MASTER CLASSES
& WORKSHOPS

VISITING ARTIST/PERFORMER

One of my favorite things to do is work with students and one of the quickest ways to light a fire under their wings is to bring in talent that will inspire, encourage and engage with them.  Bring me in to do a master class and work with your vocal ensemble or solo singers to offer them critical and encouraging feedback to improve and grow their musicianship.  We can find things to do together in a final performance, should that be wanted.  Email me to brainstorm ideas and tailor music to the experience.

THE ART OF PHRASING

Whether singing pop, jazz or any other genre, phrasing is the secret sauce of the great story tellers and entertainers.  In this workshop/masterclass, we will break down the makings of a method that will coax even the most stuck paraphraser into a tasteful, free singing interpreter or at least begin to test the waters.  The class can invite volunteers to be critiqued and shown ways to develop this ear muscle as well as offering class work for everyone to join in and take a chance at stretching out.  From beginning to advanced, this class can breathe with any level.  2 hours is a good chunk of time to make some inroads.

LETS GET READY FOR COLLEGE AUDITIONS

I have a proven track record of coaching students for their important college audition season and preparing them for challenges ahead.  Those that I have worked with got into the colleges of their choice and learned invaluable ways to make themselves stand out from the pack.  We will choose repertoire together, shape it and refine it so you are ready showtime.  This works best as a series of at least 5 coachings to work out the arrangements and refine the performances.  I work in tandem with a pianist/accompanist who aids in the fast paced arranging methods and coaching so you walk away with personally tailored charts for you to use beyond the audition season.  Depending on what is asked of us (i.e. writing a solo, arranging an extension or shout section, etc), the hourly price is a negotiation with possible sur charges for artistic work beyond the scope of good general coaching and finessing.

ARTIST IN THE MAKING

This workshop can be presented as a one hour overview of the subject matter or a 2 or 4 day interactive one hour discussion in a schedule of other classes.  Its adapatable to your needs and more importantly, a finishing class that is often left off of the performing artist's curriculum in college.  Any age is welcome because this class will teach a way of thinking about the personal journey of an artist and what goes into developing your own personal taste, style and point of view.

SONGWRITING

I have been teaching songwriting for over 20 years and it is a constant and growing give and take with every new student that I encounter.  I teach a beginning level course at our yearly New York Voices summer camp and can adapt it to whatever your needs may be.  All levels are welcome, but I believe my specialty is waking up the novice songwriter and showing them a methodology that is inspiring and doable.  This workshop can be run over consecutive days or one long masterclass.  Songwriters are encouraged to share their songs or works in progress.

I SANG THE SONG....NOW WHAT?

This workshop/masterclass opens up the creative discussion of where to go with the song, once you've sung it.  If you don't wnat to continue to take solos throughout the course of a night, you might want to think about the otehr ways you can express your individual artisitc ideas and develop them beyond a question mark.  We will discuss how can we further invest into a standard, cover or original by continuing to explore what the song needs.  We will use arranging, songwriting and improvisation as tools to awaken how else we can take up residence in a song and make it our own.  Possible outcomes are writing new material whether it's a bridge, a vocalese or an entirely new section to the song.