teaching philosophy
As a teacher of singing, I strive to help students realize their full vocal capabilities and accomplish their musical goals, to impart knowledge and to instill a lasting and life-long love of learning.
To better achieve these objectives, I believe it is important to continue educating myself: on singing, pedagogy, acoustics, and all other aspects of my craft. I set high expectations and maintain high standards. At the same time, I remain cognizant of the fact that there is no “one size fits all” approach to the voice. Every student is unique with his or her own temperament, background, and learning style, and every student is at a different stage in his or her development. As such, I tailor each lesson to the individual.
Because every student is different, I introduce proper vocal technique in varied ways. For beginning students, I often reduce jargon, use more imagery or abstract descriptions, and model heavily. For intermediate level students, I typically combine imagery and modeling with more specificity. For the more advanced students, I use a full array of techniques along with very specific pedagogical concepts and terminology. In all cases, I base instruction on authoritative texts, as well as current research on communicating how to sing.
I use a holistic method of evaluation including both objective and subjective criteria. I do not believe success can exclusively be measured by how many competitions a student wins or by how many roles he or she performs in a given year. The essence of singing being personal, I am constructive in my criticism and always temper negatives with positive feedback.
I believe singing informs and enriches life, regardless of one’s chosen vocation. As T.S. Eliot said, “You are the music while the music lasts.” I am privileged to guide my students on their journey to becoming that music.
To better achieve these objectives, I believe it is important to continue educating myself: on singing, pedagogy, acoustics, and all other aspects of my craft. I set high expectations and maintain high standards. At the same time, I remain cognizant of the fact that there is no “one size fits all” approach to the voice. Every student is unique with his or her own temperament, background, and learning style, and every student is at a different stage in his or her development. As such, I tailor each lesson to the individual.
Because every student is different, I introduce proper vocal technique in varied ways. For beginning students, I often reduce jargon, use more imagery or abstract descriptions, and model heavily. For intermediate level students, I typically combine imagery and modeling with more specificity. For the more advanced students, I use a full array of techniques along with very specific pedagogical concepts and terminology. In all cases, I base instruction on authoritative texts, as well as current research on communicating how to sing.
I use a holistic method of evaluation including both objective and subjective criteria. I do not believe success can exclusively be measured by how many competitions a student wins or by how many roles he or she performs in a given year. The essence of singing being personal, I am constructive in my criticism and always temper negatives with positive feedback.
I believe singing informs and enriches life, regardless of one’s chosen vocation. As T.S. Eliot said, “You are the music while the music lasts.” I am privileged to guide my students on their journey to becoming that music.