Jane Murray Dillard

Jane was a native North Carolinian, born on September 8, 1938 in Roxboro, NC, 30 miles north of Durham. She was a graduate of East Carolina University with a B.S. and M.A. in Music, and taught at the University of South Florida for three years. In 1967 she married Noble Dillard at Providence Baptist Church, her home church in Roxboro, and immediately went to Europe on a Rockefeller Grant where she was a winner in several International Vocal Competitions. She and Noble lived in Munich for a year before returning to the United States in the summer of 1968 for performances at the Brevard Music Festival. During this visit back to the US, the doctors at the Duke Medical Center, confirmed that she would need surgery to remove an acoustical neuroma of the right auditory nerve. As a result of this surgery Jane was left with paralysis to the right side of the face and deaf in her right ear. This unexpected surgery forced Jane to cancel all European singing engagements, including the position of leading mezzo with the Nuremberg Opera. She and Noble returned to Roxboro for six months recovery, thereafter returning to Tampa, Florida to study with her former vocal coach to learn how to sing again. After two years of rehabilitation, she and Noble returned to her native North Carolina to perform, teach, and raise her family.

After settling in Charlotte, Jane became active with the musical scene, appearing with the Charlotte Opera in leading roles, with the Charlotte Symphony, and with the Oratorio Singers, and in recitals and other music programs. During that time, she was hired at Central Piedmont Community College as a voice instructor and director of the Opera Workshop. It was through contacts and performances that she became a sought after voice teacher in the Charlotte area. In 1979, Jane was offered a position at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she taught for over 30 years as Professor of Music, retiring with Professor Emeritus status. Jane was active in national music organizations having served as National Vocal Chair for the Music Teachers National Association, Regional Governor, and National President of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Jane’s teaching career was exemplified in the success of her students. Her voice students have won honors in competitions sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing, have been national winners in the Senior Artists Awards of MTNA, the Leontyne Price Vocal Competition, The National Federation of Music Clubs, and district and regional winners in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Students have appeared with national and regional opera companies, regional orchestras, and in Broadway productions.

Jane’s interest in music was stimulated as a child because of her family and their musical interest as amateur musicians who used their talents to sing and play in church and church related activities. Having musical roots in church music, Jane continued to serve faithfully, using her gifts and talents as a Minister of Music for 25 years at Sharon Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Jane is survived by her husband of 53 years, Noble, of Cary, NC, two children, and six grandchildren: son, Brian Dillard and wife, Tracy of Charlotte, N.C., grandsons Patrick, Matthew, & Cooper and daughter, Stephanie de Jong and husband, Dennis of Apex, N.C.; grandsons Chandler, Luke, & Grant. Other survivors include sister, Barbara Day & husband, David of Columbia, S.C.

Due to COVID19 restrictions, seating capacity will be limited and masks will be required.