Mrs. Hughes is a member of the Georgia Music Teachers Association, and holds National College Faculty Certification through the Music Teachers National Association, and has been recognized as an outstanding teacher by Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. She is also an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Mrs. Hughes has adjudicated a variety of vocal competitions, both locally and throughout the southeast, and has presented workshops in vocal technique and diction. She is an Associate Professor Emeritus of Music at Georgia Perimeter College, where she directed the Voice and Opera programs. She maintains a private voice studio and is the founding Artistic Director of Peach State Opera. She has conducted performances of Carmen, Amahl and the Night Visitors, The Magic Flute, The Elixir of Love, The Marriage of Figaro, Madame Butterfly and Così fan tutte for PSO.

To me, opera is the most exciting art form in the world! It combines the full range of artistic resources: drama, visual arts, literature, and of course, the wonderful, soul-stirring music. Opera can be thrilling, hilarious, political, terrifying, imaginary, emotional, elegant, or poignant. Opera sings of the poor (La Boheme), the rich (The Marriage of Figaro), the righteous (Fidelio), the morally depraved (Don Giovanni), the victim (Susannah), the martyr (Faust), the powerful (Boris Godunov), the delightful (The Elixir of Love), and the doomed (Romeo and Juliette).

Sometimes it seems as if a long-dead composer took his idea from yesterday’s headlines. Consider Carmen. A woman is killed by a jealous lover who decides that if he can’t have her, no one will. Consider Madame Butterfly. From time immemorial, soldiers and sailors far from home have sought comfort in cultures radically different from their own. When they returned to their “real” lives, they often, knowingly or unknowingly, left behind the children of these unions. Although written over 100 years ago, these two stories are as fresh as if they had just happened.