Jolie D
5.0
(35)
Instruments: Piano, Voice
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Pop, Country, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera, Showtunes, Spirituals
Jolie D
5.0
(35)
Instruments: Piano, Voice
Styles:
Classical, Jazz, Pop, Country, Gospel, Musical Theater, Opera, Showtunes, Spirituals
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 10-80
2008-2017 A Capitol Fourth broadcast live on PBS - select background vocal
2009/2011 CBS A Kennedy Center Honors - select choral national broadcast
Dec. 2011 Opera Chorus member for famed tenor Andrea Bocelli Washington, DC
Former student of legendary soprano, Ms. Renee Fleming
Hi! I am a compassionate and dedicated vocal music teacher and performer who lives to inspire my students to their highest goals. For more than forty years, I have been an educator as well as a performer who is versatile in a wide number of genres from classical and pop to opera and Bel Canto. I have performed throughout the years at Avery Fischer Concert Hall in NYC as well as the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. I am new to Florida (which I love, by the way!) but spent many years teaching singers in middle and high school as well as adults with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice (opera) in NYS. My greatest performance memories include singing in the backup chorus for tenor Andrea Bocelli (for 20,000 screaming fans!), as well as Barry Manilow, Scotty McCreery, Josh Groban, Aretha Franklin, Reba and the legendary Yolanda Adams for "A Capitol Fourth" live on PBS for their 4th of July celebrations in Washington, DC.
I have been in public school education for more than 40 years, teaching at the middle school to high school level, which included teaching small voice classes as well as private students. I have taught private voice for the same number of years, from my studio in NYC, to Rochester, NY as well as in Maryland and in upstate NY. I absolutely love inspiring each student to aspire to their personal best and often use my personal contacts to advance their love of the art of singing. I am also very proficient with piano keyboard skills during lessons.
I prefer to begin students when they are at least 9 or 10 years old, but I have taught younger students who were auditioning for Broadway shows and have the ability to understand concepts of breathing and focus. I think of myself as almost a doctor; listening and individually crafting a game plan for each singer. Your voice is as unique as you are and I prefer to listen and decide what is needed to make the voice as centered, focused and strong as possible based on solid technique with breath support and letting the voice ring. I always encourage my students to audio or video record their lesson so that they can practice along each day. I am very compassionate and in tune with all of my vocal students and will be your biggest supporter!!
I have been a teacher for my entire life while singing professionally and it is one of my greatest joys to develop self-confidence and passion in each of my students. I have had students who were auditioning for Broadway shows and I have had older students who simply wanted to learn how to sing late in life. The key is to find out what makes your heart sing and inspire you to get there! I love to hear my new students sing whatever style they are comfortable with and then incorporate breathing and focus into their lessons. While I will never push my goals onto a student, I will inspire and encourage them to be their very best. I listen, adapt and inspire!
Abigail Itty
Ms.D is the best voice teacher ever!! I studied with her for about three years in high school and she taught me so much according to my specific voice. She encouraged and inspired me to practice every day and learn to use my voice as an extention of myself! Cannot recommend highly enough :)
destiny berberich
Ms. D is the reason why I think about breathing, the way I hold lyself on stage, or just the way my mouth is shaped each time I sing, and I never used to care about that stuff. Also, Ms. D cared so much about us as her students and wanted us to always succeed, which is why she taught for so long!
Olivia Hoben
Jolie is the best! Her passion and drive are truly contagious when working with her. I did so much growing as an artist under her wing.
Teagan
Jolie was my chorus teacher in high school. I took private voice lessons with her for about 2-3 weeks. She is the most professional and thorough teacher I've had. Our lessons mostly consisted of breath support with the diaphragm, doing scales in different octaves and steps, and most importantly, improving my diction and how I belt with different vowels. I would record each vocal exercise we'd do and practice it at home. I practiced with the songs "Meadowlark" from the Baker's Wife, and "The Sleep That Flits on Baby's Eyes", and we'd go over each word, syllable and vowel with diction, volume and control. As detailed and disciplined as she is, Jolie is also the kindest teacher I know!
Sgt Sophia Fister (USMC)
Ms D was my chorus teacher from 2015-2017. She was an absolutely amazing mentor, teacher, and supportive figure during my last high school years. She is very knowledgeable and passionate in her work and will never give up on anyone. To this day I owe my success in life to her mentorship!
Paul Moustakas
I worked with Ms. D. in highschool. She was a phenomenal voice teacher. She really helped me come into myself as a singer, and helped me gain confidence as a vocalist to later succeed in and out of high school. I worked with her privately and with a choir. In both environments she excelled. She taught a lot about vocal technique and breath support, and is very good for all levels of singing! I highly recommend her to anyone looking to learn how to sing, or advanced vocalists looking for extra training!
Tess Brewer
I took voice lessons from Jolie about six years ago. She taught me very valuable techniques on how to produce the best sound for my singing voice. She brought my voice to a new level and I continue to use these techniques today as I sing in various performances. She was a very caring, patient and compassionate teacher. I always felt at ease learning from her and she gave me a lot of confidence to pursue singing. I am truly thankful that I had the opportunity to have Jolie as a voice teacher.
Bruce carman
I first met Jolie as my chorus teacher in primary school in sixth grade! She was unfortunately only in that role a year, but in that time she taught me more than I learned in the rest of primary school about vocal technique, music, piano, and more. I sought her out years later for vocal lessons as an adult. She's so talented and I highly recommend learning from her! You will not be disappointed!
Beth Johnson
A few years ago I had voice lessons from Jolie in a group setting. It was so much fun, and I learned a lot about building up my vocal strength. Jolie is very encouraging , she creates a safe place to sing with others while making it very enjoyable as well. Fun and confidence!
Dóra Bartal
I was exchange student in the US 6 years ago from Europe and had Ms.D as my choir teacher. I have learned a lot from her and she made choir so much fun! She teaches with her soul and can give you way more than just a simple lesson! Miss you lots Ms.D
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