FAQs
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I began training privately with multiple voice teachers as a teenager, and majored in music with an emphasis on voice performance at Stony Brook University. I studied at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and the hybrid-conservatory at New York City's T.V.I. Actors Studio, and am a proud member of NYSTA (the New York Singing Teachers Association -- the oldest singing teachers' organization in the world). Over the years, I've taken slews of independent classes and lessons in disciplines ranging the gamut of Alexander Technique, Sanford Meisner Method Acting, movement, dance, improvisation, yoga, and mediation -- all of which are hugely helpful for freeing up the body, deprogramming ingrained physical habits and mindsets, and unliking our potential as singers and artists. I habitually read about scientific studies on the voice and regularly view and attend educational symposiums taught by other well-known voice teachers and vocal scientists, to keep up with new developments, methods, and discoveries in the world of singing and voice training. We're living in an exciting time for voice training! New techniques and approaches are being discovered and developed all the time! As singers, we too often fall into the trap of relying on what they already know and have had success with, but to be truly great at something, it really helps to actively keep plugged in to new advancements and open to new approaches. Learning about all of this stuff is a passion of mine, as is combining it into the holistic methodology I use with my artists.
- How did you get started doing this type of work?
I began voice training in my teens, and as I learned more, I started coaching some of my friends who were singers but couldn't afford to take lessons. I found that not only was I surprisingly good at it, but I really loved it. So while I was studying in college, I began teaching professionally, and have never stopped. 27+ years later, I still get excited every time I help a student make a breakthrough. I've never had any other job in my adult life, and I've never needed to. (:
- What types of customers have you worked with?
All types. In my 27+ years, I've taught folks of all genders (assigned and medically transitioned), adults/teens/children/senior citizens, complete beginners, seasoned professionals, and all levels between. I have career artists on large labels with huge soc. media followings and millions of AppleMusic/Spotify streams, and burgeoning singers whom I helped develop the ability and courage to sing at their first public open mic. My singers' genres and interests have run the gamut of Pop, Rock, Classical, R&B, Jazz, Metal, Musical Theater...you name it. A great voice teacher knows how to change their approach to each singer's specific needs and goals. Every person I've ever taught or coached has come with their own specific interests, goals, strengths and weaknesses, physical quirks and emotional circumstances. Each and everyone one of them required a different approach, and I find adjusting my style to my singers' needs to be challenging and invigorating. It's one of the many reasons why I still love doing this after over 27-years: it's never boring. ;)