Alameda Language Lessons

Her stage presence...is magnetic" (Peninsula Reviews), "Her mezzo tones...evoked memories of Maria Callas' spell-binding rendition" (San Jose Mercury News),
Olga was announced the Best Leading Female Singer in North East in season 2006-2007 by Opera Online.
A native of Russia, she appeared on the stages of the Bolshoi Opera (Maria in Mazeppa, Prilepa in Pique Dame, Brigitta in Iolanta, Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, Musetta in La Boheme, to name a few), Kazan Opera Theater (Mimi in La Boheme), Stanislavsky Opera Theater (Micaela in Carmen), and Malmo Opera Theater in Sweden (Musetta) before emigrating to the U.S.A., where she appeared with Hawaii Opera Teater as Mimi in La Boheme, San Francisco Lyric Opera in title role of Aida, West Bay Opera and DiCapo Opera in New York in the title role of Manon Lescaut, Opera San Jose and Illinois Opera Theater as Tosca, and with Cedar Rapids Opera, Gold Coast Opera，Golden Gate Opera and Opera North as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, with San Francisco Opera Merola Program and Tampa Opera as Musetta in La Boheme. In autumn of 2009 she appeared in Cairo as Tosca and, in spring of 2010 debuted it Italy at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo as Carlotta in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten, where she returned following summer in the title role of Aida. From 2006 till 2010 Olga performed with touring company Teatro Lirico d’Europa all over United States in multiple performances of Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Carmen，La Boheme, Turandot, Le Nozze di Figaro, I Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana. Olga appeared in title roles with local opera companies like Opera San Jose (Tosca)，;; West Bay Opera (Manon Lescaut, La Forza del Destino), Livermore Opera (I Pagliacci), Martinez Opera (Madama Butterfly), Golden Gate Opera (Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica, I Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana), San Francisco Opera Company (Aida)
Olga appeared with Orchestra Sinfonica Romana at the concert stage of Santa Cecilia in Rome and Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Verdi Requiem, Quatar with Gala concerts, Opera Santa Barbara in an evening of music by Giocomo Puccini, DiCapo Opera (Rachmaninoff’s Francesca da Rimini), in Russia at the Nizhny Novgorod Concert Hall for Bach’s Mass in B-minor, at the Grand Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory for Mahler’s Sympony No. 4 and for Orff’s Carmina Burana, Moscow’s Cathedral Catholic Church for Bach’s Easter Oratorio, as a featured soloist for both the Notti Musicali Modenesi Festival and Costa Rica’s XIII Festival de Musica Credomatic; and as a featured soloist for the political-cultural event entitled “Days of Russian Culture in Bulgaria, jointly sponsored by the Russian and Bulgarian Ministries of Culture and attended by the presidents of both countries.
In 2002 Olga participated in San Francisco Opera Center Merola Opera Program for young singers and sang Musetta with Western Opera on tour.

Currently Olga devotes herself to voice teaching and performs locally."

**My Vision***
I seek students who share a love of learning. I am not looking for the finest musicians or highest IQ's, because those gifts are not required to learn and grow. My greatest experiences as a teacher have come from when I work with students who just want to learn more.

***My Requirements***
I hold my students to high expectations when it comes to practicing. Each week, I give students individual assignments that I know will improve their learning and playing abilities, and I expect those assignments to be fulfilled by the next lesson. A failure to do so will result in frustration for both myself and my student.

However, I know that nobody is perfect, and I myself have had my share of weeks where life happens, and I simply don't progress as much as I would like. As a teacher, I understand this perfectly, and I will always strive to listen to my students, and work with them through their difficulties or struggles.

***What To Expect From Lessons***
I bring a lot of energy to lessons! I am very passionate about teaching and helping students grow, and I make sure to bring that to every lesson. I give concise, direct feedback to students, making sure to give them the information they need to understand how they can achieve their goals and grow.

I am very perceptive of students' feelings, and I take care to be sensitive to their needs each week. My worst fear as a teacher is to cause hurt feelings, so I will do everything in my power to avoid that!

I am an expert in the field of music and the flute, so you can be rest assured that the quality of instruction will be the highest.

cessary information in order to create a lesson plan that will meet the student's specific needs. I have extensive experience in curriculum design. My approach to teaching is student-centered. I use a variety of methods to ensure that students are active participants in the learning process and get the most out of instruction.

I have worked with students with special needs including, learning disabled, ADHD and gifted and talented. When planning my lessons, I make sure that the activities included are appropriate for the student and use students feedback in future planning.

that singing is a movement practice like any other. When we move our legs and feet properly, we move through the water, and we call that swimming. When we use our breath and our resonance properly while our vocal chords vibrate, we call that singing. It is all a matter of coordination, one we either naturally understood in childhood, or one we must be taught. It is my joy to guide people to this knowledge of their voices.

With public speakers, my goal is to help people feel at home in their bodies and command the room with their voices while giving presentations. I have given seminars teaching scientific researchers in Berlin and Potsdam, helping them to present results in ways that are both informative and inspiring.

I am fluent in German, having spent two intensive summers at the prestigious Middlebury College Language School, getting top training in the ins and outs of German grammar. That preparation, the tricks and tools I learned there, paved the way for the fluency I acquired while living in Germany for ten years. I am happy to help beginners learn the tools I learned to help get them on their way auf Deutsch.

Students in each area can expect to progress steadily week to week, provided they do the assigned exercises in between. The voice, the body, and language skills are all muscles we must train daily to expect any progress.

I look forward to working with creative students who have a passion for self-discovery and honest self-expression. Let's have fun!

group of voices and words, they are the lenses through which the world is perceived and communicated. Learning languages thus equips me with additional perspectives and enriches my understanding of others and myself.

Besides learning languages, I am also passionate about tutoring and find it especially fulfilling to help others achieve confidence communicating in another language. I started tutoring language-related courses in College, such as Mandarin Chinese, Chinese poetry, and English (GRE and TOEFL).

With several years of experience teaching Mandarin Chinese to second-language leaners, I know well the importance of individualized teaching. During our first session, I will ask the student about his/her learning goals and expectations, and tailor my teaching resources to their needs.

I can help you with:
-Test preparation (HSK, among others)
-Overall Mandarin Chinese improvement for any level and all ages (listening, speaking, reading, writing)
-Mandarin Chinese in specific fields (business, tour, the subject you study, etc.)
-Translation from English to Chinese and/or proofreading of Chinese writing
-Introduction to Chinese culture, cuisine, music, history...and all
-Any combination of the above

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any question or need any clarification in any information listed above, or book me if you are ready to get started!

Cheers,
Chen

hallenging points until the student is able to proceed by himself through the homework.