Michael S  
Instruments: Voice
Styles: Classical, Pop, Rock, Musical Theater, Opera, Showtunes

As stated above, I have been teaching and coaching private voice for over 10 years.   I have been in demand as Vocal and Music Director for numerous community musical theatre productions.   I have enjoyed working with students age 8 to 78. I am well-versed in classical, musical theatre and popular repertoire.   The most important thing to note is that I believe there is ONE healthy and safe way to sing.  We just learn to color our sound to meet stylistic needs. As a performer, I have numerous musical theatre and operatic roles, concerts, and television credits.

For so many years I struggled yet, persevered like any other singer. I was raised on a core set of beliefs that singing is all about breath and tone along with a dozen or so buzzwords that led me to more questions than answers about my own voice. It was not until much later in life that I realized that the most important component of all is authenticity. I truly believe that real and honest creativity comes from a place of authenticity. My lessons are very individualized. They become very personal. My level of integrity demands that I give just as much of myself as I ask of my students. I am there to guide a singer to explore the emotional components of text and sound. No two lessons are ever alike. Even with this individualized approach, I encourage all of my students to attend the lessons of other singers in my studio. Students will ultimately discover that what I say to them, I am saying to another student. Beyond the building of the voice from a technical place, I put great emphasis on text. My general belief is that: if it is the text that tells us where we are going (the moving pieces of the song; the journey or story then it is the breath that tells us where we have been (the subtext and authentic emotion). I also believe that I am not the teacher for everyone. I should not be the teacher for everyone. I am not in the studio to judge a student by telling them they made a good or bad sound. How would I know? How would anyone know? The way I see it, whatever sound we make just happens to be the one the Universe wanted us to make at that moment of our existence. Yes, I recognize this sounds a bit "out there" but my point is we need to focus less on good v. bad. Why not celebrate the gift of every sound we make? The work we create must have a purpose. I believe that students should be given a platform and support to create something beyond the traditional recital. My dream is for them to create works to take back to their own communities in order to foster and nurture dialogue to make an impact on social change. Each lesson is individualized. No lesson is ever just door to door singing. Sometimes we have to talk about the repertoire, talk about the text and grow from each. That does not always mean that you are singing for every minute of the lesson. The student I am there as a guide and allow the students creativity to take us on the journey. I believe...I live.. with an ideology of a truly holistic approach to teaching and singing. I encourage my students to find joy in risk and vulnerability as tools to reach their authentic self and sound. Singing with purpose is what connects us with an audience. When we put these pieces together we are left with the most remarkable result. We, as singers, use our authenticity to make our art that much more accessible to the world.