Blair Boone-Migura

Blair Boone-Migura is a guest lecturer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the Music Department, where he teaches a course in French & German song literature and private voice lessons. He has also taught courses in vocal pedagogy, coached the opera workshop, and given masterclasses in French song. Additionally, Blair has worked as an adjunct faculty member at The New School, Hunter College, and Queensborough College in New York. An invited lecturer on French vocal literature at Florida State University's College of Music, Blair also serves as a livestream presenter and mentor for Tonebase Voice, guiding singers in art song repertoire and vocal technique.

In addition to his work with singers, Blair is also a recognized leader in arts administration, a classical musician, and a former public radio show host of Singing & Other Sins on NPR-Hawaii. He is also a published music and film journalist who has profiled and interviewed a wide range of personalities, including Grammy-winning artists such as American composer Dominick Argento and Haitian-American artist Wyclef Jean, as well as Grammy-nominated musicians like American composer Ned Rorem, German baritone Matthias Goerne, and American jazz pianist Fred Hersch. Most recently, Blair contributed a reflective essay, “Bridging Cultural Divides in Classical Music Interpretation,” for the liner notes of the 2024 CD release William Grant Still: American Art Song, performed by baritone Gabrielle Rollinson, soprano Yajie Zhang, and pianist Hartmut Höll.

In 2010, Blair founded The Art Song Preservation Society of New York (ASPS), a nonprofit arts organization where he also serves as Executive Director. Dedicated to revitalizing the art song tradition through education and performance, ASPS continues to make a lasting impact. Each year, Blair directs Summer of Song, a renowned festival for singers hosted by the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. For more information, please visit: https://youtu.be/LAsdTmae3H0?si=yl4DXy7u2LP-sPq3

Blair founded ASPS because of his concern over the decline and deep interest in promoting this neglected area of vocal literature and in honor of his mentor of twenty-two years, master French and German song specialist, Mary Trueman (1915-2008). Blair studied voice with Mary Trueman (Rice University), JoElyn Walkefield-Wright (Syracuse University), Elisabeth Schroeder (the Strasbourg Conservatory of Music), and Elem Eley (Westminster Choir College). He also studied piano accompaniment with Mary Trueman and Steve Heyman (Syracuse University) and continues to study piano privately with Edward Nemirovsky and Nathanial Lhasa in NYC. He has also received private instruction from concert and collaborative pianists, including Dalton Baldwin, Mark Markham, Shirley Kirsten, Carter Johnson, Aaron Pilsan, Thomas Grubb, Frank Daykin, and Denis Zhdanov, and has participated in piano workshops taught by Graham Fitch and Warren Mailley-Smith.

Blair’s expertise extends to adjudicating vocal competitions, including the NATS Vocal Competitions, the Mary Trueman Art Song Vocal Competition, and the Duncan Williams Vocal Competition. Notably, in May 2013, he collaborated with the legendary pianist Dalton Baldwin, sopranos Elly Ameling and Rosemarie Landry, and other distinguished adjudicators to organize the Positively Poulenc Vocal Competition and Recital at Lincoln Center's Performing Arts Library. He also previously served as Arts Administrative Director of the International Vocal Arts Institute (IVAI) in New York alongside Joan Dornemann and Paul Nadler (former conductors with the Metropolitan Opera).

Blair holds a bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance (honors) and a master’s degree in French Language, Literature, and Culture from Syracuse University, as well as a master’s degree in Vocal Pedagogy (honors) from Westminster Choir College. He studied voice and piano at the Strasbourg Conservatory of Music in France, and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Obama administration for his contributions to community and volunteer service.

In 2022, Blair was elected President of the Hawaii chapter of the Alliance Française, where he has served as a board member since 2017. He and his husband, Dr. Anthony Migura, a critical-care pulmonologist, split their time between New York City and Honolulu, Hawaii.

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