Vera Scammon Broughton

Vera Scammon, Professor Emerita, Indiana University Professor Vera Scammon Broughton, 86, died of the results of a brain tumor on the morning of March 12th, 2008 at Porter Hospice in Denver, Colorado. She is survived by her husband, Bryce Broughton, her daughter, Cheryl O'Neil, her stepson, Ben Broughton and wife Cindy, tepdaughter, Jill Pedden and husband, John, and their two children Megan and Rocky. Vera was born on October 4th, 1921 in Jackson, Michigan, the daughter of Lyman B. and Norma L. Fitch. She grew up singing with her father, a tenor, and her sister, Ginny, a mezzo-soprano. Many of her early girlhood Sunday afternoons were spent riding through the countryside, her family singing their entire repertoire; frequently her father, Vera and Ginny would render a rousing, ringing performance of Adam's The Holy City. Professor Scammon decided at an early age that vocal music was her forte and resolved to pursue it as a profession. In high school she was too shy to audition for the chorus, but she engaged actively in anything from pantomimes, monologues, and ""street broadcasts"" to high school plays and church pageants. As her natural talent developed, she became aware of the necessity for formal training. At sixteen she began studying voice with Paul Jors of Jackson and later with Professor Fred Patton at Michigan State University. In 1946, she married Richard Scammon, who became Professor of Drama at Indiana University. Vera continued her studies there, becoming a voice student of Madame Dorothee Manski and later Anna Kaskas. She performed the role of Antonia in The Tales of Hoffman, the first opera produced under the distinguished regime of the late Dean Wilfred Bain. Later, Vera also studied with Ray Buckingham, among others, in New York City. Meanwhile, her talents were being shared on a national and international basis with other cultural programs. There were frequent solo guest appearances with the Indianapolis Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, Jackson Symphony Orchestra of Michigan; A tour of six southern states with the National Opera Company of North Carolina, and a tour of ten cities with the New York City Opera Company, a tour of sixteen states with the Boris Goldovsky Opera Theatre, and a tour of the Orient in the summer of 1955 as soloist with the Belles of Indiana. Vera also served as faculty adviser and coach for soloists for the University Academy of Music of Princeton, New Jersey, touring Rome, Florence, Paris, Glasgow, Geneva, London, and New York City. She has sung soprano solos in many oratorios throughout the nation, appearing on radio and television. Her cast of opera characters performed were Rosina, Barber of Seville; Violetta, La Traviata; Rosalinda, Die Fledermaus; Fiodiligi, Cosi Fan Tutte; Mimi and Musetta, LaBoheme; Constanza, Abduction from the Seraglio; Norina, Don Pasquali; Micaela and Frasquita, Carmen; Antonia, Tales of Hoffman; Lucy, The Telephone; Marianne, New Moon; Nina, Firefly; Madame Dubonet, The Boyfriend; The Mother Abbess, The Sound of Music. In 1960, Professor Scammon began designing an original technique for developing the voice and experimentally tried it on herself. The results were so gratifying that she decided to share the technique with others by becoming their teacher. It was at this point that her focus shifted from performing to training other singers with her ""voice building"" technique, an occupation that eventually brought her national and international recognition. She began with a group of private students in Bloomington, Indiana. From 1965 to 1967 she was a part-time faculty member at DePauw University. In 1967 she accepted a part-time teaching position at the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, and this became a full-time position in 1969. She was appointed lecturer in 1970, and advanced through the ranks to professor in 1980. In 1981 she took a year's leave of absence at Stanford University, but returned to IU in spite of Stanford's urgings that she stay. Vera also taught one summer at the University of Wyoming. Her students have won over 60 Metropolitan Opera Competitions and are performing on stages throughout the world. After 33 years of marriage to Richard Scammon, her life seemed devastated when Richard's full life of theatre and drama ended in September of 1979. Never dreaming of being remarried, Vera found her love match and said ""I do"" to her high school classmate, Bryce Broughton of Jackson, Michigan in 1982. Following her inner guides, Vera and Bryce moved to Denver in 1995 where she continued to teach, sing, and produce programs until the last few years. With some retirement in Colorado Springs, and then a return to the Denver area, Vera and Bryce just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on December 12th, 2007. Memorial Services honoring Vera's life will be held Friday, April 4, 2008 at 2:30 pm followed by a reception, both at Horan & McConaty, 5303 East County Line Road (just west of Holly), in Centennial, Colorado. Private Burial will be at Draper Cemetery in Rives Junction, Michigan. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to: The Vera Scammon Memorial Endowment Fund at the Utah Festival Opera, 59 South 100 West, Logan, Utah 84321, to further the art of singing, --or-- The University Hills Rotary Club, Attn: Fred Jorgensen, Treasurer, 6542 East Ithaca Place, Denver, Colorado 80237. 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