Banana Street Voice Studio

The first thing we do in the initial lesson is talk a bit about your experience and assess your vocal goals.  From there, I create a customized curriculum that covers foundations of breathing for singing, vocal techniques that help you achieve your overall goals, performance techniques, integrating and combining vocal and performance technique, and practice optimizing confidence in your overall presentation as a singer.  My goal as a teacher is to help the student find strength as a performer by gaining access to all of these important aspects of vocal study.

I have my Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Colorado State University, and have performed professionally throughout the United States for over a decade.  I taught at New World Music Academy in Pleasanton, California, before moving here to Deland.  I’m an active member of NATS, National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Private voice and PianoVoice lessons are $60/hr, $45 for 45 mins, or $30 per half hour.  

I also now offer an audition prep package, which is $90, and includes one 60 minute lesson, plus my help finding a song and monologue, preparing 16 or 32 bar cuts, getting your folder ready, and answering any questions you may have, including how to interact with your pianist and how to choose what to wear.  I also offer mindset techniques that will ensure that you have a successful audition.

My first teaching experience was in graduate school. At my university, all graduate students taught non-music majors who had enrolled in an introductory voice class.  I enjoyed it so much that I continued teaching after graduate school, and have now started my own studio.  I love helping people get the most out of their musical and singing experiences, and I have noticed that teaching voice solidifies student’s confidence in themselves in a very unique way.  I always feel humbled to be a part of helping someone find his or her voice.

I have worked with students of all ages and levels.  However, I have chosen to specialize in teaching students aged 11 and up in my private studio, and am qualified to teach beginning, intermediate, and advanced students.  While my focus as a performer has been mostly opera and classical, I also have experience with music theater, jazz, pop, and contemporary music, and have taught students interested in many different styles of vocal music.  

I would say that it’s very important to study voice with someone you can understand, someone who communicates well, and someone who can teach helpful concepts in a positive way.  It is essential to find someone who has been well trained, and who is curious enough to continue learning.  Teaching is a dialogue, a collaboration, so feeling that your needs as a student and artist are met makes for an optimal learning environment. 

What is your singing/performing/musical experience?

What would you like to accomplish through vocal study?

What are three important character traits that you’d like to see in a voice teacher by the end of your first lesson?