Information on the Northwest Songbird Voice & Piano Studio
I have been lucky in my life to work with many wonderful teachers, directors, mentors, and colleagues. Piano lessons began in Oklahoma in elementary school, piano and voice lessons continued when I lived in Chicago in junior high, and my last official voice lesson was with my wonderful teacher in New York, Leyna Gabriele. In between were irreplaceable years under the tutelage of David Nott at Illinois Wesleyan University and Barbara Honn at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, as well as stellar piano instruction continuing through my college and graduate school years while pursuing my degrees in Vocal Performance.
I realized I was interested in teaching when I was asked to do masterclasses during the Minnesota Opera Tour that I was a part of in 1999. It was then that I learned how much I knew and how amazing it felt to see that "lightbulb moment" in a student. I have taught private voice lessons for many years now and am enjoying the new challenge of sharing the fundamentals of piano and theory. My students range in age from young beginner to recorded professional, from opera singer to pop star. For my voice students, my philosophy is that the best vocal health comes from a classical foundation in technique, so no matter what a student wants to sing, we approach that genre from a classical perspective. For piano, I follow a similar perspective, laying the musical foundation, no matter the instrument, in a classical technique.
Voice lessons can be 30-60 minutes, depending on age and availability, flexibility. Piano lessons are 30 minutes in length. For voice students, within an hour lesson, vocal exercises to warm up the voice and practice vocal technique ideas will generally take the first 20-25 minutes. Depending on the student's background, a short music theory or ear training/sightsinging section might be added to a lesson. All students work on several songs at a time, exploring different genres that practice various aspects of vocal technique. We will spend about 20-30 minutes on the student's repertoire in each lesson. One of the first goals will be to build or complete a student's audition portfolio so that they are prepared for any auditions that might occur, should that be a goal of the student. For piano students, we will follow a piano fundamentals curriculum, including the basics of music theory.
Lessons at this time take place at my home studio on the border of Carnation and Duvall, WA, or virtually using an online platform developed by professors at Juilliard and Berklee specifically for music instruction called ForteLessons.com. Current lesson rates are $80 per hour lesson payable monthly or weekly.