Romano Donà was born in Murano in 1956 in a family with centuries of experience in glassmaking. He entered the furnace at an early age, beginning his apprenticeship with his father at the Fratelli Manfren Glassworks.
In 1975 he began working with the glass masterLivio Seguso, a collaboration that lasted for twenty years. Here Romano perfected his skills, not only in meeting the exacting demands of Seguso but also by collaborating with artists such as Henry Mavrodin, Federica Marangoni, Mimmo Rotella and Ugo Marano. He developed a talent for glass sculpture and in 1987 he won the Premio Murano award for glass masters.
In 1997 Romano began working at Stefano Toso Glassworks where he created his own original pieces and continued collaborations with other artists. This infusion of creative energy from designers such as Rodica Tanasescu, Antonio Meneghetti, Raffaele Rossi and David Farsi helped him in diversifying his skills. In 2000 with Silvano Belardinelli, the art director for a group of Japanese artists, he converted the designs of several Asian artists into glass.
In 2003 Romano began experimenting with the traditional Muranese techniques of filigrana and incalmo making the use of these centuries-old processes look entirely new. From this experiment originated a brand new Oggetti collection for the US market.
In the 2000s he continued his experiments with the collaboration of Lucio Bubacco to combine the lamp technique with solid glass. The result is a series of large vases with applied embossed landscapes.
Today Romano is retired.