Merrill Hall, MU104A
Tichina Vaughn is associate professor of music in voice at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
A Grammy Award-winning American mezzo-soprano, Vaughn has established an important presence among the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls, and popular music venues. An outstanding singing-actress, her versatility continues to garner both popular and critical acclaim.
She began her operatic career as a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program directly after earning her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Vaughn began the 2022-23 season on tour in Lucerne and Kiel with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, singing multiple roles in Porgy and Bess, led by Alan Gilbert. She later joined the Utah Opera as Mary in Der fliegende Holländer, before debuting with Opéra de Lyon as the Old Lady in Candide. She then returned to the role of Amneris in Aida with Fort Worth Opera and closed the season with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Monisha in a new production of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha, reimagined by composer Damien Sneed.
The 2023-24 season features a return to her hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for performances of Azucena in Il Trovatore with Piedmont Opera as well as her Royal Opera House debut as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel.
In 2021-22, Vaughn returned to the Metropolitan Opera for performances of Porgy and Bess, Boris Godunov, and Elektra. She debuted with Boston Lyric Opera as Emelda in Terence Blanchard’s Champion and joined the Cincinnati Opera as Amneris in Aida as well as soloist in the company’s Morris Robinson & Friends concert. Additionally, she joined the Boston Landmarks Orchestra as soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the world premiere of Many Mansions by Diane White Clayton.
From 2010 to 2018, she was engaged as a principal artist at Semperoper Dresden, and from 1997 until 2006, she was engaged as principal artist at the State Opera of Stuttgart, where she was awarded the title of Kammersängerin.
As an active voice teacher and mentor, Vaughn has been artist-in-residence at her alma mater, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and serves as artistic advisor for SAS Performing Arts Company and a faculty clinician with Opera Programs Berlin.
Her accolades include awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Richard Tucker Foundation, and Opera Index, among others.