Don Bernardini

Focus and Philosophy: My professional life has centered on teaching, performance, and helping students develop their abilities with confidence and purpose. My background includes special education, university-level music instruction, opera performance and direction, English literature, and military leadership. I believe effective teaching begins with understanding the individual student. Students learn in different ways and at different rates, and my goal is to provide instruction that is challenging, supportive, practical, and accessible. Whether I am teaching music, voice, literature, or working with students with disabilities, I try to connect what students learn in the classroom with skills and experiences they can use beyond it.

Background: My professional career has taken several paths that ultimately came together through education. I earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, with a minor in Biology, from Virginia Military Institute and later completed graduate study in music and opera stage direction at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. I am completing a Master of Science in Special Education, General Curriculum K–12, at Radford University. Before entering higher education and professional music, I served as a Captain in the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command as a Minuteman III Combat Crew Commander. I later spent many years as a professional opera tenor, performing internationally and teaching voice, opera, and performance at universities and conservatories in the United States and Europe. More recently, my work has expanded into K–12 special education, where I have taught and supported students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Teaching: Teaching has been a constant throughout my professional career. At the university level, I have taught applied voice, vocal technique, diction, repertoire, opera, stage movement, and related performance subjects. My appointments have included the University of Oklahoma, Grace College, Ball State University, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the University of Toledo, and international teaching positions in Switzerland. My more recent work in public schools has focused on special education, literacy, accommodations, individualized instruction, and supporting students in inclusive classrooms. I believe high expectations and appropriate support should go together. I want students to understand not only what they are learning, but also why it matters and how they can apply it.

Research/Scholarship/Creative Work: My creative and scholarly work has primarily developed through performance, directing, vocal pedagogy, and arts education. As a professional tenor, I performed internationally in leading operatic roles and worked extensively with singers, conductors, directors, and professional companies. I have also directed opera productions, taught vocal performance, prepared singers for auditions and recitals, and led educational and outreach programs. At Toledo Opera, I served as Head of the Resident Artist Program and Director of Opera on Wheels, combining performance with education and community outreach. My more recent academic interests include special education, literacy instruction, evidence-based teaching practices, and strategies that help students with disabilities become more successful and independent learners.

For more information about Don Bernardini, please open the tabs below. If you would like a digital copy of his complete CV, please contact him at djbernardini@radford.edu.