My teaching philosophy
I remember very clearly the first time I ever helped someone with their singing. It was in an NYU dorm basement and my friend Lisa was struggling with parts of "Suddenly Seymour," a song she had been assigned as part of the musical theater summer program we were both attending. She couldn’t figure it out so I listened to my instincts and gave her some advice on how to navigate the challenging sections. Shockingly, it worked. She sounded and felt better. This was the first voice lesson I ever taught.
I’ve since had a performing career that has taken me all over the country, in addition to continuing my education at the master’s and currently, the doctoral level. But, when I think about how my teaching career got started, I always go back to that dorm basement. In that moment, I tapped into something that would set the tone for my teaching career: the desire to help.
When I began to formalize my education in vocal pedagogy, I found myself motivated by the same desire I found in that basement. My performing career had been marked with moments of vocal struggle, so I sought out to learn as much I could about the voice in order to help singers steer clear of the issues I had faced. The desire to help has remained present in all of my academic endeavors.
My approach to teaching voice is fact-based and holistic. My education in voice science has given me a comprehensive understanding of the voice, which is the basis for all my teaching. I lead with vocal function and aim to have all my singers feel a freedom and ease in their entire voice. I do this by leading them through an exploration of all parts of their voice, not just the areas where they excel. I am fortunate to work with singers who are performing at a high level. Despite their extraordinary abilities in certain areas of their voice, I stay committed to this holistic approach. I want all singers to understand their weaknesses as well as their strengths. This functional cross-training approach has been shown to benefit singers, especially those in the musical theatre industry where the vocal demands are high.
Vocal health is also paramount to my work. Musical theatre singers face some of the most grueling vocal demands in the performing industry. I have experienced these first-hand as a performer, as well as during my work as a Production Vocal Coach. I have seen the challenges that singers face when they lack the tools to properly navigate their vocal health. Having a comprehensive understanding of vocal health and injury is an essential aspect of a performing career, and plays a role in my approach to voice lessons. I teach techniques that focus on injury-prevention and sustainability. I also work with singers who have sustained vocal injuries, helping them re-train their singing voice. It is my greatest joy to watch singers go from terrified that they will never sing again, to successfully performing again, free of vocal limitations.
In my attempt to help each of my student singers improve vocally, I find myself taking a student-centered approach in lessons. My background in voice science gives me an understanding of vocal function that allows for a more flexible approach to teaching voice. I work to create exercises for each student that not only help their voice improve, but make sense to the student intellectually. The pace of each lesson is determined by the student, as I try to take time to assess their understanding of our work. I lead with questions and use motor learning principles, such as delayed feedback, to allow time for processing after each exercise. I’ve found that this approach helps my students become more self-aware, which helps improve practicing skills, leading to better singing and better problem solving. One Fall semester, I had a college student return to school with excitement after spending her summer working at a professional theater. She had hit some vocal challenges during one of the shows, but she was proud to let me know that she was able to hone in on what she was feeling vocally, as well as what she knew intellectually about the voice, and was able to solve the issues on her own. She leaned into our exercises, her practice skills, and her creative thinking to overcome an obstacle. She was particularly proud because the summer before, she had a similar situation at the same theater that she was not able to overcome. For me, this success is the hallmark of a student-centered approach: a problem-solving singer.
My focus as a teacher goes beyond just the voice. I believe in transparency and respect in education, which is distinct from older models of performing arts training that place the teacher in a master role, with the student as the subordinate learner. I believe that we all benefit when we approach education with shared goals and mutual respect. I lead with clarity in my teaching, with open doors for questions and disagreements. I help singers set goals and intentions and strive for no ambiguity in our work together. I believe that clarity and communication are key to creating an equitable voice studio, where respect is present on both ends.
Finally, I believe in creating a classroom that de-centers Whiteness and patriarchal values, as well as being an anti-racist educator. The global pandemic and subsequent racial revolution our country are facing are both impacting the musical theatre industry in enormous ways. As a member of the Broadway community, I have witnessed lost jobs and sacrificed livelihoods due to the shutdown. I have also heard the cries of the marginalized voices within our community as our country and industry face their history of oppression and White supremacy. As an educator, I have witnessed performers face these dueling moments with both fear and inspiration. We are in a moment of change, and it is essential that musical theatre and voice education shifts in order reflect the needs of all singers. It is no longer acceptable to lean on old, tired practices that are rooted in patriarchal structures that center Whiteness. In order to prepare the artists of the future, it is essential that we, as educators, practice anti-racism, equity, and work to make all students feel seen, heard, and educated.
