Emily Bender, Voice Teacher and Soprano

Introduction: My passion is bringing the joy of music and the skills needed for success to people of all ages. As a Kodaly-trained teacher, I use intuitive and fun tools to teach a high level of musicianship to my students, no matter their level of experience. I am comfortable working in multiple musical styles, including pop, broadway, classical and world. I have worked with people from ages 8 to 80, and I meet each student where they are. Lessons with me include vocal warms up, working on breath and vocal technique, round and/or part singing and musicianship, in addition to, of course, choosing and working on repertoire. Born into a choral family, I was attending choir rehearsals as soon as they would let me. I sang in school and church choirs growing up, and sang my first church solo at age 3. At age 10, I started performing in musicals, and continued that throughout high school and college. For the past 25 years, I have sung and soloed with numerous groups, including: Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Coro Allegro in Boston; San Francisco Bach Choir, Pacific Mozart Ensemble, and Goat Hall Productions. As a member of the Grammy-nominated Pacific Mozart Ensemble I performed in Carnegie Hall, singing with the ensemble and soloing as part of the celebration of 40 years of Meredith Monk’s music. In addition to Solstice’s recordings, you can hear me on AXIOS, a recording of greek hymns. I hold a BA in French from Oberlin, an MA in Interdisciplinary Art from San Francisco State and a Certificate in Kodály Music Education from Holy Names University. I love helping students achieve their musical goals and develop themselves as performers and musicians. One of my happiest moments as a teacher was seeing the vocal skills of one of my students catch up to her dramatic skills, so she could deliver a fantastic performance.