• Pedagogical Influences
• Student Directed Style
• Holistic Multi-Layered Vocal Technique
• Three Main Focuses - Physiology - Musicianship - Text

My teaching philosophy and style have developed and solidified over many years of my own life-long learning, an active performing schedule of operatic roles, orchestra appearances and solo concerts and over twenty years of studio teaching.

Pedagogical Influences

My most important pedagogical influences have been my two primary teachers and mentors Prof. Lucile Evans, voice teacher, and Dr. Robert K. Evans, vocal coach, (both formerly of College Conservatory of Music, Cincinnati, University of Indiana, Bloomington, and McGill, Montreal) with whom I have studied since 1989.

Simply put, I consider my work with voice students as a sacred trust. One's voice (singing or otherwise) in an integral part of who one is and regardless of the student's talent or level of musical/vocal development, my role is to guide, and nurture that artistic voice that is part of each human being.

Student Directed Style

My preferred style is student directed, where the student (with my guidance) sets her/her own goals and path, understanding the role externally imposed benchmarks such as exams, competitions, and performances play.

At the voice lesson, I listen and observe-to both technical exercises and the vocal repertoire, suggesting alternate ways of approaching the issue at hand. I strive to be up-beat, positive and honest.

This coaching has at it's core a profound understanding of what needs to happen physiologically to produce the required tone, and more importantly I understand the role of the student's own thinking process.

Holistic Multi-Layered Vocal Technique

To integrate something as complex as producing a sound that is beautiful and emotionally moving yet strong enough to fill a concert hall over an orchestra AND to convey the inner meaning of a song in a language foreign to the audience, and often the singer, one needs a vocal method that is holistic yet multi-layered.

And, in this world where singers often sing in more than one style-this method allows classical singers to "cross-over" to pop ballads, standards, musical theatre and folk-given that they have made a thorough study of, and can integrate, that particular musical style. Just as important, it gives a solid and healthy vocal technique to those who have no inclination to ultimately perform the classical repertoire.

We incorporate the traditional bel canto, open throated vocalism of the "Italian school" along with a rigorous and disciplined approach to building the repertoire into the voice.

Three Main Focuses - Physiology - Musicianship - Text

In a nut shell, my teaching has three main focuses that occur concurrently. As the student progresses these areas become more consistent, and nuanced.

1. Proper posture, breathing and tone production
   
   
2. Musical analysis of the repertoire at hand, breaking down the piece into it's most basic elements pitches, rhythms, vowels (i.e. working the piece and mastering it as a pure vocal exercise)
   
   
3. Analysis and working of the text. Breaking it down and working it independently of the music, working the diction and inflection of the language (foreign or native). Moving beyond the technical to the underlying meaning of the text, working with sub-text and applying the Stanislavski acting "Method" within the context of a sung performance.