Jacqueline M. TakeLessons Instructor voice, Classical/opera and musical theatre styles Lindale Drive, Bethesda, MD

Jacqueline, soprano, is a native of Bethesda, Maryland, and has just completed her Degree in Vocal Performance at James Madison University.  She offers a wide range of performing styles such as opera, oratorio and musical theater.  Staged opera performances include Hannah Clavari in The Merry Widow, The First Lady in The Magic Flute, Emma Jones in Street Scene, Suor Dolcina in Suor Angelica, Suor Zeletrice in Suor Angelica, Le Nozze di Figaro and Elixir d’amore.  Staged Musical Theater performances include Pennywise in Urinetown, Maria in The Sound of Music, Polly Browne in The Boyfriend, Tuptim in The King and I and Rapunzel in Into the Woods.  She was featured as the soprano soloist at the viva Vivaldi concert and The Kennedy Center.  She placed 2nd in the NATS competition in 2005 and 2006 and was the vocal finalist in the James Madison University concerto competition in 2007 and 2008.  Jacqueline played The First lady in the 2007 Germany workshop tour of  The Magic Flute and in the 2005 season of the Opera Festival di Roma program in Rome, Italy.  She has performed with the JMU chorale under the direction of Dr. Patrick Walders. She has studied privately with Brenda Witmer, Elizabeth Dodd and Mary O’Connell.  She has been teaching private voice lessons to students of many ages for almost three years now and really enjoys getting to know her students and helping them reach their musical goals.  Jacqueline is currently preparing for her debut at The Studio Theatre in their production of Jerry Springer the Opera.

My students can expect to have a lot of fun while learning good technique as a singer.  I will start with the basics of singing and the fundamentals of good technique.  I will give you productive excercises that you can do on your own to improve your skills as a singer and as a musician.  If you cannot read music...no worries!  I will go over the basics with you and in no time you will see that it really isn't too hard!  I am a pretty laid back teacher and I like to have a lot of fun in my lessons but I do expect that you take some time in between lessons to practice so that you can really retain and reinforce what is learned in the lessons. 

In several months of lessons you can expect to have a good understanding of proper vocal technique, and have learned a variety of vocal repitore (from art songs and opera to musical theatre).  You can expect to have begun work on a piece in a foriegn language, learning the diction rules and pronunciation rules as we go along.  You will also gain a good understanding of "acting the song", learning to use your whole body to communicate with the audience.  And hopefully you will have a lot of fun!

I specialize in combining music with theatre to create the best possible performer. The combination of excellent vocal technique and training with a strong sense of stage presence and acting makes the strongest kind of performer.

voice, Classical/opera and musical theatre styles