Olivia Donnel is a vocal artist and arts administrator whose work spans opera, concert, and choral performance across the Midwest. Based in Metro Detroit, she balances an active performing career with her leadership in arts marketing and administration, championing accessibility, collaboration, and innovation within the performing arts.

A versatile and expressive performer, Olivia has appeared with companies across the Midwest including Opera Grand Rapids, Taconic Opera, Michigan Opera Outreach, the Dramatic Voices Program of Berlin, and the Southern Illinois Music Festival. Her operatic repertoire ranges from the drama of Verdi to the clarity of Handel, with notable portrayals such as Leonora (Il Trovatore), Fiordiligi and Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Chrysothemis (Elektra), Galatea (Acis and Galatea), and Dido (Dido and Aeneas).

Olivia’s artistry has been recognized through numerous awards and honors. In 2019, she was named a winner of the Stars of Altgeld Concerto Competition, followed by an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2020. She was selected as a Gordon Nelson Scholar by the Detroit Concert Choir for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 concert seasons, won the David Daniels Young Artists Concerto Competition in 2022, and received Outstanding Student in Vocal Performance at the 2023 Oakland University MaTilDa Awards. Olivia has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Cynthia Lawrence, Leah Crocetto, Christine Goerke, Stephanie Weiss, and Dr. Christopher White, Studienleiter (Head of Music) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Equally at home on the concert stage, Olivia is a passionate interpreter of choral masterworks and sacred repertoire. She has appeared as a soloist in performances of Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Handel’s Messiah, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes, Haydn’s Missa in tempore belli, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She has also served as rehearsal soloist for Mozart’s Requiem and Verdi’s Requiem. Her professional ensemble collaborations include the Grand Rapids Opera Chorus, Tuesday Musicale of Detroit, Detroit Concert Choir, Grosse Pointe Community Chorus, Choral Artists of Michigan, the Oakland Symphony Chorus, and she also serves as Alto Section Leader at First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak.

Beyond the stage, Olivia is deeply committed to arts advocacy and organizational leadership. She works as a marketing associate with several Metro Detroit organizations through the performing arts consulting company ArtOps, including the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Detroit, Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings, and JazzEd Detroit. She also serves as the creative assistant for the Detroit Concert Choir. In 2023–24, she was awarded the Michigan Arts and Culture Council’s New Leaders Grant, through which she created the Connoisseur Series for the Detroit Concert Choir’s 2023–24 season. The series featured an opera scenes & arias concert and a production of Donizetti’s one-act comic opera Il Campanello, expanding the ensemble’s artistic offerings and community reach.

Olivia’s commitment to service and leadership extends through her long-standing involvement with Sigma Alpha Iota, the international music fraternity. A member since 2016, she has held multiple leadership positions—including Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Music Chair, and President—and was awarded the Sword of Honor in 2021 for outstanding leadership and community service. She currently serves as Vice President of Programs for the Detroit Alumnae Chapter.

A native of Southwest Missouri, Olivia holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Oakland University and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She continues her studies in classical voice with Dr. Edith Diggory and vocal jazz with Detroit Jazz legend April Tini, reflecting her passion for versatility and lifelong learning as an artist.

Affiliated Organizations