My philosophy of teaching is to always create a non-judgmental, safe learning environment taking each client’s fears, discomfort, and inhibitions at face value. I always approach clients from a place of kindness and support, and I work to understand their gifts and limitations so I can challenge them accordingly. Anger and harsh criticism, whether from me or clients that may be in the room, are not useful and always inhibit progress; this is a conversation I have with each workshop from the very beginning. I have strong interpersonal skills and working with students of any level of ability has always inspired me.

I’ve always believed that half of the process of learning to use your voice more effectively, whether singing or speaking, is psychological. Our voices are bound to our personalities, egos, and self-image so much so that unless we incorporate them in the process, progress can’t be made. Positive, supportive, well-informed reinforcement is the only way for a client to achieve their goals.
 

My mission statement:

• To create a supportive, positive environment to teach vocal technique using applied science, body-awareness, physical conditioning, humor, patience, and simple terminology with the goal of producing vocal expressiveness.

I’ve worked with adult singers and speakers for over 38 years teaching from a scientific, athletic, and artistic perspective. I’m highly skilled working with all voice types, all singing styles, I’m a Bass voice specialist, and I have experience working with transgender people. I do work with professionals but, just so you know, I love working with beginners and anyone who just wants to improve their voice, to speak more confidently, to become a better choral singer, or…just find a musical outlet.  For singers, it doesn’t matter what kind of songs you like to sing, I’m very adept working with any vocal style so we’ll work to develop the tone that fits your style.
 

I always begin by starting the process of finding out where your voice naturally wants to be, which can take some time. For singers, each voice has a comfortable range and a unique sound so it’s a matter of encouraging it to reveal itself (I also do this with experienced singers). For speakers, it’s the same and we’ll discover your natural speech pitch level which means there will be some simple singing, there is melody in speech and understanding that is a key to effective speaking. Speak like we sing, sing like we speak.