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Singer's jazz Quartet participated in Uncool, an international Artist-in-Residence program for musicians.[4] Singer is a voting member of the Recording Academy, the organization that presents the Grammy Awards.[5] Her record label, Emerald Baby Recording Company,[6] released her nine CDs: six with the Doug Richards Trio and three with the Ranses Colon Trio.[5] Her publicist is Kari-On Productions,[7] a jazz, world, and classical radio promotion company out of Evans, Georgia.[6]
She graduated from the New York Academy of Theatrical Arts[2] and trained at the Juilliard School.[5]
After giving birth to her son Christopher in 1991,[8] Singer began working as the pianist and Music Minister with the First Baptist Church of Monticello.[5] In the early 1990s, she started performing with songwriter Roy Singer, whom she married in 1997.[8] Roy became the organist at the church, while she continued to play the piano for over 17 years.[8]
Career
In 1998, Singer began hosting a weekly gospel show called "Down by the River" on WJFF 90.5FM, a public radio station in Jeffersonville, New York.[8] She hosted the show for six years.[8] In the interim, she recorded two solo gospel albums albums: Hymns of God (1996) and Gospel Voices of Tomorrow (1997). The two albums and An Intimate Christmas Night (1995) were released on the DRC Independent Record Label.[5]
In 2010, she began collaborating with Doug Richards. Together, they released four jazz albums.[3] The Doug Richards Trio included Doug Richards (bass), a jazz musician who worked with Erskine Hawkins of Tuxedo Junction; Billy Alfred (piano), musical director for 20 years at the Pines Hotel in South Fallsburg; and Mike Cervone (drums), who toured with Gavin DeGraw.[9]
In 2019, she began collaborating on three albums with the Ranses Colon Trio, with Ranses Colon (bass) of Venezuela, who was principal bass with the Miami Chamber Orchestra; Brad Keller (piano), who performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival with his father Jack Keller (jazz pianist); and Adolfo Herrera (drums) of Venezuela, who has a solo CD, IRREPETIBLE, in which he improvises music over poems.
The Doug Richards Trio
In 2012, Singer released her first album with the Doug Richards Trio, Take the Day Off: Escape with Jazz, which combined jazz standards and original instrumental tracks. The album aired on over 150 stations globally.[5] This album included Donna and Roy Singers' first original release, the self-titled track "Take the Day Off".[10] "Take the Day Off" was written by Mitch Usher and Roy Singer.[1] The album reached No. 23 on the College Music Journal's jazz charts and reached No. 20 the following week.[11]
In November 2012, Singer and Doug Richards’ collaborative effort, Kiss Me Beneath the Mistletoe, was released as a holiday jazz album.[12] The album featured several original Christmas songs including the self-titled, "Kiss Me Beneath the Mistletoe," and "On New Year’s Eve", both written by Roy Singer, and "Christmas In My Heart", written by Doug Richards.[13] The Christmas album reached No. 20 on the College Music Journal jazz charts.
Guest artists for this album included: Jeff Otis (guitar), Luis Camacho (trumpet/vocal), Crystal Tweed (alto vocal), as well as Debra Courtright (soprano vocal) and Randy Hennig (tenor vocal) of the Diamond Express Trio.[13]
In 2013, Singer and the Doug Richards Trio performed at the Saratoga Arts Fest[14] as well as various venues in the Catskill Mountains and NYC.[5]
The album Jazz in the Living Room was released in 2013.[15]
The fourth "Donna and Doug"[1] album, "Destiny: Moment of Jazz," was released in 2014. Special guests on this album include Jeff Otis (guitar), Chris Pasen (flugelhorn), Nancy Wegrzyn (viola), and Bobby Tee (percussion/drums). "Destiny: Moment of Jazz" reached #25 on the College Music Journal jazz station, and #40 during its release month of August 2014.[16] "Destiny: Moment of Jazz" was submitted to the Recording Academy for a Grammy nomination. Dianne Reeves' album "Beautiful Life"[5] received the Grammy that year.
"Feeling The Jazz," the duo's fifth album, was released in 2016. Special guests on this album include Jeff Otis (guitar), William Fleck (trombone), Karen Macklin (composure/violin), Siavani Bacani (violin), Ysauro Hernandez (percussion), and Valerie Solomon (graphic design).
In 2018, before the death of Richards, Singer and Richards were able to release a children's jazz album, "t's an Art to Follow Your Heart." Their sixth album was entirely written by Roy Singer (composer) and Carole Belle (lyricist and author).
In 2014, Singer and the Doug Richards Trio performed at the Nebraska International Jazz Series, also known as the Jazz in June concert series, in Lincoln, Nebraska.[3] The group performed on the East Coast at various venues including the Newburgh Jazz Series, University of the Streets Jazz Theatre on Charlie Parker Way in the East Village, Somethin' Jazz – 52nd Street, NYC, The World-famous Shrine and Billie's Black Gourmet Restaurant – Harlem.[2]
Other domestic collaborations
Singer created the educational program, "Jazz In Our Schools", for New York State high schools and elementary schools, promoting black history in the entertainment business in the 1950s and 1960s.[17]
Singer performed for 15 years as the lead vocalist in the Swing Shift Orchestra in the Catskill Mountains, a 17-piece big band featuring the music of Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and others. She is heard on the Swing Shift Orchestra CD, "On Fire."[18]
Singer performed with The Gold Coast Community Band featuring soloist Maestro Ken Wilbanks and his 100-piece orchestra. The performance celebrated the band's 40th anniversary.[19] She now performs with their new director, Barbara Rubenstein.[20]
In 2015, Singer performed the National Anthem at Sunrise Stadium for the 50th anniversary NFL game for the Miami Dolphins as a part of a chorus of 50 women singing in 4 part harmony.[5] She also participated in the Fall Heartland Tour, centered around the Bethany College Jazz Festival and Iola Music Series in Kansas.[21]
In 2016, Singer performed with the Donna Singer Trio, featuring Singer on vocals, Billy Alfred on piano, and Hunter Isbell on bass, at the United Methodist Church of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida for Jazz in the Afternoon.[22]
International work
In the summer of 2016, Singer performed at the Uncool Artist-in-Residence program in Torino, Italy and Poschiavo, Switzerland. As a part of Donna's Jazz Quartet, she performed with husband Roy Singer on piano, Hunter Isbel on bass, and William Fleck on trombone.[4]
Charity work
In New York, Singer organized and performed various fundraisers for charities, including St. Baldrick's Day: Event for Childhood Cancer, for Parkinson's Research[23]for Parkinson's Research, The Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless Jazz Benefit Concert, and the Youth Economic Group in Liberty NY Sunday Jazz Brunch.[2] She also volunteered for the Women's History Month Jazz Brunch at the Dancing Cat Saloon in Bethel, NY.[24]
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