Qualifications and Affiliations

No matter what you study, who you study with will affect the rest of your life.

The Japanese philosophy on teachers holds them in the highest earning category in their society. My favorite Sushi Chef in NYC calls me Sensei when come into his restaurant, just because he knows I’m a professional teacher.

In today’s information age, everyone sounds like they’re saying the same thing. That leave’s a little research in your hands. Most menus in most restaurants have basically the same idea. But…….well you get the picture. A short order cook at a roadside waffle house, or a frozen entree from the neighborhood corporate restaurant just isn’t quite the same as your favorite quality freshly made professionally prepared restaurant. All cars have four wheels, but the ride from one to the next is extremely different. You’re experience is going to be determined by the education, background, real world experience, and general teaching talent of whoever you work with. The voice is tricky and seemingly very abstract. Your time will be so much more productive and valuable if you work hard enough to find a teacher with an ability to diagnose, make adjustments, and give directions that only someone with thousands of hours under their belt can give.

Qualifications:

Highly published Vocal Authority
The Art of Body Singing First Edition 1996
Singer Magazine Q&A section 2002-2008
Berkley College Lecturer
NYSTA Member for 10 years in NYC
Lecturer at NYU Tisch…………..with Carrie Cole and Melissa Cross
Original TC Electronics Voice Council member with………Robert Lunte, Melissa Cross, Jamie Vandera,

Teaching Positions:

Breck Alan Voice Studio NYC
Snacky Time Studios NYC
Your Voice Vocal Studio Boulder CO
Golden Music Shcool…………5 -85 year olds Golden CO
Your Voice Vocal Studio Austin TX
Marcie Lynn Vocal Academy (Lead Teacher/Advanced Students) Austin TX (12 hour teaching days). Developed my Zen Teaching methods here.
Austin Guitar School……Group Glasses Austin TX
Living Waters Academy 8-12 and 13-18 year olds Austin TX

Masters

20 years of Martial Arts Study and practice. I can’t imagine having been able to organize and develop “The Art of Body Singing” without my extensive lifelong interest in Martial Arts. My studies in martial arts have taken me from the hard styles of Karate to various soft circular styles of Kung Fu. I’ve been fortunate enough to study with masters like Nick Demitro, Peter Ralston, Marcus Brinkman, Dan Swenson as well as a wide assortment of other teachers and systems of training. By the time you’ve seen several systems of martial arts and experienced the difference between great teaching and not so great teaching, and seen teachers that teach in very broad strokes and those that obsess about the tiniest of details, you are reminded of a great Bruce Lee quote; ““Before I studied the art, a punch to me was just like a punch, a kick just like a kick. After I learned the art, a punch was no longer a punch, a kick no longer a kick. Now that I’ve understood the art, a punch is just like a punch, a kick just like a kick.” This awesome quote well illustrates the hard earned wisdom that comes from truly learning something. No one ever got good at anything without becoming at least a little obsessed by it. And then once they can do it…….. it just is. And once it “just is,” it’s then guided by the right stuff, “emotional content.” I continue encourage students to embrace the journey to this destination and to not become discouraged by the work it takes to get there.

Education:

New England Conservatory
Guilhall School of Music and Drama London
Brookline Music School Boston MA
Naropa Institute International Music Studies Boulder CO
NYSTA Advanced Studies NYC Advanced vocal pedagogy studies in……..Alexander Technique, and FeldenKrais Method, Vocal Dysphonia Treatment, Vocal Pedagogical Comparisons, Neurological Studies of Creativiy

Independent Studies in Various Methodologies including but not limited to:

P. Mario Marafioti, G. Lamperti, M. Garcia, Speech Level Singing, Alexander Technique, FeldenKrais Method, McClosky Technique.

Masters I’ve studied with:

Ran Blake 3rd Stream Department New England Conservatory
Don Rendall Jazz Studies Guilddhall London
Peter Elvins Bel Canto Boston MA
Steve Heck McClosky vocal rehabilitation Brookline Music School
Steve Heck Jazz Vocals Brookline Music School
Marci Lynn Performance Psychology Austin TX
Geoff Johns International Music Studies Naropa Institute
Kobla Labzeko West African Music Studies Naropa Institute