Voice Instruction

I have been teaching privately at some level for over twenty years. As a clinician, I have worked with many high school and college-aged singers throughout the Kansas City region. As a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing), I am frequently invited to adjudicate a number of local and regional competitions. Former students have gone on to successful careers- some in music, many in other disciplines. Regardless of their choice of career, students often reach out to me later in gratitude for the life skills they learned through private study.

I believe that learning to sing establishes a discipline for many of life’s most essential tools. Learning a system of healthy vocal habits takes patience. It takes practice. It takes self-awareness. It takes critical- thinking. Moreover, it demands trust- trust in yourself to be able to succeed, and trust in those that move through the learning curve of this “most difficult instrument” with you. My role as a teacher is to be expendable- my hope is that the skills acquired through patience, self-awareness, critical- thinking, and trust are the things that stick with you.

Let me close with perhaps the hardest statement to grasp: ANYONE can sing. Yes, I said it. Anyone. In my years as a voice instructor, I’ve had numerous students that had been erroneously cast aside as tone-deaf learn to make some beautiful, confident sounds. They learned to match and retain pitch- two fundamental requirements for singing- and accomplished with a degree of success things which they never thought possible. I’ve worked with high school students that began taking lessons because they thought it sounded fun and went on to become valuable members of local ensembles, bands, and theater companies. I’ve had more established artists reach out for the ear of a supportive colleague as they prepared new roles. I have students of all ages with all types of goals… what might yours be?

Questions about lessons? Reach out via my Contact page.