Kathryn Z. all-levels voice, beginning guitar, beginning piano Astoria, NY

Kathy believes that variety is the spice of not only life, but also music.  Raised singing folk music with a musical family (think accordions, guitars and lots of vocal harmonies), she learned guitar and piano at an early age, but began singing even earlier. 

Her quest to give the world the best her vocal cords could offer led her to obtain an undergraduate degree in vocal performance from the University of Nebraska (where she graduated honorable mention, named with the vocal department’s Outstanding Senior in Music award, and also obtained a minor in theatre) and a master’s degree in music from the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Both of these degrees emphasized classical singing technique, and through this study Kathy gained a solid foundation for her musical craft.

Once out of school, Kathy then sought to begin creating HER music and HER sound, a challenge which continues to manifest itself even today in a variety of ways.  Kathy is now a singer/songwriter and performs often with her own band in which she sings, plays guitar, writes her own songs and arranges them for intricate backup harmonies and multiple instrumentations.  A variety of influences are apparent in her music, including the musical genres of folk, pop, jazz, and yes, even hip hop.  She has recorded three albums of her music and all have been received to critical acclaim.

She sings as a professional cantor at St. John the Baptist Church in Manhattan, and teaches private voice, guitar and piano lessons throughout the city of New York.  She served for a time as the general music teacher for St. Dominic’s School in the Bronx, where she was responsible for Pre-K through 8th grade music classes, and, true to form, she is often called upon in a multitude of situations to perform in a variety of musical genres.  She is always pleased with the ever-changing musical scenery around her.

A lesson with Kathy equals half of the allotted time being used to learn good technique (i.e., learning healthy vocal habits, singing vocalises, learning to read music, playing scales, etc.) and the other half of the time singing and playing repertoire.  The repertoire includes both pieces chosen by Kathy (always approved by the student) which excite and inspire the student's particular musical tastes while providing a new challenge in technique to be conquered, and also pieces brought in by the student; for example, if a student is working on music for a specific performance, etc., or if they just really like a piece and want to learn how to play or sing it, Kathy is always ready and willing to lend a hand and an ear!  

Vocally, Kathy believes good basic technique is the same for every genre of music.  Therefore, great emphasis is placed on learning to breathe and support your sound correctly as well as maintain good posture, rid your body of unwanted tensions, etc.; musical styles beyond that basic technique change only in small stylistic ways, and Kathy is knowledgeable in quiet a variety of most musical styles.

With guitar, Kathy focuses on learning to read and play musical notation and chords without using guitar tablature.  Again, a variety of musical styles are used for instruction, including everything from classical to punk!

And with piano, Kathy focuses on learning to read and play musical notation as well as mastering scales and chord progressions, inversions, etc.  She loves opportunities to combine voice lessons with guitar lessons, or voice lessons with piano lessons, as one instrument feeds into the other in interesting and helpful ways.

I specialize in a classical voice method, which I believe is a good foundation for all styles of singing. I have experience with classical singing, music theatre (I have a minor from my undergraduate education in Theatre) and folk. I'm an experienced songwriter and am able to guide students in that area.

I teach notes and chords for my guitar students. I don't teach guitar tablature; instead, I teach basic guitar music on the staff.

Also, I teach beginning piano, including basic music theory, note spelling, etc.

Litchfield High School - general - graduated 1994
University of Nebraska - BFA--Music (Vocal Performance) - graduated 1998
Cleveland Institute of Music - Master of Music (Voice) - graduated 2000

all-levels voice, beginning guitar, beginning piano