teaching
Audition/performance coaching is available for community, pre-professional and professional clients. I have a wait list for students wanting ongoing lessons. I offer sessions in person and online. Please enquire via my contact page.
I have been teaching and operating Vivid Voice Studio for over twenty years. I also loved teaching at the Canadian College of Performing Arts (2012-2021). Helping shape young performers’ careers at CCPA was so rewarding, and I miss their energy! I was at Singdaptive (2020-2022) as a Lead Instructor on their cutting edge, asynchronous lesson platform Exchangely. I loved teaching for Singdaptive, and I am very proud and grateful to have been an integral part of the company’s development.
My main philosophy is that your voice IS your body; the sounds you create resonate in so many ways, including through your bones! There is a lot of core energy needed for singing, but it’s not always intense. Soft, beautiful, breathy sounds need as much of your body as high intensity belting does, only in very different ways. It’s all a matter of what the sound requires, and honestly, we don’t want to think about it all that much! You want your body to respond naturally, so you are free to interpret and connect with your audience. Sure, classical singing requires some exacting standards in terms of the quality of sound you are producing, but there is an inherent freedom in that genre of singing as well; it all comes down to balance and only doing the amount of ‘work’ required to make the most beautiful sounds, no more, no less. I work mostly with singers, but I also work with clients who use their speaking voices intensely. The speaking and singing voices are much more similar than you may realize, and I use a lot of exercises based in speech as well. No matter whether you’re singing or talking, your voice needs to be free of unnecessary tensions. The most important thing is to develop the whole voice, throughout its entire range, and ALL vocal techniques must be free of an excessive amount of “work”; balance is absolutely everything.
My passion is to make sure everyone I work with is using their instrument in a healthy way, and that begins with an understanding of vocal function. Every singer, and voice user, should have basic knowledge of the physiology and anatomy of their instrument. For singers, no matter your genre or experience, technique aids the path to artistic freedom; it fosters interpretive and creative expression. Every voice user can’t sing or speak to their maximum potential if they’re worried about straining or hoarseness. When your voice feels free, it’s healthy and confidence building!
Every song, no matter the genre, has a story to tell. Jazz, musical theatre, country, blues, gospel, pop, opera…..whatever your genre(s)….there are so many stories! Flawless technique does not a good performer make. The most important thing is communicating with your audience, and I love to help singers truly embody a character and a lyric. If you’re not ready for an audience, that’s ok! An audience is not necessarily a singer’s goal but telling the story is, no matter if your audience is thousands of people, your small child, or your shower!
I teach and perform many genres including jazz, pop, musical theatre, classical and opera. The main goal is for every singer to find their unique voice, free of undue tensions, and full of self-expression no matter their genre of choice. For those who are interested in “crossing over”, I teach the techniques to let you seamlessly transition, keeping the “classical out of the pop”, and the “pop out of the classical”. Classical & opera (operas are staged performances with characters and storylines, while classical is the broader term) are unique because the developed voice in this genre must have consistent resonance qualities throughout their entire range, combined with very specific diction requirements for each language. CCM (Contemporary Commercial Music coined by Jeannette LoVetri in 2000) does not have the same exacting standards, but it absolutely needs to be healthy. It is more speech based, employing different qualities inherent to its sub-genres such as jazz, country or rock etc. I also specialize in belt technique and what it means to belt healthily. I personally love to belt and do so regularly. It is imperative to understand that contemporary and classical techniques are not interchangeable in any way.
I tailor lessons to the individual, and I use a lot of fun tools like kazoos! If you are not into the nitty gritty of the science that’s just fine. I will help you assimilate the information without getting too technical. I use imagery all the time, and it can work miracles! However, it is important to understand that while imagery will often yield good results (sometimes fabulous!), it is not based in science. The larynxes of all voices function exactly the same way; it is the size and proportions of all the components of the larynx (voice box), and the shape of the vocal tract (throat, mouth, and sometimes nose), that dictate the various qualities of a voice. It is imperative to understand the function of your instrument at a basic level, but it does not need to be daunting in any way. I have also taught many transgender students throughout the years. For trans females, it is about learning to feminize the voice and develop the voice you want; there are no hormones involved in this process. For trans males, hormones play a large role, as testosterone will thicken the vocal folds permanently, much like when a biological male enters puberty. I have also taught many older and menopausal voices; maintaining your voice with great technique and knowledge of your older instrument is the best route to vocal longevity!
I touched on vocal health above, and it is vital for any voice user. Singers with vocal injuries have often been blasted with criticism, and that is so, so wrong. Many vocal injuries see full recovery without surgery, including most vocal fold nodules! Fortunately, the attitude about vocal injury is changing as new light is brought upon the miraculous invisible instrument! We are athletes too…..your body is your instrument!
We now find ourselves amidst exponential growth towards a greater understanding of the voice due to technological and scientific advances; this is exciting frontier indeed! The human voice is much more visible than it was 50 years ago! I am a graduate of The Royal Conservatory of Music, and I had the great fortune to have studied under renowned classical vocal pedagogue Selena James for several years. I am also a certified teacher of Somatic Voicework(tm) - The Lovetri Method, an internationally acclaimed program for teachers of contemporary voice. I actively, and passionately participate in professional development opportunities whenever I can.
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If you’re headed in the direction of a professional musical theatre performing arts career, look no further than the CCPA, a college with an exceptional and dynamic program. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear you soon!