Rockfall, CT Music Performance Lessons

I also offer hour lessons

30 minute voice/speech session - Typically work improving your voice through various exercises and strategies. I also offer hour lessons

*** Studio Equipment ***
I use my Macbook Pro to record lessons and distribute them to students via a free Dropbox account. IN PERSON LESSONS ONLY.

t the Oakdale Theater, the Rock Cats Stadium, and has also done a number of radio and television interviews. Brian has provided liturgical music for many years in CT; also, in Sicily and Rome. Mr. H is a patient, enthusiastic teacher who enjoys helping his students master the art of guitar.

*** Lesson Details ***
In the first half of the lesson, students can expect to learn music fundamentals from a guitar method book, i.e. how to read music; I also teach guitar tablature. Depending on ability (beginner, intermediate, advanced), I will show them chords, scales and how to play a guitar solo. The second half of the lesson is spent with the student learning their favorite songs and building a repertoire (song list) for possbile future performances.

*** Studio Equipment ***
home: Seating for parents. I provide the amp, instrument cable and music stand. I expect the student to have a guitar and notebook. If the student does not have a guitar, I will give a referral for reasonably priced guitars.

*** Travel Equipment ***
I expect the student to have a guitar and notebook. If the student does not have a guitar, I will give a referral for reasonably priced guitars.

*** Specialties ***
Rock, Pop, Jazz, & Beginner Classical

Pick and Finger style Guitar & Bass

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.

gements which have been performed internationally.

auty in your unique sound (as opposed to attempting to make your voice conform to someone else's style).
I am here to make you sound like the most authentic version of yourself, and to find the deep joy and expression that comes from letting your voice be heard!

I began my vocal training at the age of 12 learning how to sing classical and musical theater music. I eventually went on to learn jazz and rock vocal techniques before going to Berklee College of Music in Boston where I learned how to sing celtic music and alternative contemporary styles. I have my own band which I write all the music for, and we have performed all around Boston and in New York City.
My students have achieved admission into Berklee College of Music in Boston, lead roles in their school plays such as Peter Pan, Into the Woods, and Julius Caesar. They have achieved new levels of confidence and power that have made them the stars of their local open mics, talent shows, and recitals!

The most important thing to me when working with singers of any age or ability is helping them learn the correct techniques to keep their voices safe and healthy while singing. With this strong foundation, my students will be able to achieve almost any style or level of singing they desire. It is totally possible to stretch your vocal range, learn a new style, or incorporate movement into your songs if you simply use the correct and healthy vocal techniques!
I also make sure to focus a lot on confidence and stage presence to help students prepare for upcoming auditions, showcases, concerts, and talent shows.

With my voice lessons it is absolutely possible to transition out of your stage fright and own that stage like you were born to be there, because you were!! These are not only vocal coaching sessions, but complete performance-ready-workshops.
I am here to make all your singing and vocal performance dreams come true! I can't wait to sing with you :)