06/30/2026
Mignon Dunn was one of the most treasured women I have had the pleasure of knowing in my life. I heard about her passing at my son’s baseball game Sunday morning and it has taken me two days to pull myself together to write about her. I am blessed to say that she was my mentor and singing teacher.
I had the absolute privilege of learning from her for three years when I was in New York studying voice. She was a strong, intelligent, loving and “say it like it is” type of woman. She pushed me to find my confidence and I will cherish my memories of her forever.
My daughter is actually named Tēadora because of her. In an opera performance class of hers at the Manhattan School of Music a colleague of mine went up to sing and introduced herself as Theodora.. but very timidly. Mignon, in her usual way since she couldn’t hear her, said “Girl, what is your name?”, to which the young performer replied a bit louder “Theodora”. Mignon, without missing a beat said, “Girl, with a name like Theodora say it proudly”. I instantly thought to myself I’m going to name my daughter that.
I have kept in touch with her through the years sending her pictures of my kids and talking to her most recently about a student of mine whose voice I just knew she’d love. I told her that I would
love to get her to sing for her(if the distance wasn’t so great) and she simply replied “she’s in great hands with you as her teacher”. Those words meant so much to me.
I can think of quite a few laughs we shared but my two favourites were when I had lost “a little too much” weight and she was so angry that I wasn’t supposed to be “that thin” with a voice my size (she was right!). After a performance at a summer program where I definitely proved that correct she brought me back to her hotel room and made me pasta with tons of butter on it to fatten me back up. lol She spent that summer program feeding me all sorts of treats to get me back into what she called singing shape not model shape.
Another time during a lesson she asked me “who did your nose?”, to which I had zero clue what she was talking about. I still think to this day she thought I had a nose job. She was so complimentary to me and showered me with the kind of words that shaped me into the kind of person I am. She built me up in a city that felt so competitive and at times overwhelming. To have someone like her believe in you is something I will always treasure.
Songbird Voice Studio is here today because of her. This July I’m heading to the Canada West Arts Festival with that same student I called her about Eva Simpson and in a beautiful tribute we’ve been using Mignon’s soprano anthology with her handwriting throughout to prep her aria.
Thank you for sharing your love of music and your gorgeous voice with all of us who had the opportunity to know you. You will be missed beyond measure but your voice, words and teachings live on in all of us and our future students.
