- My listening
- My technical knowledge
- My widely varied performing experience
All my life I have been a teacher. I was the boy in summer camp who showed other kids how to swim! One of my Yale professors looked at me in mid seminar and exclaimed, “you are a born teacher!” And much of what I teach I have learned by observation — by watching and listening to colleagues, teachers, and students. I began teaching voice as a major part of my musical life a few years after I got to New York and slowly expanded it to fill any time that performing did not occupy. As performing receded teaching became my full time focus. I have taught as an adjunct at numerous colleges but now focus entirely on my private studio, in NYC and New Rochelle and on screen anywhere you need me.
My role models for teaching are Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Star Trek: Next Generation)! To paraphrase each: I hear and see and know things; I’m sensing tension! My primary tool is empathy. I observe you making sound, I hear you making sound, and I imagine making that sound — and I feel what needs to be adjusted to make a freer, more exciting sound. I have a wide range of technical study and experience to draw on but the gut reaction is primary. And sensing where you are coming from connects my work to yours.
I have also been a performer all my life, in many styles and contexts: Anglican church choir from an early age; Glee Clubs and college singing groups (including the Yale Whiffenpoofs); opera (including a tour with New York City Opera); operetta (including tours with New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players); early music (New York Ensemble for Early Music); contemporary music (resident tenor with The Turnpike Camerata); oratorio; recitals; and 11 years with The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble (including a number of their recordings). My album of English and Irish Ballads is available from CD Baby.
As a result I know how to play a role, put over a song, sing with an ensemble, or vanish into a devotional piece — and it is my delight to show you how to do that too!