Biography
Donna Axton is the director of Music Program at Sierra Nevada College. She teaches classes in piano, voice, world music, music history, music appreciation, musical theater, music therapy, and music and mythology. She also is the director of the Sierra Nevada College Concert Choir. The choir is a 45-voice organization that gives public concerts each semester. Under her baton, they have performed major works such as Vivaldi's Gloria, Rutter's Gloria, the Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, Verdi's Requiem, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.
The SNC music program currently offers a Music Minor. The music faculty includes instructors in guitar, voice, piano, bass, and percussion.
Donna is accomplished in diverse musical worlds. She spent 14 years touring the country and the world as a pianist in Hoyt Axton's Country Western, Boogie-Woogie, Gospel, Rock and Roll Band. She played on 21 albums and co-produced two. She also appeared on dozens of television shows, including the Tonight Show. She has many writing and arranging credits to her name. In 1999, her musical arrangements made their way to the off-Broadway production of Stars in Your Eyes, written by Chip Meyrelles. In 2003, Chip and Donna wrote an oratorio version of John Milton's Paradise Lost. It was debuted by the SNC choir in the May 2005. It has been recorded in New York City.
Donna's career as a music director is vast. She has music directed and conducted and/or played for scores of area musical productions - from community to professional levels. Her music director credits include Oliver, Man of La Mancha, Into the Woods, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Nunsense, Camelot, Jekyll and Hyde, Passion, and the Sound of Music for Tahoe Arts as well as West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof, Sugar, Brigadoon, Bye Bye Birdie, Oklahoma, etc. for other theater companies.
She is also known as a chamber music and solo piano performer. She has performed piano 4-hand concerts with Eunice Marion. She is involved with Lake Tahoe Symphony under the auspices of TOCCATA (The Orchestral and Community Choral Artists of the Tahoe Area). With them she has been featured as piano soloist for Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto #5”, Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy” and several other orchestral pieces. She has given several solo piano concerts, including two in October, 2013.
Donna is in demand as an accompanist. She recently accompanied the National Finals for the Vocal Competition of the Black Business Women which was held in Reno, working with world class young opera singers. For four years she has accompanied Elizabeth Pitcairn , the owner of the famous Red Violin and a phenomenal touring musician, in her appearances in this area. She has also been involved with Reno’s Nevada Opera, singing in the opera chorus and most recently being the accompanist for their production of a short opera at a fund raiser.
Academically, Donna has degrees in music and mathematics from Allegheny College (Meadville, Pennsylvania) and a certificate in film scoring from UCLA Extension. She had the honor of participating in the Aspen Summer Music Festival in the conducting program in 1996. In 2001 she earned her Masters in Music with a specialization in piano from UNR. She also has a Masters in Counseling with a specialization in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She became a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in 2000 and teaches psychology at Sierra Nevada College.
Donna has lived in the Tahoe basin since 1972. She is a member of the folk/rock/blues trio, Out of the Blue. She produced their premiere album, Out of the Blue. She also co-produced an album with her son, Matthew Axton, a fine singer/songwriter/guitarist. They perform together in his band, Axton and Company. In 2009 Donna produced a reunion concert in Los Angeles celebrating the 40th anniversary of the song “Joy to the World” (written by Hoyt Axton) with Matthew fronting the band.
In June of 2013, Donna and Matthew performed at Arlo Guthrie’s Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Pennsylvania.
The SNC music program currently offers a Music Minor. The music faculty includes instructors in guitar, voice, piano, bass, and percussion.
Donna is accomplished in diverse musical worlds. She spent 14 years touring the country and the world as a pianist in Hoyt Axton's Country Western, Boogie-Woogie, Gospel, Rock and Roll Band. She played on 21 albums and co-produced two. She also appeared on dozens of television shows, including the Tonight Show. She has many writing and arranging credits to her name. In 1999, her musical arrangements made their way to the off-Broadway production of Stars in Your Eyes, written by Chip Meyrelles. In 2003, Chip and Donna wrote an oratorio version of John Milton's Paradise Lost. It was debuted by the SNC choir in the May 2005. It has been recorded in New York City.
Donna's career as a music director is vast. She has music directed and conducted and/or played for scores of area musical productions - from community to professional levels. Her music director credits include Oliver, Man of La Mancha, Into the Woods, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Nunsense, Camelot, Jekyll and Hyde, Passion, and the Sound of Music for Tahoe Arts as well as West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz, Fiddler on the Roof, Sugar, Brigadoon, Bye Bye Birdie, Oklahoma, etc. for other theater companies.
She is also known as a chamber music and solo piano performer. She has performed piano 4-hand concerts with Eunice Marion. She is involved with Lake Tahoe Symphony under the auspices of TOCCATA (The Orchestral and Community Choral Artists of the Tahoe Area). With them she has been featured as piano soloist for Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, J.S. Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto #5”, Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy” and several other orchestral pieces. She has given several solo piano concerts, including two in October, 2013.
Donna is in demand as an accompanist. She recently accompanied the National Finals for the Vocal Competition of the Black Business Women which was held in Reno, working with world class young opera singers. For four years she has accompanied Elizabeth Pitcairn , the owner of the famous Red Violin and a phenomenal touring musician, in her appearances in this area. She has also been involved with Reno’s Nevada Opera, singing in the opera chorus and most recently being the accompanist for their production of a short opera at a fund raiser.
Academically, Donna has degrees in music and mathematics from Allegheny College (Meadville, Pennsylvania) and a certificate in film scoring from UCLA Extension. She had the honor of participating in the Aspen Summer Music Festival in the conducting program in 1996. In 2001 she earned her Masters in Music with a specialization in piano from UNR. She also has a Masters in Counseling with a specialization in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She became a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in 2000 and teaches psychology at Sierra Nevada College.
Donna has lived in the Tahoe basin since 1972. She is a member of the folk/rock/blues trio, Out of the Blue. She produced their premiere album, Out of the Blue. She also co-produced an album with her son, Matthew Axton, a fine singer/songwriter/guitarist. They perform together in his band, Axton and Company. In 2009 Donna produced a reunion concert in Los Angeles celebrating the 40th anniversary of the song “Joy to the World” (written by Hoyt Axton) with Matthew fronting the band.
In June of 2013, Donna and Matthew performed at Arlo Guthrie’s Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, Pennsylvania.
Psychology
Donna Axton is an associate professor in the SNC Psychology faculty and the SNC Fine Arts faculty. She has a BS in Math and Music from Allegheny College, a Masters in Music from UNR, and a Masters in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has had a private counseling practice and has worked in several community-based mental health agencies. In the psychology realm, Donna teaches Counseling courses, Human Development Courses, and Abnormal Psych. Specifically, she has taught Art Therapy courses here at SNC since 2011. She has also overseen Service Learning Projects for Interdisciplinary students with Art and Psychology majors and Art and Music majors. She has also mentored seniors who focused their senior projects in these fields.