Yvonne Upsher ’72: A Donor Giving Voice to Future Generations at Dominican

Although you would never know that English wasn’t her first language, Yvonne Upsher jokes that her Dutch accent does creep in sometimes when she gets excited or upset. Born in Amsterdam, her family moved to the United States when she was 13. Although her parents spoke fluent English at the time of their move, Yvonne did not learn the language until she enrolled in school in California—first in Oakland and later in Piedmont and San Anselmo.

A professional singer since the age of 17, Yvonne began her career performing opera, religious works, and show tunes. After high school, she chose to attend Dominican—the ideal college for her in terms of location and program. She could commute the short distance from home at a time when her father was gravely ill and needed her care while also keeping up with her studies in music. Yvonne especially credits the support of Sister Antoinette, head of the Music Department at the time, for her successful completion of studies at Dominican.

After graduating from Dominican in 1972 with a BA in voice, Yvonne sang professionally for a number of years and later returned to Dominican to complete her master’s degree. By that time, the program was headed by Dr. Ted Blair. Yvonne subsequently went on for post-graduate studies at Indiana University’s School of Music.

Over the years, her opera career took her to cities throughout Europe. Singers like her, contraltos who have a lower voice, “don’t get the glamorous jobs, they are cast as old women or witches in opera,” laughs Yvonne. However, there are the occasional roles that a contralto fits perfectly, such as in many Wagner operas, Bizet’s Carmen, or as Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore.

Now retired from the opera stage, Yvonne also had a successful second career in real estate and still sings regularly at First Presbyterian Church, where she is a member, as well as for special occasions such as the memorial service for her Dominican professor, and later, good friend, Dr. Ted Blair.

Thanks to the scholarship assistance available at Dominican, Yvonne was able to complete her undergraduate and graduate education. Grateful for the help and attention she received, and given the fact the she and her late husband Michael did not have children, she has made the important decision to give back through a scholarship fund in her estate plan. Her intention is to provide a scholarship for a student majoring either in music or English each year. She has designated music because of her beloved profession and English for her adopted language.

Yvonne explains that because Dominican has given so much to her and made a very rewarding career possible, she feels an obligation to “pay it forward” for new generations of students. Who knows, perhaps through Yvonne’s generosity, a new opera star will rise from Dominican.