Vocal Technique and Coaching

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Keep It Simple

We have always sung as a way of expressing the emotions that mere speaking can’t.  I believe our most important goal as singers is storytelling.  We achieve this through vocal technique, total immersion in the words, honesty, and tapping into our own life experiences.  As an art form, singing is a unique combination of the vulnerability of expressing emotion and the athleticism of projecting a voice, unamplified, to the back of a theatre.  As actors we express ourselves by first asking Who, What, Where, Why, When, then using those answers to form ideas and make choices.  This leads to honest performances, regardless of what genre we are presenting.

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For me, the study of vocal technique involves three crucial elements – breath, phonation, and resonance.  We tend to over-think and over-complicate everything we do.  My philosophy is to lead students back to simplicity.  Only through simple, relaxed singing can we fully express ourselves as storytellers.

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My many years of experience as a singer, student, actor, and pianist give me the unique ability to take the student from the very beginning to career-ready performances and all the places in between.  There are many intangibles that accompany the study of singing; however, at the end of the day, being open to change, being a good colleague, knowing how to listen critically to ourselves and others, and having fun making music will make us better singers, musicians, storytellers, and, ultimately, people.