NYSTA Nov-Dec 2020...reminded me of Jon Batiste’s performance about a month ago and I’ve been enjoying listening to it again. I hope if you have a few minutes to soak up these

Vol. 18, no. 2, November--December 2020 NYSTA©

VOICEPrintsJOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK SINGING TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATIONVolume 18, Number 2 November--December 2020

Holiday Online Event: Movement Masterclass with Stage Director Chuck Hudson: Acting Bigger........................................................................................................................................ 28

President’s and Editor’s Messages....................................................................................................29---30

2020--2021 Events Calendar.................................................................................................................31--32

NYSTA Professional Development Program.................................................................................33--34

Feature Article: A Graded Repertoire List of Nineteenth-Century Czech Art Song by Lauren Hartman.......................................................................................................................35--44

Book Review by Kateri Gormley: Anatomy of the Voice by Theodore Dimon............................45--48

NYSTA New Members 2020.............................................................................................................49--53

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Holiday Online EventJosephine Mongiardo Great Coaches Series

Movement Masterclass with Stage DirectorChuck Hudson: Acting BiggerSunday, December 6, 2020 6:30-8:30 PM EST

Four to six singers plus an alternate will participate.

A particular challenge for presentational forms of performance likeopera and musical theater is “making things bigger.” Directors oftensay, “I loved what you were doing in rehearsal. It was intimate andconnected and truthful…but now we’re onstage and I need you to be

DRAMATIC CORPOREAL TECHNIQUE: The Five Movements of Pure Thought■ Using psycho-physical dynamics and rhythms to turn Staging into Human Behavior.■■■■■ Visible Dramatic Action: making the invisible visible without “acting it out.” There is a logicalsequence of actions one plays to make the invisible visible. Performers must break down all of theirwork into this logical sequence of specific actions.

■■■■■ What “Moment to Moment Acting” means and how to do it for opera and music theater.

Chuck Hudson

bigger.” Suddenly everyone starts to mug, or they begin moving their arms around, as if takingup more space was the way to act bigger, and we lose the connection to dramatic truth.


PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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Elizabeth Saunders

Elizabeth SaundersPresident, New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA)

Dear Colleagues,As I continue to dig into the NYSTA archives to learn more ofour history, I’ve been enjoying reviewing Presidents’ Greetingsfrom past years. Today I was struck that nineteen years ago inwhat was also the second issue of VOICEPrints (or, the NYSTA“Bulletin” as it was called then) of the 2001--2002 season, JanetPranschke was writing from a similar place of concern thatmany of us are feeling now, saying,

The holidays are upon us, ready or not. If you feel the waythe Board and I do, this is hardly a time for the frivolitynormally associated with the season. It should be a time ofreflection and re-evaluation. Many things that seemed soimportant have paled since September 11th. Foremost inour thoughts now is connecting with friends and family.

Now here we are in 2020, a new period of challenges, in themidst of internal and external concerns surrounding ourhealth, our work, and the security and stability of our country.As we develop new ways of working, connecting, and sustain-ing ourselves, there is much reflection and re-evaluating beingdone by individuals, organizations, corporations, and thecountry as a whole. I am loathe to repeat overused phrases but,during the holiday season, I hope that in the midst of creatingand maintaining your new normal while social distancing,you find rest and connection with others as well as a timefor celebrating this fragile, miraculous phenomenon thatwe call life.

Two performances that speak to my soul when I need to findinner quiet, grounding, and hope are Shirley Horn’s recordingof “Here’s to Life” from her album Here’s to Life: ShirleyHorn with Strings, and Jon Batiste’s performance of “What aWonderful World.” They both allow time, space, and quietto dominate. I was introduced to Shirley Horn’s album byArmen Guzelimian back when I was in college and it helpedme survive my divorce back in the 90’s and much since then.NYSTA member and former Board member Sally Morganreminded me of Jon Batiste’s performance about a month agoand I’ve been enjoying listening to it again. I hope if you havea few minutes to soak up these songs, you’ll find them worthyour while as well.


EDITOR’S MESSAGE

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Jennifer D’Agostino

VOICEPrintsJennifer D’AgostinoEditor-in-Chief

Elena BlyskalAssociate Editor

Nico de VilliersAssociate Editor

Andrea Chenoweth WellsAssociate Editor

John OstendorfDesigner

Volume 18, No. 2Jennifer D’AgostinoEditor-in-Chief, VOICEPrints

Dear Colleagues,

We have made it to November! I know many of you arebalancing careers and home life in a way that is overwhelmingand perhaps even burdensome. Don’t forget to ask for helpalong the way! I’d personally like to acknowledge individualswho have helped me with some new NYSTA transitions:Selena Siri and Jared Trudeau. Both volunteered to upload andassist with the VOICEPrints portion of the NYSTA website. Ifyou haven’t visited the site yet, members may access archives;the current issue is available to anyone. Thank you, Selena andJared, for helping transition to the new website and taking thetime to archive all past issues.

In this issue, Lauren Hartman’s contribution of A GradedRepertoire List of Nineteenth-Century Czech Art Song providespotential choices of new repertoire for the members of yourstudio or Song Literature class. Hartman has set up a list ofrepertoire using the deLapp-Culver Protocol and identifiesresources to aid in your exploration of Nineteenth-CenturyCzech Art Song. I look forward to using this resource whenI study this genre with my Song Literature II course nextsemester.

Also in this issue are a book review by Kateri Gormley ofAnatomy of the Voice authored by Theodore Dimon, and a listof featured new NYSTA members.

As always, please send questions, comments, or articlesubmissions to me directly at [email protected] orthrough the website at https://nyst.org/submit-an-article/.


Holiday Online EventJosephine Mongiardo Great Coaches Series

Movement Masterclass with Stage DirectorChuck Hudson: Acting BiggerSunday, December 6, 2020 6:30-8:30 PM EST

Chuck Hudson

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Chuck Hudson has directed opera productions at major interna-tional companies including Cape Town Opera (South Africa),Cincinnati Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, AtlantaOpera, Pittsburgh Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Hawaii OperaTheatre, Seattle Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, andSan Francisco Opera Center among others. He has directed awardwinning theater productions in New York and regionally, includingThe Pearl Theatre, The Chester Theater, Cape May Stage, TheChildren’s Theatre Festival of Houston, New City Theatre, andChicago’s Fox Valley Shakespeare Festival. Chuck’s work as adirector was mentioned in the January 2011 edition of AmericanTheatre Magazine and the October 2018 edition of Classical SingerMagazine.

In addition to directing, Chuck continues to focus on work withyoung professional artists. He was a co-creator of Seattle Opera’sYoung Artist Program where he directed productions as well ascreated and instructed specialized classes on Acting and Movementskills for singers. He has directed productions at San FranciscoOpera’s Merola Program, Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Artist Pro-gram, AVA Opera Theater, BU Opera Institute, USC-ThorntonOpera, Carnegie-Mellon, Manhattan School of Music Opera The-ater, Cincinnati Conservatory, Indiana University Opera Theater,and Music Academy of the West. He was the Artistic Associateof La Lingua della Lirica for two seasons in Italy, a guest artist atS.I.V.A.M. in Mexico City and has been an annual Master Teacherat San Francisco Opera’s Merola and Adler Fellows programs foralmost two decades.

Chuck Hudson travels often to Australia to work with singers atThe Melba Opera Trust in Melbourne, the Sydney Conservatorium,N.I.D.A., Opera Australia Young Artist Program, the WesternAustralia Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, and with profes-sional singers via the Opera and Arts Support Group. He directedthe Australian premiere of Der Widerspentigen Zähmung by Goetzbased on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (at WAAPA), was aguest director at the Melbourne Conservatory of Music’s OperaTraining Program, and presented public showcases for professionalsingers at the residence of the American Consul General in Sydneyfor the Opera and Arts Support Group. The Dame Kiri Te KanawaFoundation also invited him to work with their singers in NewZealand for several seasons.

2020--2021 EVENTS CALENDAR


Spring Online Event

Teaching Voice Students from East AsiaUnderstanding the Linguistic Challenges and Advantages Uniqueto Native Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Japanese SpeakersWith Ryu-Kyung Kim, Stephen Ng and Sahoko Sato Timpone

Sunday, May 16, 2021 2:30--4:30 PM EDT

Voice teachers today are often working with students for whomEnglish is their second language. It is increasingly helpful forthem to understand the linguistic tendencies of representedlanguages. This presentation, followed by Q&A, will explorespecific examples for speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean,and Japanese, where these languages present both challengesand advantages to vocalists compared to American Englishspeakers. The goal of this presentation is to help voiceteachers become more acquainted with these languages andto provide them with practical tips to apply in their studios.Through examining linguistic perspectives and providingspecific exercises, we aim to advance vocal teaching for EastAsian singers.

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Ryu-Kyung Kim

Stephen Ng

Sahoko Sato Timpone

Winter Online Event

Narciso Solero: Turning Your Ordinary Studiointo an Extraordinary One!Sunday, February 21, 2121 8:00--10:00 PM EST

This program explores how to turn dreams for your studio intoreality through goal setting and implementing the steps to achievethose goals. Any topic is fair game: studio administration, profes-sional development, repertoire building, or how to achieve thehighest level of artistry from your students. Teachers completea survey in advance, submitting ideas for goals they would liketo achieve, although they have yet to take any action or significantaction toward achieving these goals. Narciso Solero draws onexperiences in his own life as a pianist/teacher to address thevalue in setting ambitious goals. He also uses his experiencehaving lived through stage-four cancer and an exhaustingchemotherapy regimen to show that we have more courage andstrength than we realize when we choose to face our insecuritiesand fears and have the courage to pursue our dreams.

Narciso Solero

Vol. 18, no. 2, November--December 2020 NYSTA©33

NYSTA Professional Development ProgramSpotlight on the PDP

The NYSTA Professional Development Program is entering anexciting new phase. If you saw the last issue of VOICEPrints,you read about the mission to revamp the PDP in 2020. Thegoal of the program as it heads into its second decade is two-fold. First, the courses will provide our students with contem-porary, evidence-based content that is designed to furthertheir understanding of the voice. Second, the instructors willprovide real-world connections between the pedagogicalinformation and what actually takes place in the voice studio.Graduates of the PDP will not only have a deep understandingof voice science and pedagogy, but they will also greatly im-prove their effectiveness in the studio.

One of the most exciting aspects of revamping this programhas been hiring new instructors for this stellar curriculum. Iam excited to introduce each instructor to you in the upcomingissues of VOICEPrints in this section entitled Spotlight on thePDP. Our first spotlight is on Kenneth Bozeman, the newinstructor for the Acoustics and Resonance course.

Amanda Flynn: Tell me a bit about your background as itpertains to your acoustics class.

Kenneth Bozeman: My interest in voice acoustics began withmy first exposure to great classical singing—especially thatof tenors, being one myself, in particular recordings of JussiBjörling and Fritz Wunderlich. I just had to know what theywere doing to get such thrilling sounds in the upper voice.Years later (1983), Tom Cleveland was presenting a paper atthe Minneapolis NATS convention on singer’s formant. Heplayed a synthesized tenor voice singing an F major scale onthe vowel /a/. When it went through the timbral transitions Ihad come to expect in an excellent tenor, I had to know whathe had done to program those timbral shifts. Tom reportedthat he had merely set the vocal tract resonances (formants)for an /a/ and run the scale through it without furtheradjustments. It occurred to me that those synthesizedtransitions had to be due to purely acoustic factors, notlaryngeal register changes. In 1989 during a lesson withRichard Miller, whose descriptions of the zona di passaggioI had studied, an /e/ vowel I was singing “turned over” or“closed” on D4, at what Richard had reported to be the primopassaggio for a lyric tenor. Surprised, I immediately askedRichard if what had just happened was ok. He had me re-singthe passage and said it was fine without further comment. Ihad mistakenly expected all vowels to transition during thezona di passaggio, and close at the secondo passaggio, closer toG4. Returning to the lab at Oberlin—my temporary practiceroom—I realized my vowels all tended to close in a parallel

Amanda Flynn is currently onfaculty at Pace University and isalso the owner of a private studiowith clients performing onBroadway, Off Broadway, nationaland international tours, regionaltheater, and with careers asrecording artists. Amanda wasProduction Vocal Coach for TheLightning Thief and Be MoreChill, both on Broadway. She alsoserved as a Vocal Consultant forthe regional premiere of Love inHate Nation.

She holds a MM in VocalPerformance with a MusicalTheater concentration and anAdvanced Certificate in VocalPedagogy, both from NYU. Shecompleted the VocologyMentorship at Mt. Sinai, theDistinguished Voice Professionalcertificate from NYSTA, andcompleted her Certificate inVocology from NCVS. A recipientof the Van Lawrence Fellowship,Amanda is a voice researcher andhas presented at conferences acrossthe country. She is thrilled to beon the NYSTA Board of Directorsas the Director of the ProfessionalDevelopment Program.www.amandaflynnvoice.com

Vol. 18, no. 2, November--December 2020 NYSTA© 34

Kenneth Bozeman, BM, MM,Professor Emeritus of Music,taught at Lawrence Universityfor 42 years where he chaired thevoice department and from whichhe received two awards forexcellence in teaching. He holdsperformance degrees from BaylorUniversity and the Universityof Arizona, and studied at theConservatory of Music inMunich. He was awarded the VanLawrence Fellowship by the VoiceFoundation for his interest invoice science and is the chair of theeditorial board of the Journal ofSinging. He was inducted intothe American Academy ofTeachers of Singing in 2019. Hiswritings on acoustic voicepedagogy include the books:Practical Vocal Acoustics:Pedagogic Applications forTeachers and Singers andKinesthetic Voice Pedagogy:Motivating Acoustic Efficiency.

https://faculty.lawrence.edu/bozemank/

relationship to their first formant locations. I hypothesized thatit was when the second harmonic crossed the first resonance.This was the first and perhaps most significant observationof my work. I have been realizing its implications ever since(for over 30 years). I taught vocal pedagogy at LawrenceUniversity from 1993 until 2017. I first wrote of this acousticregistration phenomenon in 2007, and have since written twobooks and a number of articles on acoustic vocal pedagogy.

AF: Can you tell us a little about any considerations youtook in putting this course together for NYSTA?

KB: This course is focused on providing the understandingthat is adequate and necessary for studio application ofacoustic vocal pedagogy. It is not intended to be sufficientfor in depth voice science research, but expressly geared tofacilitate “clinical” application. In addition to the causativeinformational content, the recorded sung examples arenecessary ear-training for teachers to be able to recognize itsembodied form.

AF: What are you most looking forward to with beinginvolved with the Professional Development Program?

KB: It is my current (post university retirement) professional“mission” in life to provide access to and to promote theinclusion of acoustic vocal pedagogy, including the realityof acoustic registers, to our voice community and its peda-gogy courses. I am convinced that this information can betransformative to studio effectiveness and efficiency.

For more information about the Professional Development Program,including how to register for Kenneth Bozeman’s class, please visitwww.nyst.org.


A Graded Repertoire List ofNineteenth-Century Czech Art Song

by Lauren Hartman

One of the most exciting aspects of teaching voice can be choosingrepertoire for students to sing. Every voice displays unique charac-teristics and therefore finding songs to fit each student is a delightfultask. More and more, teachers are looking to genres outside thestandard repertoire and singing languages to find new, interestingpieces. One genre that contains literature providing a refreshingchange of pace from standard repertoire and that deserves to beperformed more often, is Czech art song. As an introduction to thisbeautiful body of literature, a graded repertoire listing of Czech artsong has been created to assist teachers in making appropriateassignments taken from this rich collection of art song.

Much of the European nineteenth-century art song repertoire regu-larly reflects particular traits: it centers around lyric poetry, exploresan ever-widening harmonic palette, shows characteristic influencesfrom each country’s folk styles, and generally adheres to strophicform. Czech art song is similarly aligned along these lines andteachers and students will notice the similarities.

During the nineteenth century, the Nationalist movement in Europeinspired many artists, poets, and composers to create works thatexemplified what was considered to be each country’s own nationalidentity. Czechoslovakia was no exception, and its writers begancreating poetry in Czech, a new phenomenon given the heavy Ger-manic influence in the country. Though many of the Czech literaryfigures are not as prominent historically as their established Germancounterparts, Czech poetry shares similar written forms and subjectmatter. As is the case with the German literature of the time, nine-teenth-century Czech poetry explores general themes such as nature,love, and the common person. With this emergence of Czech litera-ture, composers began to set these texts to music, writing art song,choral pieces, and operas. Texts that expressed a Nationalistic iden-tity rooted in folk traditions also became a distinct choice for Czechcomposers. These vocal works began to be published, not in Germanas had been the case previously, but in Czech.

Many of the Czech composers “wrote in styles that were similarto their contemporaries in other countries[.]” 1 The heavy influenceof German Lieder is reflected in the Czech compositional style,possibly because

[f]or many years, Czechoslovakia was bilingual; both Germanand Czech were spoken, so it is not surprising that the GermanLied strongly influenced the development of Czech solo song. 2

1 John Clapham, Smetana (London: J.M. Dent and Sons, Ltd., 1972), 121.2 Carol Kimball, Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Publishing, 2005), 531.


The structure of Czech song often follows the tradition ofGerman Lieder in several ways. Many Czech art songs arewritten in a strophic or modified strophic form. Scholar DavidHurwitz mentions that Dvorák’s Cigánské melodie (Gypsy Songs,op. 55) from 1880, reflect this characteristic, as they are “simplein form” and exemplify Dvorák’s “extensive knowledge ofSchubert.”3 Folk song influence contributes to the creationof lyric melodies and the use of straightforward form in bothLieder and Czech song and the use of modes adds to a folk-likesound to many of the songs. Most harmonic structures inCzech song, while they employ the level of chromaticismexpected in the nineteenth century, remain clearly tonal, asfound in art songs from other nationalities of the same time.

Suggested ComposersA wonderful point of departure for learning the Czechlanguage and musical style are through the vocal works ofAntonin Dvorák and Bedrich Smetana, two of the mostwell-known Czech composers from the nineteenth century.Although their large instrumental works and operas areperformed more commonly, both composers wrote art songin Czech.

Dvorák’s Gypsy Songs cycle is arguably the most familiar in theCzech art song genre, however most singers know these piecesin their German translation. The Gypsy Songs clearly exhibitfolk influences, both melodically and rhythmically. Hurwitzdescribes the tunes as “original, if aptly Slavic . . . in tone.”4

Most of these songs have a strophic form with a tuneful me-lodic line. These songs can be sung either by men or womenand can easily be performed as individual pieces, althoughthey are part of a cycle. The flavor of these pieces matchesmany of Dvorák’s other works, particularly the orchestralSlavonic Dances from the late-1870s and mid-1880s, containingrhythmic energy and lush, tuneful melodies. His later songs,such as the Biblické písne (Biblical Songs, op. 99) from 1894,begin to explore fewer folk-like influences melodically andrhythmically, but still rely heavily on modality. The melodiesare occasionally simple and hymn-like with colorful andsupportive accompaniments.

Bedrich Smetana’s song output, while not extensive, reflectshis interest in Czech folk music and poetry. Sadly, many of hissongs were lost or never finished. Smetana’s only completecycle survives: Vecerní písne (Evening Songs, JB 1:116) from 1879is a well-rounded compositional group. David Adams de-scribes the set as having “clarity of texture, straightforwardharmonies, and classical proportions.” 5 The melodies arebeautifully lyrical and the accompaniment is lush andsupportive. These pieces lie in a mid-range, making themaccessible to several voice types and textually appropriatefor either a man or woman.

3 David Hurwitz, Dvorák:Romantic Music’s Most Versa-tile Genius (Pompton Plains,NJ: Amadeus Press, 2005), 123.

4 Ibid.

5 David Adams, The Song andDuet Texts of Antonin Dvorák(Geneseo, NY: Leyerle Publica-tions, 2003), 157.

Antonin Dvorák Bedrich Smetana

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Grading Criteria for Solo SongIn order to grade art song in particular categories of difficulty,a clear scale needs to be used. Although several repertoirebooks and reference guides exist that contain exhaustive listsof songs separated into levels of difficulty, they are withoutany concrete criteria as to why a song belongs in a certain level.A clearer basis for these grading decisions would allow teach-ers to look at pieces outside the repertoire listings and decidewhere they lie on the difficulty scale. Soprano Carrie deLapp-Culver created the following protocol (see Table 1, below) whichencompasses all of the aspects of a song that need to be takeninto consideration in order to determine the difficulty level of asong. The categories within the protocol are: melody, rhythm,text, harmony and accompaniment, and dynamics.

Melody

EASY (1-2)Range: M10 or less

MODERATE (3-4)Range: P12 or less

DIFFICULT (5-6)Range: more than P12

Rhythm

EASY (1-2)Melodic articulation:no long sustained notesorcoloratura

MODERATE (3-4)Melodic articulation:somelong sustainednotes or rapid motion

DIFFICULT (5-6)Melodic articulation:long passages of veryslow or very fast motion

Contour: mostly diatonic,mostly conjunct motion,syllabic

Tessitura: medium

Contour: some difficultintervals, melismas

Tessitura: medium highor medium low, frequentregister changes

Contour: mostly chromatic,leaps more than one 8va

Tessitura: high or low,difficult register changes

Metric complexity:symmetrical and repeatedpatterns, little to nosyncopation

Tempo: moderate

Metric complexity:alternating meters or pulse,frequent syncopation

Tempo: moderate tosomewhat slow orsomewhat fast; frequenttempo changes

Metric complexity:alternating meters,com-pound meters, cross meters

Tempo: very fastor very slow

Table 1. The deLapp-Culver Song Analysis Protocol

Carrie deLapp-Culver


Text**

EASY (1-2)Rapidity of articulation:slow to moderate

MODERATE (3-4)Rapidity of articulation:some sustained notes orrapid motion

DIFFICULT (5-6)Rapidity of articulation:long passages of veryslow or very fast motion

Harmony and Accompaniment

EASY (1-2)Structure: diatonic withmodulation to closelyrelated key or tonal area

MODERATE (3-4)Structure: modal or somechromaticism, frequentmodulation to distant keyor tonal area

DIFFICULT (5-6)Structure: highlychromatic or atonal

DynamicsEASY (1-2)Mezzo-piano and mezzo-forte levels throughout willsuffice for artistic phrasing

MODERATE (3-4)Mostly mezzo-piano to mezzo-forte with occasional softer orlouder phrases

DIFFICULT (5-6)Pianissimo or fortissimo indications, subito dynamic changeswithin a breath phrase

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Synalepha: none to little Number of stanzas: fewerthan 3

Synalepha: occasionalsynalepha in moderatelyrapid articulation

Number of stanzas: 3

Synalepha: occurs oftenor in passages of fastarticulation

Number of stanzas: morethan 3

Relationship of voice to accompaniment:triadic accompaniment with few dissonances,mirror voice part

Relationship of voice to accompaniment:consonant to moderate dissonance, frequentlysupports voice part with occasional independence

Relationship of voice to accompaniment:dissonant; clear delineation between melodyand accompaniment

**Add one point for extensive vowel modification


Table 1. The deLapp-Culver Song Analysis ProtocolDeLapp-Culver creates a distinct numeric ranking systemwithin each category, making a difficulty level simple toestablish: “easy” consists of a numeric ranking of 1-2 points,“moderate” of 3-4 points, and “difficult” of 5-6 points. Onceeach individual category is ranked numerically and all thepoints from each category are added up, the overall difficultylevel becomes clear. “Easy” falls between five and fourteentotal points, “moderate” between fifteen and twenty-threepoints, and “difficult” between twenty-four and thirty points.An “easy” piece would be appropriate for a freshman/sophomore level college student, an “intermediate” piece fora junior/senior level college student, and an “advanced”piece for a graduate student.

This song analysis protocol proves to be practical and all-encompassing when determining the difficulty level of solovocal repertoire, and will be used when analyzing the chosenCzech art song repertoire. One of the most significant aspectsof this protocol is the text category and its criteria in the grad-ing scale. This category goes beyond diction and considers thelength of the poetry and the speed of the text articulation itself.An expert in Spanish song, deLapp-Culver analyzes an aspectof text known as synalepha, which is when two words aremerging and are therefore sung on one note (a regular examplein Spanish would be “de la,” meaning “of the”). Czech doesnot contain many instances of synalepha, but a singer willoccasionally encounter a word with no vowel but rather asustained consonant sound. Since it is of similar difficulty tosustain a consonant sound as it is to join two words to onenote, these instances in Czech can be graded using thesynalepha category.

Sources on Repertoire and DictionAdditional sources are crucial to gather information regardingCzech repertoire and diction since it is less mainstream thanother repertoire and languages. The definitive volume on thesubject is Singing in Czech by Timothy Cheek. It contains all theinformation a student or teacher would need to embark on thestudy of Czech phonetics and art song.7 A full background ofthe Czech language and a complete singing diction guideare included, as well as an extensive listing of repertoiresuggestions and score publisher information. InternationalPhonetic Alphabet [IPA] transliterations and accompanyingEnglish translations for many pieces make up a large part ofthis volume. In addition to a brief diction guide, David Adams’The Song and Duet Texts of Antonin Dvorák offers IPA transcrip-tions and English translations of Dvorák’s solo songs andduets in their entirety, which are an essential part of the Czechart song repertoire.

6 Carrie deLapp-Culver,“Repertoire with Results:Embracing Spanish Art Song,”Journal of Singing 73, no. 2(November/December 2016):159-168, http://access.library.miami.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1838426854?accountid=1458

7 Timothy Cheek, Singing inCzech (Lanham, MD: Rowanand Littlefield, 2014).

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Czech Repertoire GuideThe following guide aims to be as specific as possible regard-ing several aspects of Czech art song to help in the assignmentof these pieces. The guide offers the following information foreach piece: the title, the various keys and ranges in which thesong is published, the score information, the source for its IPAtransliteration and English translation with a specific page number,and the phonemes used in the song that are outside of the IPAfor the standard singing languages. It is important to note thatfour new consonant sounds—[ ], [r], [R], and [ ]—will needto be learned to sing this repertoire. Cheek’s volume thor-oughly explains each of these sounds. In choosing art songto include in this guide, preference has been given to those piecesof greatest familiarity such as Dvorák’s Gypsy Songs andBiblical Songs.

Beginning Czech Repertoire“Aj! Kterak trojhranec muj prerozkošne zvoní” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—D minor (D4-D5); High—G minor (G4 -G5).Score: Cigánské melodie, Op. 55. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1955.IPA: Adams, 110; Cheek, 182.Translation: Adams, 110; Cheek, 182New phonemes: [ ], [R]Overall rating: Easy

“Boze! Boze! písen novou” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—A flat Major (E flat4-E flat5); High—C Major (G4-G5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 151; Cheek, 213.Translation: Adams, 151; Cheek, 213.New phonemes: [ ], [r], [R]Overall rating: Easy

“Hospodin jest muj pastýr” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—B Major (B4-C#5); High—E Major (E4-F#5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 150; Cheek, 211.Translation: Adams, 150; Cheek, 211.New phonemes: [ ], [R], [ ]Overall rating: Easy

“Já jsem ten rytír z pohádky” (Dvorák)Key and Range: C minor (C4-E flat5).Score: Vecerní písne, Op. 3 and Op. 9. Praha: Státnínakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umení, 1955.IPA: Adams, 87.Translation: Adams, 87.New phonemes: [ ], [r], [ ]Overall rating: Easy

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“Kdyz mne stará matka zpívat, zpívat ucívala” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—B Major (D#4-E5); High—D Major (F#4 - G5).Score: Cigánské melodie, Op. 55. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1955.IPA: Adams, 111; Cheek, 185.Translation: Adams, 111; Cheek, 185.New phonemes: [ ]Overall rating: Easy

“Mne zdálo se, zes umrela” (Dvorák)Key and Range: G Major (D4-F5).Score: Vecerní písne, Op. 3 and Op. 9. Praha: Státnínakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umení, 1955.IPA: Adams, 86.Translation: Adams, 86.New phonemes: [ ], [r], [ro]Overall rating: Easy

“Nekamenujte proroky” (Smetana)Key and Range: G minor (D4 -E5).Score: Vecerní písne, JB 1:116. Praha: Bärenreiter, 1991.IPA: Adams, 159.Translation: Adams, 159.New phonemes: noneOverall rating: Easy

“Široké rukávy a široké gate” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—F Major (C4-E flat5); High—A Major (E4-G5).Score: Cigánské melodie, Op. 55. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1955.IPA: Adams, 112; Cheek, 187.Translation: Adams, 112; Cheek, 187.New phonemes: [R]Overall rating: Easy

“Skrýše má a paveza má Ty jsi” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—G major (B4-C5); High: C Major (E4-F5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 148; Cheek, 207.Translation: Adams, 148; Cheek, 207.New phonemes: [ ], [R], [ ]Overall rating: Easy

“Struna naladena” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—A minor (E4-E5); High—D minor (A4-A5).Score: Cigánské melodie, Op. 55. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1955.IPA: Adams, 111; Cheek, 186.Translation: Adams, 111; Cheek, 186.New phonemes: [ ], [R]Overall rating: Easy

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“Ty hvezdicky tam na nebi” (Dvorák)Key and Range: E Major (B4-E5).Score: Vecerní písne, Op. 3 and Op. 9. Praha: Státnínakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umení, 1955.IPA: Adams, 85.Translation: Adams, 85.New phonemes: [ ]Overall rating: Easy

“Zpívejte Hospodinu písen novou” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—F Major (C4-D5); High—B flat Major (F4-G5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 156; Cheek, 223.Translation: Adams, 156; Cheek, 223.New phonemes: [ ], [r]Overall rating: Easy

Intermediate Czech Repertoire“A les je tichý kolem kol” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—G Major (B4-E5); High—G minor (D4-G5).Score: Cigánské melodie, Op. 55. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1955.IPA: Adams, 110; Cheek, 183.Translation: Adams, 110; Cheek, 183.New phonemes: [ ], [r], [R]Overall rating: Moderate

“Deite klec jestrábu ze zlata ryzého” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low: C minor (E4-A flat5); High: D minor (F4-B flat5).Score: Cigánské melodie, Op. 55. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1955.IPA: Adams, 113; Cheek, 189.Translation: Adams, 113; Cheek, 189.New phonemes: [ ], [R]Overall rating: Moderate

“Hej jaká radost v kole” (Smetana)Key and Range: E flat4-E flat5.Score: Vecerní písne, JB 1:116. Praha: Bärenreiter, 1991.IPA: Adams, 161.Translation: Adams, 161.New phonemes: noneOverall rating: Moderate

“Kdo v zlaté struny zahrát zná” (Smetana)Key and Range: B flat Major (B flat4-F5).Score: Vecerní písne, JB 1:116. Praha: Bärenreiter, 1991.IPA: Adams, 158.Translation: Adams, 158.New phonemes: noneOverall rating: Moderate

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“Má pisen zas mi láskou zní” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—D minor (A4-D5); High—G minor (D4-G5).Score: Cigánské melodie, Op. 55. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1955.IPA: Adams, 109; Cheek, 180.Translation: Adams, 109; Cheek, 180.New phonemes: [ ], [r]Overall rating: Moderate

“Mne zdálo se: bol sestár’ uz” (Smetana)Key and Range: F minor (C4-E flat5).Score: Vecerní písne, JB 1:116. Praha: Bärenreiter, 1991.IPA: Adams, 160.Translation: Adams, 160.New phonemes: noneOverall rating: Moderate

“Popatriz na mne a smiluj se nade mnou” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low: E flat minor (D flat4-D flat5); High:—C minor (F4-E5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 154; Cheek, 219.Translation: Adams, 154; Cheek, 219.New phonemes: [ ], [r], [R]Overall rating: Moderate

“Pozdvihuji ocí svých k horám” (Dvorák)Key and Range:Low: F Major (D4-E flat 5); High—A Major (F #4-G5).Score: Biblické písne?, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 155; Cheek, 221.Translation: Adams, 155; Cheek, 221.New phonemes: [r], [R], [ ]Overall rating: Moderate

“Slyš, o Boze, volání mé” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—D Major (B4-D5); High—G Major (E4-G5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 152; Cheek, 215.Translation: Adams, 152; Cheek, 215.New phonemes: [ ], [r], [R]Overall rating: Moderate

“Umlklo stromu šumení” (Dvorák)Key and Range: G minor (D4-G5).Score: Vecerní písne, Op. 3 and Op. 9. Praha: Státní nakladatelstvíkrásné literatury, hudby a umení, 1955.IPA: Adams, 90.Translation: Adams, 90.New phonemes: [ ], [ ]Overall rating: Moderate

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“Ze svých písní trun Ti udelám” (Smetana)Key and Range: D flat Major (D flat4-G flat 5).Score: Vecerní písne, JB 1:116. Praha: Bärenreiter, 1991.IPA: Adams, 162.Translation: Adams, 162.New phonemes: noneOverall rating: Moderate

Advanced Czech Repertoire“Kdyz buh byl nejvíc rozkochán” (Dvorák)Key and Range: G Major (B4-F5).Score: Vecerní písne, Op. 3 and Op. 9. Praha: Státnínakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umení, 1955.IPA: Adams, 88.Translation: Adams, 88.New phonemes: [r], [ ], [ ]Overall rating: Difficult

“Oblak a mrákota jest vukol neho” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—E minor (B4-D5); High—G# minor (D#4-F#5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 147; Cheek, 205.Translation: Adams, 147; Cheek, 205.New phonemes: [ ], [R]Overall rating: Difficult

“Prilítlo jaro z daleka” (Dvorák)Key and Range: A Major (C#4-A6).Score: Vecerní písne, Op. 3 and Op. 9. Praha: Státnínakladatelství krásné literatury, hudby a umení.Translation: Adams, 91.New phonemes: [ ], [ ]Overall rating: Difficult

“Pri rekách babylonských” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—C minor (B flat4-E flat5); High—E minor (E4-G5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 153; Cheek, 217.Translation: Adams, 153; Cheek, 217.New phonemes: [r], [R], [ ]Overall rating: Difficult

“Slyš, o Boze! slyš modlitbu mou” (Dvorák)Key and Range: Low—B flat Major (B flat4-E5) ; High—B flat Major (B flat4-A5).Score: Biblické písne, Op. 99. Praha: Editio Supraphon, 1989.IPA: Adams, 149; Cheek, 208.Translation: Adams, 149; Cheek, 208.New phonemes: [ ], [r], [R]Overall rating: Difficult

Lauren Hartman recentlyreceived her Doctorate of MusicalArts in Voice Performance at theUniversity of Miami, whereshe studied voice with RobynneRedmon. Her most recentperformances are as the sopranosoloist with the Miami SousaBand in their “Stars, Stripes,and Sousa” concert, with theWindiana Concert Band on toursof Italy and China, and as a guestperformer in graduate recitals.During her time at the Universityof Miami, she presented recitalsthat included Russian, Czech, andSwedish art song and sang theoperatic role of Anne Trulove inthe Frost School of Music’sproduction of Stravinsky’s TheRake’s Progress. LaurenHartman attended the Universityof Northern Iowa—earning herMaster of Music degree in VoicePerformance—and SimpsonCollege, where she earned herBachelor of Music degree in VoicePerformance. Lauren has taughtas an adjunct professor of voiceat Broward College and teachesprivate voice and piano studentsat the Miami Conservatory ofMusic. An active churchmusician, she assists with themusic program at First UnitedMethodist Church as a pianist,soloist, and children’s choirdirector.

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BOOK REVIEW: Anatomy of the Voiceby Theodore Dimon

Review by Kateri Gormley

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Theodore Dimon

What role does anatomy play in your teaching? In myexperience, there are teachers who love talking about anatomy,and there are teachers who almost never mention it. Mostteachers would agree that a basic knowledge and understand-ing of the anatomy of the voice is crucial for both voiceteachers and singers. While we appreciate the importance ofanatomy in our understanding of the human voice, there arealso many myths, misunderstandings, and wrong informationbeing spread in the world of voice. Anatomy books tend to bedry and difficult to comprehend, especially when trying tolocate and understand the muscles of the larynx, tongue,throat, and palate. As teachers, it is simply easier to speakfrom our own experience of singing and relate that to a broadand sometimes oversimplified understanding of anatomy.Unfortunately, this can create confusion and incompleteknowledge for our students.

Thankfully, we have a wonderful resource available to us:Theodore Dimon’s Anatomy of the Voice. Whether you are avoice teacher, a young singer, or a performer, this illustratedguide to anatomy will be a useful resource in your voice work.The book is equally helpful to anatomy novices and seasonedteachers, with colorful illustrations on every page and clearvernacular explanations. Full disclosure: I have owned thisbook for over a year and used it simply for its illustrationsbefore actually sitting down to read the book thoroughly forthis review! I am an Alexander Technique teacher as well as asinger and voice teacher, and this book supplemented my dailyteaching beautifully, providing visual aid to the anatomicalinformation that arose naturally in my lessons. When I tookthe time to fully read Dimon’s work, I was even more pleasedwith the usefulness of this book.

Theodore Dimon is an author, theorist, and educator trained inthe Alexander Technique. His other books include Anatomy ofthe Moving Body; Your Body, Your Voice; and Neurodynamics: TheArt of Mindfulness in Action. He is also the director of theDimon Institute, a center for the study of the Alexander Tech-nique based in New York City. In his introduction to Anatomyof the Voice, Dimon states that the purpose of this book is to“present the basic anatomy of the voice in clear and simpleterms.” This book covers what Dimon calls the “five basicsystems responsible for vocal production,” which include therespiratory system, the larynx, the extrinsic muscles of thelarynx, the vocal tract, and the muscles of the face and jaw.Each system is given a chapter, including a basic overviewof the system and its relationship to singing, as well as an


in-depth explanation of the design and function ofindividual parts. While the anatomical descriptions canbe complex, Dimon is careful to relate the informationback to the acts of singing and speaking, promoting anunderstanding of the anatomy in action.

Chapter One includes a thorough description of rib anddiaphragm structure and movement, as well as a detaileddescription of the relationship of the ribs to the spine.Dimon explains that the spine and ribcage form the “basicframework” for the respiratory system, and addressescommon misunderstandings in the active movement ofthe diaphragm, “downward, not upward as many peoplemistakenly think,” (Dimon, 2018, p.12). The illustrationsin this chapter, and throughout the book, supportDimon’s descriptions effectively. Large, colorful, and fullof symbols that indicate movement, these visual aidsmake the anatomical parts seem lifelike. Despite the fivesystems of the voice being divided into parts, the authorclearly writes the book with a sense of the whole bodycoordinating in vocalization. Dimon states that coordi-nated breathing depends upon the proper functioning ofour overall upright support system. He is referring, ofcourse, to the importance of posture and coordinatedmovement as it relates to breathing. It is refreshing to readan anatomy book written by an authority on movement,not just on the dissected parts of the body.

Dimon describes the larynx as “a vibration mechanism”and “the principal organ of the voice” in Chapter Two.After broadly describing the design and function of thelarynx, a valve at the top of the trachea that opens, closes,and vibrates to produce sound, Dimon then examinescartilages and muscles of the larynx. Visual guides andwritten information are presented simply at first, thenincreasing in complexity. After explaining the individualparts of the larynx and their distinguishing features,Dimon describes the many movements of the larynx.Dimon relates these movements to the use of the voice inchest register, falsetto register, and head register, with adescription and illustration for each action. Again,common misconceptions are addressed, this time in thestructure of the vocal folds. Finally, a large three-pagefold-out picture of the larynx further clarifies thecontraction of the larynx’s intrinsic muscles.

The extrinsic muscles of the larynx are described inChapter Three as a web of muscles which act upon thelarynx, elevating or lowering the larynx depending onthe action required. Dimon explains the action of thesemuscles in singing, first with an untrained singer andthen a trained singer. He says “activating the suspensorymuscles that support the larynx in a balanced, antagonis-tic action has a marked effect on timbre, resonance, and


As a singer and educator, sopranoKateri Gormley believes in thetransformative power of music intoday’s society. She has performedrecitals in Chicago, New York,Montreal, Vancouver, andVianden, Luxembourg. She isequally at home in opera, chamber,and concert repertoire, and hasbeen praised as “irresistible” byL’Opéra magazine for herportrayal of Susanna in Le nozzedi Figaro. As a soloist, herconcert highlights include theSaint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël,Rutter’s Requiem, Schubert’sMass in G Major with TrinityUnited Methodist Church ChancelChoir in Wilmette, IL, Vivaldi’sMagnificat and Hadyn’s MissaSancti Nicolai with the WesternNew York Chamber Orchestra,and Faure’s Requiem and BobChilcott’s Requiem with theNorth Shore Choral Society.

A frequent interpreter ofAmerican music, she attended FallIsland Vocal Arts Seminar inPotsdam, NY as a Vocal Fellow,performing works by LoriLaitman, Tom Cipullo, and JohnMusto. She collaborated withLyric Opera Unlimited in boththe 2018 and 2019 seasons, mostrecently debuting the role ofKenzie in Earth to Kenzie by

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vocal range. The ability of the larynx to function optimally, aswell as the ability to sing with an ‘open throat,’ depend to alarge extent upon the antagonistic action of the suspensorymuscles of the larynx,”(p. 52). He considers this antagonisticaction (the pulls of the muscles in different directions) insupported falsetto voice and head voice. This chapter alsoexamines the hyoid bone, as well as muscles that relate to thehyoid bone and the jaw.

Chapter Four explores the vocal tract, including the mouthand pharynx. In this section, Dimon addresses the roles ofthe mouth and pharynx in processing food and as an airway.Because of this dual purpose, actions are required to preventfood and liquid from entering the airway through the mouthand nose. Thus, we have the intricate and differentiated move-ments of the tongue, palate, and pharynx in the activities ofswallowing, breathing, singing, chewing, and even swimming.The illustrations of the vocal tract in each of these variedactivities is fascinating! Knowledge of these actions and therelated muscular attachments help the reader understandcommon vocal faults and how they may be influenced bythe function of the muscles of the mouth, throat, palate, andtongue.parts. Dimon also explores the shape of the vocal tractin relation to vowel production. He reminds us that theposition of the tongue in vowel formation, and the loweredlarynx are critical factors in singing. It is interesting to note thatthis book, Anatomy of the Voice, is written as a companion toDimon’s first book on the voice, Your Body, Your Voice, whichgoes into greater depth on singing technique.

Although they are not directly employed in phonation, Dimonwrites “the facial bones and muscles…nevertheless form acrucial component of the vocal instrument,.”(p. 73). ChapterFive explores the facial muscles as “organs of communicationand expression.” Dimon says that by losing muscle tone in theface, we can unduly collapse the vocal mechanism, which willresult in vocal problems over time: “vocal function is directlyinfluenced by the tone of the facial muscles.” He then exploresareas of the “mask,” the nostrils and nasal cavity, the eyes andforehead, the cheeks, and the jaw. Special attention is given tothe temporomandibular joint and its action in speaking andsinging. Dimon explains that the muscles of the jaw “evolvedas part of the musculature of the throat,throat musculature”and that releasing and properly using the throat muscles areinstrumental in releasing muscles of the jaw.

Unique to many vocal anatomy books, Anatomy of the Voiceincludes an explanation of how and why the features of thelarynx evolved in early fish, reptiles, mammals, primates, andfinally, humans. In Chapter Six, Dimon explains that thecomponents of the larynx mainly evolved for purposes otherthan vocal communication; he states that “most of the featuresof the larynx evolved for reasons other than vocal communica-tion.” The earliest form of what would become a larynx was a


Frances Pollock and JessicaMurphy Moo.

As a teacher, Kateri has workedwith singers and actors of all agesand experiences. She believes thateveryone can benefit from a deeperconnection to one’s voice and thatwith greater ease and coordinationcomes clarity of expression.The Alexander Technique is aprofound influence in her ownperforming career and shepassionately shares her knowledgeof the technique with her studentsin private lessons and workshops.She is the winner of the 2018Lynne Harvey FoundationScholarship, in Honor of herSister Virginia Cooper Maier fromthe Musicians Club of Women.She maintains a private voice andAlexander Technique studio andholds degrees from McGillUniversity (M.Mus.) and SUNYFredonia (B.Mus.), and is acertified Alexander Techniqueteacher (M.AmSAT). Visit herwebsite katerigormley.com formore information on workshopofferings and her free podcast withsoprano Alexandra Kassouf, ATConstructive Rest.

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primitive sphincter which protected the lung sacs in fishthat lived in water but also breathed air. This walk throughevolution promotes a deep understanding of where the voicecomes from, and reminds the reader that so much of our vocalanatomy serves multiple purposes: breathing, chewing, andswallowing. It is through our evolution that we enjoy the wonderof resonance, speaking, and sustained sounds. As Dimon says, thevoice is “one of nature’s greatest marvels,” (p. 96).

Throughout the book, Theodore Dimon not only demonstratesa thorough and complete understanding of the anatomy of thevoice, but also applies the knowledge as a skilled educatorwho understands the purpose of anatomical knowledge inreal-life teaching. While the anatomy of the voice is complex,Dimon allows the reader to understand anatomy in the contextof singing, not just as the dry, medical language of textbooks.He relates the use of muscles, cartilages, and bones tosituations we encounter in performance and in the teachingstudio, giving us a practical foundation for our vocal work.This book will make an excellent addition to your library anda go-to resource in your teaching studio.


NYSTA FEATURED SINGING TEACHER MEMBERS 2020

Vivian Dettbarn-Slaughter is an award-winning teacherand performer with over 30 years of experience. She hasworked with many distinguished singers, master classclinicians, and coaches, including Birgit Nilsson, MartialSingher, and John Wustman. She was an Artist-in-Resi-dence with the Toledo Opera and has sung recitals in theUS, Canada and Europe. Her concert appearances includeHandel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Faure’s Requiem, andBritten’s Ceremony of Carols. She has sung with orchestrasin California, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Michi-gan and has also had an active career as a pianist andchamber musician. She studied at the University of Mem-phis and received a Doctor of Sacred Music degree fromThe Graduate Theological Foundation. She earned amaster's degree in vocal music and education at Appala-chian State University and a bachelor's degree in pianoperformance at UC Santa Barbara. She was awarded

Crystal Barron has been teaching voice for over twenty-five years and has a passion for building strong, healthyvoices, no matter the age or level of singing. She holdsa BA and MM in Vocal Performance, along with anadvanced certification in MDH Breathing Coordination.She mentors young voice teachers, providing them witha foundation of functional anatomy and physiology forsingers, performance psychology, vocal production andvocal health, and how to recognize and correct the indi-vidual issues each student has. [email protected]

Kimberly Doreen Burns is a New York City-based award-winning singer, actor, performer, and educator whorecently originated the role of Maya in the New YorkCity premiere of Sideways. She has performed at LincolnCenter, Town Hall, Signature Theater, and the LucilleLortel Theater and sang at the Irish Repertory Theatre’s30th Anniversary Gala honoring former President BillClinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton. She has appearedwith the Tokyo Philharmonic and Evergreen Symphony,worked for Disney as a lead singer, and played leadingroles in Finian’s Rainbow, Ragtime, Our Town, Sunday in thePark, Sweeney Todd and My Fair Lady. She earned her BFAin Musical Theater from Ithaca College and her MFAfrom San Diego State University. She is also trained inpiano and music theory and runs her own private voice,acting, and musical theater studio: KDB Studio. Sheteaches private lessons both online and in New York [email protected], FB: KDB Studio,Instagram: @kdbstudionyc


Terri Grosso has enjoyed thirty years of extensive musicteaching experience in both public and performing artsschools and in her own studio as a teacher of voice,piano, and acting. Her professional performance experi-ence ranges from opera to musical theater and popsinging. She has appeared with the Canadian OperaCompany and with the SSMA Orchestra in Siena, Italy.Her musical theater teaching includes all styles of musicincluding pop, rock, country, rap/spoken word, andclassical repertoire. Her students have been accepted intomusical theater and vocal performance college programs,are actively involved in their school musicals, and anumber of them have performed on Broadway and inother professional venues. [email protected]

New Zealand born mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Harris isa graduate from the Manhattan School of Music with aMaster of Music degree. She has performed as soloistwith the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, AucklandChoral, Orchestra Wellington, and Christchurch Sym-phony. In 2019 she debuted with the Martina ArroyoFoundation in New York as Prince Orlofsky, a role shealso sang with Opera Project Columbus, and was afeatured Artist for the Gateway Classical Music Society.She has been teaching singing and piano for over tenyears in both New Zealand and New York City and hasworked with a variety of male and female students fromages five through sixty-six in solo, choral, and groupsettings. She advocates the concept of the singing actor inwhich the body, voice, and whole person are nourishedand mobilized to produce a unique vocal tone and a full,rich, agile sound. [email protected]

a Doctor of Fine Arts honoris causa from the GraduateTheological Foundation in 2017. She has performed rolesin opera and musical theater and has taught at Appala-chian State University, the University of Memphis, theUniversity of Findlay, the Graduate Theological Founda-tion, and Adrian College. [email protected]

Jane Edgren received a BM in Voice Performance fromthe University of Michigan. She studied voice with EvaLikova and Maria Farnworth, and coached with EugeneBossart and Benton Hess. She works with singers ofdifferent styles and genres and many of her private stu-dents have graduated into university programs or areworking CCM performers. Jane has also performed inopera and as a soloist with symphony orchestras andchoruses. [email protected]

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Adriana Manfredi studied at Oberlin Conservatory andCalArts. Her recent solo credits include Berg's Lyric Suite(Diotima Quartet; Jacaranda Music) as well as appear-ances at the Hear Now Festival, Ravinia Festival, and asfeatured soloist on the David Lang/Calder Quartet/LAMaster Chorale album The National Anthems. In 2018-19she joined the Peter Sellars international tour of Lagrimedi San Pietro by di Lasso, a staged concert for 21 a cap-pella voices; it most recently received accolades at theSalzburger Festspiele. Her voice can be heard on numer-ous feature film soundtracks including Frozen, Wreck-ItRalph, Big Hero 6, The Last Jedi, and Minions. She main-tains a private teaching studio in Long Beach. Adriana isa dedicated rhythm tap dancer, early childhood musiceducator, mother to two sons, and producer of commu-nity music gatherings. Adriana-Manfredi.com

Tenor David Sievers is an Artist-in-Residence in Voice at theUniversity of Dayton where he teaches private voice andrelated coursework including pedagogy and diction, as wella course on the intersection of faith and music. He conductsthe UD Opera Workshop in productions at UD includingBabes in Toyland, Grease, Die Fledermaus, Once Upon a Mattress,Gianni Schicchi, The Pirates of Penzance, and Urinetown. Hisroles for the stage include several of the great character tenorroles in opera and musical theater, most recently Turandot,The Secret Garden and Guys and Dolls. He has also sung thetenor solos in Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mozart's Requiem,Orff’s Carmina Burana, Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah,Rachmaninoff's Vespers, and Adolphus Hailstork's cantata IWill Lift Up Mine Eyes. Dr. Sievers holds degrees from Wash-ington State University, Boise State University, and the Indi-ana University Jacobs School of Music. [email protected]

Mezzo-soprano Taraneh Seta has sung opera in Virginia,New Jersey, California and New York. The roles she hasperformed include the New York premiere of Bizet’sDjamileh (title role) performed at Cami Hall, Cherubinoin The Marriage of Figaro, Czipra in The Gypsy Baron,Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus,and both Sièbel and Martha in Faust. She has also beeninvited to sing as a soloist in the Vacaville PerformingArts Theater, Napa Valley Music Associate and MarinCenter. Her teachers were Madame Gurevich, BeverlyJohnson, Rita Shane, and Janet Parlova. During thefifteen years that she taught voice in California, manyof her students were chosen as lead singers in majortheaters in Solano County.


Megan Theodorou is an independent voice teacher in SanClemente, CA, specializing in classical and musical theater. Shealso teaches folk/pop/rock styles. Her studio focuses on em-powering singers to create a balanced, flexible, authentic, ex-pressive sound by incorporating mind, body, and soul in awholistic way. She holds a BM in vocal performance from UCIrvine and an MM in vocal performance from The San FranciscoConservatory of Music. Megan has been performing profession-ally for over 30 years, including lead roles around the country inopera and musical theater, and is an active member of NATS,NYSTA, MTEA, AEA, AGMA, and The Speakeasy Cooperative.She is also Director of Contemporary Music at CommunityPresbyterian Church in San Juan Capistrano. [email protected]

Noel Smith is a singer, voice teacher, producer, pianist and coach.She shares her time between Boston and New York and is aProducer for the largest recording studio in New England. Herstudents can be found starring in Broadway shows such asWicked, Waitress, and many National Tours. Noel’s studentsare attending the top Musical Theater programs in the countryincluding UMich, Juilliard, NYU etc. and she is a featuredpresenter on healthy belting for the NATS National Conventionand The Voice Foundation. Noel Smith is an internationalrecording artist voice has been featured in numerous Hollywoodfilms and internationally released video games. Most recentlyyou can hear her vocals in Amazon Prime’s Hit TV Series ElectricDreams episode “Auto Fac.” She holds a BFA in voice from TheBoston Conservatory at Berklee. She is a voting member of theGrammy Awards, NATS Boston, ASCAP, and NYSTA.

Elizabeth Cruz received a Bachelor of Music degree withperformance honors from Syracuse University and a Masterof Fine Arts degree from Columbia Teachers College. She is aclassically trained singer, but her true loves are jazz andmusical theater. Her one-woman cabaret show "Sneasons ofLiz" was performed in Hong Kong, London, the PragueFringe Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the Mid-town Theater Festival in New York City. She was working as aprimary/secondary music teacher in the international schoolsystem for fifteen years and is now happily residing backhome on Staten Island. Currently she is working as a middleschool choral director at The Dalton School and she treasuresspending time with her husband Daniel and daughtersAurelia (6) and Chloe (2). [email protected]

NYSTA FEATURED ASSOCIATE MEMBER 2020


Jennifer Moore Woods, soprano, received her Masterof Music from New York University as well as her Post-Master's Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy with aspecialization in vocology. She has taught as an adjunctvoice instructor at NYU and currently manages herprivate voice studio. Performances include New YorkLyric Opera Theatre's Die Zauberflöte (Papagena),Turandot (Virginia Opera Chorus), Der Fliegende Holländer(Virginia Opera Chorus), Sweet Charity (Helene), andUrinetown (Penelope Pennywise). [email protected]

NYSTA FEATURED APPRENTICE TEACHER MEMBERS 2020

If you are a new member who would like your bio and headshot featured in an issue ofVOICEPrints, please submit them to Eileen Cooper Sedek at [email protected].

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Saki Inoue holds a MM in Vocal Performance with aMusical Theater concentration and an Advanced Certificatein Vocal Pedagogy, both from New York University. Sheserved on the adjunct faculty at New York University and isalso the owner of a private vocal studio in NYC and Tokyo.At NYU, she taught private voice lessons to her studentsfrom beginner to advanced singers. Her goal is to find herstudents’ authentic voices so that they can sing in a healthyand sustainable way across the genres: classical, musictheater, pop/rock, R&B/soul, country, etc. She hasdeveloped a style of teaching that is efficient and flexible,and she is passionate about teaching and sharing what shehas learned as a singer and actor. She is thrilled to be amember of NYSTA. www.sakivocalstudio.com

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NYSTA Nov-Dec 2020...reminded me of Jon Batiste’s performance about a month ago and I’ve been enjoying listening to it again. I hope if you have a few minutes to soak up these