Dubravka Zubovic
★★★★★ 5 · 12 student reviews
Dubravka Zubovic spent decades performing Dalila and Carmen on operatic stages in Europe, Australia, and the United States before settling in Orange County, California. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1987 at a Wagner Gala, sang Amneris in Opera Pacific's 1988 production of Aida, and won international competition prizes in Geneva, Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, and Barcelona — including the 'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' award at the prestigious F. Viñas competition in 1985. That performance career, and the training behind it, is now the curriculum inside her private Voice Studio in Laguna Niguel.
“I had less than six weeks to brush up five selections for my Masters in Opera audition for the University of Michigan, after taking a three year break from classical singing, and she was able to work me back into shape, cover all four classical languages, and prepare me for the audition. I was accepted to Michigan, UCLA and NYU after working with Duba, as well as taking first place in the Classical Singer Vocal Competition of 2014. Beyond technique and languages, her knowledge of the opera world, repertoire and continued connections to active singers with the LA Opera and more, make her a networking guru as she helps guide me into the next phase of my career.”
— Amanda Strader, Dana Point
Zubovic earned her BA from the Zagreb Academy of Music and her MA from the Belgrade Music Academy. On the advice of her long-time mentor, distinguished soprano Zinka Kunc-Milanov, she continued her training at Teatro alla Scala in Milan — a credential that remains unusual among private voice teachers in Southern California. Since arriving in Orange County in 1991, she has taught in the Music Department at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, lectured at UC Irvine's Vocal Department, and in 2012 founded OC Ars Vocalis Academy (OCAVA), a three-week summer intensive held in Rome each year that combines daily vocal lessons, Italian language study, master classes with working artists, and three public concerts.
Her students have placed first at the Classical Singer Competition in San Antonio, Texas, produced six winners at the American Protégé International Vocal Competition in New York, earned MTAC Gold Medals, and been accepted into programs at the University of Michigan, UCLA, NYU, and the Chicago College of Performing Arts, among others. The breadth of those outcomes reflects a studio that works across levels: Zubovic has stated she teaches everyone from absolute beginners to professional singers, and her student testimonials bear that out — including an adjunct college faculty member who reported more improvement in four months with Zubovic than in all prior years of formal study.
“With Dubravka's help I have experienced greater improvement in my vocal performance in a mere four months than I have experienced with any other teacher; and I began formal voice study at age 15! In class, I have seen and heard instantaneous improvement in students' voices with a few words of her advice and direction.”
— Amanda Harris, Saddleback College Adjunct Faculty and Applied Music Student
What students describe in the studio is instruction that is precise and immediate. Multiple reviewers mention on-the-spot corrections that produced audible results the same day. The language work is a recurring theme — students cite coaching in German, French, Italian, and Latin diction as a specific, transferable skill they carry out of lessons. Zubovic also records student performances and sends the video back to them, a practice several reviewers flagged as particularly useful for self-evaluation. Beyond the mechanics, students describe her guidance on repertoire selection, her connections to active singers at LA Opera, and her broader knowledge of what opera companies and conservatories are actually looking for — the kind of industry context that is rarely covered in technique-only instruction.
Zubovic is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and the Music Teachers' Association of California (MTAC). Her studio in Laguna Niguel serves students from across Orange County, including Mission Viejo, Irvine, Dana Point, and Aliso Viejo.
“After performing so many times in front of the class, and your coaching about being in character really helped me let go. Three days after our final performance I competed in a local competition and for the first time received First Place in musical theater and classical. I know this was largely due to what I learned with you.”
— Lauren Graham, Saddleback College Student, Mission Viejo
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