodrigo, the musician's only child.

"In 1999 I began research at the national library in Madrid, attempting to answer this question: Who is the Schubert of nineteenth-century Spanish song? This quest led to my books on the songs of nineteenth-century Spain."