Olivia Rominiyi is a voice teacher here at EMU. She joined the EMU community in January of this year after completing her master’s in Music Performance at James Madison University.

Rominiyi first began singing at the age of six. Specializing in Romantic-era and 20th century opera, she has since performed all over the United States and Nigeria, her family’s home country. Having sung with the Virginia Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Harrower Summer Opera, Tidewater Opera Initiative, the Asian American Music Society, the Bethesda Summer Music Festival, and Houston Grand Opera, her music experience is quite extensive. On top of this, she has also performed for five U.S. presidents and several dignitaries.

One of her voice students, Senior Sarah Bascom, describes her lessons as  “a front-row seat to a private concert.” She explains the care Rominiyi puts into both her lessons and her students. Not only is she encouraging and supportive, she also ensures they understand how to keep their vocal chords healthy and selects multiple pieces of music that each concentrate on a different vocal technique. Bascom feels, in doing this, Rominiyi is “equipping [her] to not just sing the notes but to make music.”

Teaching voice isn’t her only role at EMU. Rominiyi is also the Program Coordinator of the Graduate Biomedicine program and is the Administrative Assistant to Dr. Tara Kishbaugh, Dean of the School of Science, Engineering, Art, and Nursing (SEAN).