O'Regan Thiele Vocal Arts Studio

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Introduction: I teach three different things: SINGING, ACTING FOR SINGERS (threatrical or song interpretation) and ACCENT MODIFICATION. VOICE STUDIO: "Aoibhneas" ['iv nes] (pronounced "EEVness" - for non-IPA users) is Irish Gaelic for the sense of joy or wonder one feels from music, art or scenery. Singing fills people with this sense of joy and fulfillment - hopefully for both the singer and the listener. Add in the hard work of technical training and the singer also feels a strong sense of self-confidence and accomplishment. Add again onto that, a strong understanding of what you are saying and having a dramatic technique, is sheer bliss! Starting out as a Country singer myself, I "fell" into opera in college (Bachelor of Music from Simpson College and Master of Music from Northwestern University) and made my professional operatic debut immediately following Graduate School, almost 30 years ago! I've sung leading roles at NY City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, in England, Germany, numerous companies all over the nation, and supporting roles at the Metropolitan Opera. I have always loved singing various styles of music, including Country, Irish Trad, Musical Theatre, Art Song and Cabaret, Madrigals as well as Catholic Cantor and choir section leader. After years of performing this wide range of music professionally, I have developed a strong vocal technique as well as an innate sense of drama and stage movement. I love to share this with others - to build a strong vocal technique and to help hone skills to the highest level of which one is capable. I love to help people delve deep into the characters they are portraying, whether it's a full dramatic role or a song. I will strive to help you, the student, to develop a technically solid and free singing voice. In so doing, you will be able to tap into your most honest self to express the music you are singing - hence, you will open yourself to this amazing sense of joy one can only feel from singing - be it in a church choir, for your friends/family, in a local pub, doing auditions, in the recording studio, a community theatre or the professional stage! I want you to feel confident in your technique! I will also ask that you know exactly what you are singing (word for word, if in a foreign language), working on interpretation as well as working with you on stage presence and taking command of the stage/space in which you are performing. ACTING FOR SINGERS: Throughout my professional career and in college, I have been known for my acting and interpretation of songs. I am known for my honest and heart wrenching portrayals of some of the most difficult acting roles in theatre set music, that are also some of the most difficult to sing, including Blanche Du Bois in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Arkadina in THE SEAGULL, Chrysothemis in ELEKTRA, the title role in SUSANNAH, and COUNTLESS others!! I bring 30 years of my own experience of theatre and vocal technique and blend it with straight theatre exercises (such was Uta Hagen) to help you build a solid acting technique and be as true as possible to the character you portray while being and staying solid in your vocal technique. If we are working on songs, you will learn how to honestly and musically express what you are saying in your song while staying true to your own personality! ACCENT MODIFICATION: We ALL want and need to be understood! Whether in business or with friends and loved ones. Mispronunciation and improper phrasing and inflections can cause one to be misunderstood and not always taken seriously. As an American opera singer, I have coached with the best of the best in languages! American singers are universally respected for their ability to sound German when singing German, to sound Italian when singing Italian, Czech when singing Czech, etc! I take this skill of knowing what is happening physically in the vocal tract and resonators and explain it to you to help you physically learn how to pronounce consonants and vowels that are not second nature to you. I also help you with natural inflection and phrasing of the English language. I have been singing in foreign languages - seriously - since 1989 (and not so perfectly since 1983 :-) ). I have coached with the best opera coaches and conductors in a the world! I am also a student of Knight-Thompson Speech Work. I do help with ESL but I am NOT a certified ESL teacher. I DO teach it and have very good success, but I will not mislead anyone in saying I have certifications in the work. VOCAL TECHNIQUE: I love to help people!! I love to help people find their true voice - through learning a strong and healthy technique and being able to tap into one's most honest self. A solid vocal technique, along with an understanding of the text being sung, empowers a person to sing with confidence and the freedom to truly express the music he or she is singing. From this point of empowerment, knowledge and openness, the singer finds the true joy that music can impart - not only for his or herself, but for the audience/congregation, as well. To be able to help a person experience this same feeling of joy and fulfillment that I have been so blessed to experience my entire life, is so very rewarding for me. In these times of divisiveness and fear, let us spread love and joy through song. ACTING FOR SINGERS: Few things bother me more than watching someone sing who does not have a clue what they are singing about and have not found a way to truly express themselves. I love delving into story lines, history of shows/songs and actual dramatic exercises to help a person be truely comfortable on stage and really "tell a story" and move people!! That's what our art form is all about!! Moving people! Making someone else's day! That, in turn, fills us with joy and fulfillment! Not a bad way to live your life! ACCENT MODIFICATION: I find it so rewarding helping non-native English speakers to understand not only how to make sounds they're not used to, but mostly to help them be understood!!! When a student's face lights up from really understanding a word or phrase for the first time and/or physically feeling and comprehending how consonants and verbs are actually pronounced, I light up!

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25 years in business

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Customers rated this pro highly for professionalism, work quality, and value.

5.0

4 reviews

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Carla J.

Mar 15, 2018

Hired on Thumbtack

Details: 26 - 44 years old • Yes, the student can read music • No formal training • Classical • What the teacher recommends • 30 minutes • As soon as possible • Conducting initial research • I travel to the voice coach

Singing Lessons

Barbara K.

Jul 17, 2017

Beverly makes me feel comfortable about singing again and is helping me replace old, bad habits with new exercises to help rebuild my technique as wells my self- confidence. Singing is FUN again! She is very kind, patient and very knowledgeable! She has helped me tremendously, as well, with my acting and interpretation, as well as my diction and writing out IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). I highly recommend Ms O'Regan Thiele!! Barbara K

Jueun J.

Mar 3, 2018

I am in the U.S. just for 5 months. I am learning the grammar and writing in an English school. But I need to learn to speak. Mrs. Thiele has taught me to speak correctly. She is just awesome. She has taught very well and her personality also very great. I have learned a lot from her. I appreciate her so much. My speaking is getting better because of her lesson. Thanks

Ju Eun K.

Mar 4, 2018

Mrs. Thiele is my best teacher in my life. She is a professional and very nice person. Wenn I spoke with bad pronounciate, she corrected immediately. It helps me a lot. And she explains always for me very kind and to know how I can easily understand. I am happy with her lesson.

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Beverly Thiele

FAQs

What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
VOICE LESSONS: I charge $70 an hour when working out of my own studio in New Jersey; $55 for 45 minutes and $40 for a half hour. When working in the city, I charge $100/hour, $75/45 minutes and $60/half hour. PACKAGE DEALS: Buy package of 4 lessons and get the 5th lesson free! $280 for 5 one-hour in-studio lessons $220 for 5 45-minute in-studio lessons $160 for 5 half-hour in-studio lessons $400 for 5 one-hour NYC lessons $300 for 5 45-minute NYC lessons $240 for 5 half-hour NYC lessons ACTING FOR SINGERS: My fee for the acting varies a bit when teaching privately, depending on whether I have to bring in a pianist or not. Lessons are an average of $50 an hour. ESL $40 an hour. See my ESL studio for package deal pricing.
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
VOICE I spend time talking with a new student that we may get to know each other. I like to know what his/her goals are, history - both musical and non-musical, what music makes him/her happiest and if there is something he/she has coming up. We'll work on a few easy scales and exercises and sing through a song of the student's choice to see where we are. In this way, I observe the positioning of the jaw, the tongue, head position, body posture, the breath, tonal quality, musicality. I'll give you exercises for your specific needs to take home and work on for your next lesson. ACTING I ask the student to bring in the operas and/or songs they are working on. The first session, we may not have a pianist as we'll talk about the music and where they will be or hope to be performing and discuss his or her goals. If the student wishes to focus on some acting exercises, I use Uta Hagen's "Challenge for the Actor". ACCENT MODIFICATION As I said, I am not a certified ESL teacher but along with accent modification, I do help students with their grammar, inflection, phrasing, American phrases and idioms and slang. I ask the student to bring in material that affects them personally: if the student is a nurse, to bring in a nursing books; if you are a mother, bring in some children's books you want to read to your children; if you are a pastor, bring in your sermon, etc. I will give you the tools to know how to physically make the sounds you are not used to making since English is not your native language.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I have a Bachelor of Music Degree from Simpson College and a Master of Music from Northwestern University. After my Junior year at Simpson, I did my first of three apprenticeships with Des Moines Metro Opera. It was at Simpson College that I fell in love with opera my sophomore year and, for a while, put aside my guitar and country western singing. I have a Master of Music Degree from Northwestern University. While at Northwestern, I got into the chorus at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Before that season even started, I was accepted into the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists (currently the Ryan Opera Center) for the following season and spent three years in the Opera Center. Immediately after graduate school, I made my professional operatic debut as "Abigail" in THE CRUCIBLE with Des Moines Metro Opera that summer (the Lyric season started that Fall). I've been a very loyal student of each teacher I've had: Douglas Duncan at Simpson, Kathleen Kaun at Northwestern, on to Arthur Levy, Catherine Malfitano and currently David Jones. Most of my life, I've had students from the various church jobs I've had and as I got older, I was often asked to work with the young artists of the companies in which I've sung. I have always loved to work with singers on their interpretation of songs, arias, scenes, etc. I am a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing). As I said, I currently study with David Jones and take part in his Teacher Mentor Workshops. I have been fortunate to have coached regularly with the best coaches and conductors in opera over the last 27+ years!! Coaches and conductors from the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, to name a few. I've worked with the best directors in opera, as well. I am a student of Knight-Thompson Speech work and practice yoga and meditation, along with biking and other physical activities that keep me in shape! ACTING FOR SINGERS All of my training and professional experience as an opera singer - particularly specializing in modern and contemporary opera - has made me discover ways of portraying my characters realistically. I am known for my acting. There are questions I ask myself of my character that I have figured out myself. I have worked with some of the best directors in the business both here and in Europe. I am also a student of HB Studios, incorporating the Uta Hagen technique. ACCENT MODIFICATION. My 30 years of singing professional opera has given me the precise skills for learning and teaching accents. I have been coached, again, by the absolute BEST in the opera world on languages that include German, Italian, Czech, French, Irish Gaelic and Spanish; as well as English accents from Cockney to specific Southern regional accents. As American opera singers, we are known for our ability to sound like a native speaker in whatever language we sing. I have done that very successfully!! I am able to bring that experience and training and use it to help non-native English speakers feel exactly what they are doing physically to make the sounds needed to speak English and to help with any phrasing and inflections, stresses, etc., to help them be completely understood - not just the actual words but their intentions, as well. I am also a student of Knight-Thompson Speech Work.