Teaching

As a teacher, I believe in meeting my students holistically. I take into account all ways students use their voices, both literally and figuratively, and I encourage singing as a basis for confidence-building outside of the studio. In my own singing practice, I try to incorporate a good amount of experimentation and exploration, and I model the same for my students. Students can expect to receive repertoire assignments previously unfamiliar to them, but they can also expect to have input in what they sing. At the beginning of each semester, we discuss long- and short-term goals in our musical practice together. This helps inform our repertoire explorations. In addition, I sometimes help students choose a “goal” piece – a piece that they are interested in singing, but that we will visit in the next semester or two instead. However, we will find pieces that will help build their technique in ways that will set them up to succeed in their goal piece. I find that this keeps students excited for upcoming repertoire and motivated to put techniques we discuss into practice in their preparatory pieces; better yet, often they are just as excited about these assignments.

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In lessons, I build a safe space for students to explore their voices in a healthy way. I encourage them to shed expectations of making only "perfect" sounds, and instead we explore creating "ugly" sounds and then polishing. With these approaches, my students have been cast as leads in school musicals, secured places in school-run chamber ensembles, and accepted into the Peabody Children's Chorus in Baltimore, Maryland.

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As a pedagogue, I focus on building a solid foundation in breath and resonance technique. A healthy sound production starts with setting oneself up for success in these foundations. No two singers are alike, so the studio is a space for exploring how solid techniques will manifest themselves in each singer’s unique sound. I aim to create a dialogue between myself and my students. I believe in helping young singers find freedom in their voices so that they may feel empowered to not only continue in music, but to speak up in class and in their communities as well.