Top Singing & Voice Lessons in East Berlin, CT

nly way to improve is to work hard. I use a variety of curriculum depending on the student's level and desire. For example, for beginning adults I use the curriculum "Everybody's Singing". After several months with me, a student will have gained a great deal of confidence and seen an improvement in his or her overall technique, as well as intonation and pitch.

*** Studio Equipment ***
Lessons in the music room, keyboard, no pets, driveway parking for students

*** Travel Equipment ***
I provide my own copies of my curriculum. I expect my student to provide his/her copy of the curriculum, as well as a keyboard/piano.

*** Specialties ***
Pop, classical, contemporary, contemporary Christian

le, with Hartford Opera Theater as Elise in Dawn Sonntag's Verlorene Heimat, Pythia in Nkeiru Okeye’s We’ve Got Our Eye on You, and as Miss Paige in Dan Shore’s An Embarrassing Position which was nominated for Best Featured Ensemble in a Musical through the 2015 Broadway World Connecticut Awards. She has also performed with Opera Theater of Connecticut, Connecticut Lyric Opera, Madison Lyric Stage, Greater Worcester Opera, Revolution Opera Alliance, the Simsbury Light Opera Company, and the Greater Meriden Concert Chorale.

Prior to moving to Connecticut, Rachel lived in St. Louis, Missouri, where she frequently performed with the St. Louis Symphony as a member of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus. She has also performed with Winter Opera St. Louis, Union Avenue Opera, and the Southern Illinois Music Festival. In 2012, Ms. Abrams had the opportunity to be a sponsored young artist with Winter Opera St. Louis where she performed the role of Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, covered Musetta in La Bohème, and performed in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical review: A Grand Night for Singing. Ms. Abrams has also performed with Opera Fort Collins, Loveland Opera Theater, Victorian Lyric Opera, and Opera Classica Europa in Bad Schwalbach, Germany as an apprentice artist. Additional operatic credits include Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Giannetta in L’Elisir d’Amore and Miss Pinkerton in The Old Maid and the Theif.

A passionate performer of Jewish music, Ms. Abrams was featured as a soloist in Martin Bresnick’s puppet opera, Der Signál, with the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra during the 10th Annual Celebration of Jewish Arts and Culture at Charter Oak Cultural Center in October of 2014. As an active performer of art song, Ms. Abrams has collaborated with various musicians throughout the New England region to create diverse and accessible art song recitals. In April of 2015, Ms. Abrams and pianist Michael Korman presented a recital featuring the works of Schönberg, Ruth Schönthal, Previn, and Weill with the Maurice Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Hartford.

Since the winter of 2016, Rachel has been an active performer with Lollipop Opera Outreach. This touring opera company brings the joy of opera to thousands of school children throughout New England. This season, she will perform the roles of the Mother/Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Babe in The Three Pigs – A Pig Tale, and participate in the premiere of a new interactive “culinary” opera adventure: A Fairytale Kitchen.

In addition to being a passionate performer and collaborator, Rachel is a private music educator dedicated to the success of her students. Ms. A maintains a private studio of voice students out of her home in West Hartford, Connecticut. In addition to her private teaching studio, she is the alto section leader at St. James Episcopal Church in Farmington. She has also taught at Farmington Valley Academy Montessori in Avon, Arts Place in Cheshire and Summit Studios in Manchester.

As a voice teacher, Ms. A provides her students with a holistic, healthy, and age appropriate technique based on her studies of vocal pedagogy, years of lessons from master teachers, and her personal experiences as a performer. Through personalized vocal exercises and repertoire assignments, students will learn how to achieve a proper vocal onset, management of air pressure, increase vocal stamina, and maximize vocal freedom through balanced resonance. While Ms. Abrams teaches "classical" technique, her students apply her pedagogy to all styles of singing including, but certainly not limited to: musical theater, jazz, gospel, barber shop, and even rock!

Before opening her own private studio in Connecticut, Ms. Abrams lived in St. Louis, Missouri where she taught throughout the region. While in Missouri, she served as an Adjunct Voice Instructor/Lecture Professor at East Central College and a Private Voice and Music Instructor at St. John's School of the Arts.

In addition to her teaching experience in the Missouri area, Rachel was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Northern Colorado, where she was an assistant instructor for Music Survey and Music and World Cultures classes.

Ms. A holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Northern Colorado and a Bachelor of Music degree from San José State University. She lives in West Hartford with her husband Ben and their anti-social diva cat, Bonnie. She is currently accepting new students!

*** Specialties ***
I teach classical technique, specifically focusing on proper resonance and breath control. This method can be highly useful to broadway, jazz, popular or any other style of singing.

inners John Williams, David Newman, Sara Gazarek, and John Proulx. Juliet was also the soprano soloist in Faure's Requiem with CSUF's University Singers Tour to Paris, France and was the title role in CSUF's production of The Merry Widow.

Experience and awards:

Overall Grand Prize Winner of the CSUF School of Music- Music Associates Concerto Competition,
1st Place Upper Division in the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia American Music Soloist Competition,
Classical Singer Magazine's first round finalist and nationals advance,
Lucy Dunn Vocal Scholar,
Winner of the Vidal Vocal Scholarship,
Board Member on the Los Angeles Opera - College Advisory Committee,
Recipient of the Cal State Fullerton's College of the Arts: Artsweek Executive Director Scholarship,
Selected performer for the CSUF School of Music accreditation performance and review,
Franc D'Ambrosio's Search for the Phantom's Christine Competition,
Singer in Orange County's Afternoon Singers,
Soloist on CSUF's 8-Track Debut Recording,
LA Music Center's Spotlight Awards Prelim Finalist,
Miss High Desert 2009 Talent Award,
Kern County Honor Choir Soloist,
Mojave High School Drama Department, Music Department, and Art Department Award,
Professional School of the Arts Scholarship,
Thelma Rae Kern County Music Scholarship,
and Finalist in the LA Regional National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition.