Piedmont, OK Opera Voice Lessons

perience with piano at all experience levels.

*** Lesson Details ***
I have experience teaching since 1995 while I was still in college. I primarily use Alfred and "Faber & Faber" piano methods for beginners. I teach how to read music, understand the theory behind the music, and the technique needed in a patient atmosphere at the pace of the student. I also teach you how the piano works and the different types of pianos as well as the history of keyboards used for different classical music. The lessons are geared toward the goals of the student no matter what level is desired.
In teaching singing, I will teach you the basics necessary to create a healthy and relaxed sound through technique. With experience singing music ranging from classical to contemporary church music to musical theater, I can teach you how to use the voice in a way that will promote a long time of singing without adding stress to the voice. I will work with any style of music and will give you the technique and confidence needed to become a better singer.

*** Studio Equipment ***
In my home studio is a piano and books with big windows to look out. Pianos are an upright piano and an Alesis Synthesiser. Seating is available for parents as well.

*** Travel Equipment ***
I expect the student to have a piano or an electric keyboard at home for piano lessons. For voice lessons a keyboard is not required but is helpful.

*** Specialties ***
I primarily teach piano in a classical style using either "Faber & Faber" or Alfred Methods for piano lessons.
For voice, I teach all my students to sing in a way that will be the most beneficial to the health of their voice. Doing this is helpful to all styles of singing.

programs which introduce children to music and theater in schools.   I was adjunct faculty at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University and local music studios as well as maintaining my private teaching practice.

*** Lesson Details ***
I am persistent and positive! Working and performing with singers and master teachers has helped me to be a resourceful teacher who understands the process of becoming a singer. I believe that a sense of fun and play helps you to accomplish your goals quickly.  For beginners you will learn how the voice works and how to care for and develop your instrument, I recommend adults take 45" - 1 hour lessons weekly for skill building. We will choose music that interests you and helps to build your voice starting with basics before moving to more complex and challenging music. Understanding music theory and sight-reading will help you get the most out of your singing. After 3 - 6 months you should have a good command of breathing and an understanding of how to sing with an expressive tone. For the advanced student, I can help you work on trouble spots and give you tools to help with the changes that voices naturally go through.  I look forward to giving you my full focus and celebrating your growth and accomplishments!

*** Studio Equipment ***
Condo w/ open area with piano. Visitor's parking lot w/ seating in studio for parents to listen. Parents with younger siblings can use play areas outside.
Basic library of vocal music, giving the student a way to sample different kinds of songs before purchasing books or downloading songs on their own. Music stand, iPhone plug-in/Amp for accompaniments and examples you want me to hear.

*** Travel Equipment ***
I provide a basic library of vocal music at my home studio and will bring targeted books with me. Students should print out their favorite popular songs from such services as Music Notes website.
I expect my students to provide a keyboard, music stand and notebook as well as a low distraction environment.

*** Specialties ***
As an opera and musical theater, Oratorio and church singer, I help singers of all levels improve within their genre from popular music to opera. A good singing technique will help performers in any style stay healthy and enjoy an expressive singing instrument.

actice. They are then empowered by experiencing the connections between inspiration, work, and pleasure.
He performs, as a solo entertainer, an unusually wide ranging repertoire because of his versatility on guitar, piano, and vocals. Being an accomplished arranger with a vast library of charts also allows him to lead a ten piece orchestra as competently as a trio or quartet. He has performed extensively in New York, Chicago, Cape Cod, and Florida.

*** Lesson Details ***
I always try to make lessons as comfortable and enjoyable as possible yet challenging enough to maintain interest. I build lessons around the student's individual interests (specific songs or styles) so that he or she can learn the technical fundamentals in a relevant context.
My own curriculum is supplemented by the following:
Guitar: Hal Leonard Guitar Method, Aaron Shearer Classical Guitar Method
Piano: Alfred's Basic Piano Course , John W. Schaum Piano Course
Voice: Jeffrey Allen's Secrets of Singing, Nicola Vaccai Practical Method

*** Studio Equipment ***
Hardman baby grand acoustic piano
OptimusMD1600 electronic keyboard
Crate TX50D guitar amplifer

*** Specialties ***
- Singing lesson time is generally divided 50/50 between voice building and repertoire. I accompany vocalists on both piano and guitar, teaching the melody notes as they are sung along with the piano. Then, once the melody is learned, I often switch to the guitar with just chordal backing. The acoustic guitar is also softer than the piano and lets the singer hear their own voice better. For voice building, I use my own concepts plus approaches of famous voice teachers like Jeffrey Allen, Seth Riggs, and Anthony Frissel.
- I am very experienced performing all styles of guitar and can cater to the student's specific area of interest, whether it be rock, folk, classical, or jazz.
- With piano, I work on fundamentals of reading and technique. Learning basic harmony and chord construction starting with triads (3 note chords), the student can soon read single stave lead sheets (a form of music notation widely utilized by professional musicians) as well as the grand staff. This approach trains the ear and makes learning how to play popular songs much easier.

ttoo (Flora). Among my many regional credits are Oliver at the Chiswick Park Theater in Sudbury, MA (Nancy), Camelot with Noel Harrison at the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, MA (Nimue/Guinevere understudy), and Is There Life After High School with Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Sharon Lawrence at the Burt Reynolds Theater in Jupiter, FL. I currently hold the post of Soloist at First Church of Christ, Scientist, Needham, and am a Guest Soloist for The Mother Church in Boston. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and have received additional training with many renowned pedagogues, including American actress and theatre director, Suzanne Shepherd, New York City, lyric soprano, Sari Gruber, mezzo-soprano Sondra Kelly, and coaches Arlene Shrut from the Juilliard School, Michelle Alexander with Boston Lyric Opera, and Roger Malouf with the Metropolitan Opera.

which encompasses the vocal onset and the closure of the vocal folds. Students realize that proper breath management and producing tone go hand in hand. The ideal that the student and I work towards is a balance between superfluous air flow and and pressed pressure. This concept leads to a clean onset in which the edges of the vocal folds cleanly come together and stay closed during singing.

Students also learn how to negotiate and coordinate the vocal registers. This means that every student who walks into my studio learns where and what the larynx is. It is my job to be a second set of ears to help the student optimize his or her tone quality by maximizing vocal resonance. This concept may be different across genres, however every student learns how to begin coordinating the vocal process.

HOW I TEACH
My aim as a teacher of voice is to be flexible and innovative, and provide students with a clear and honest assessment. I strive to explain to each singer exactly how to complete a task, whether maintaining the position of inhalation or correcting posture. In lessons, I refrain from being demonstrative so that the student can find his or her own unique sound without attempting to copy my sound. I use this method so that the student learns how to be her own teacher. This way, the student will be able to identify and correct her own vocal problems. When I am not present, the student will have confidence in her skills and can make educated corrections in practice, rehearsals, and in performances.

TECHNIQUE
Throughout the course of lessons, it is my job to identify the most effective resonating space for the student and give her the skills to maintain that space. It is through the combination of effective breath management using appoggio and flow-phonation that the student becomes most efficient. Finding the most efficient technique for the student involves discovering the proper laryngeal position for the student’s voice type and by practicing continuity through all of the registers.

As all of the aspects of technique are being built in the studio, it is my job to ensure that I am building a musician. This means that I go over how the student needs to learn a piece and how to perform a piece. Often times with young students, they do not have the musical skills to teach themselves the pieces assigned. Sometimes the voice teacher’s job is to “plunk out the notes.” I highly encourage my students to take piano lessons and to use technology resources to aid them in building musicianship so they feel confident reading music. This process takes time, but it is the first step in building a competent performer.

MY GOALS
I always cater to the students tastes while still meeting requirements, if any. I believe that this fosters joy and excitement in music. My goal as a voice teacher not only involves building a good singer, but creating a performer. I make sure that I not only find performing opportunities for my students, but also I create them. Every semester I hold a studio recital for my students to perform their repertoire in front of an audience. In the Fall of 2015 I founded a local opera company in order to bring classical music to the community. My students made up the chorus of Handel’s Messiah that we performed that December. In addition, I have invited my students to participate in the church choir I direct every week. I believe that learning how to sing must take place in the studio, but the most important thing that I can do as a teacher is to make sure that the student knows how to transfer the skills learned in the classroom to real-world performing experiences.

APPROACH
I believe in a holistic approach to teaching, which involves connection to the text and acting. Though I cover many of these aspects in the studio, it is extremely beneficial for students to go outside of the studio and engage in physical courses such as yoga, Alexander technique, acting and dance. I personally engage in these activities to relate to my students and to be able to explain how we need to engage the body in singing. I also encourage my students to have coachings with other professionals to gain more insight into their repertoire.

Not every student who comes to my studio wants to sing opera. Many students want to sing in choir, in church, or just for fun. Overall, I always come from a place of acceptance and non judgement. Every voice is unique and I strive to help my students not only reach their goals, but surpass them.

ABOUT ME
I have been teaching voice and piano since 2010. Not only an avid teacher, I have performed in music festivals all over the world including The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, Accademia Europa dell’Opera in Lucca, Italy, Angel Vocal Art in Los Angeles, CA, Russian Opera Workshop in Philadelphia, PA, and Highlands Opera Studio in Haliburton, Ontario. I have also performed with companies including Opera San Jose, The Napa Valley Music Association, The San Francisco Youth Chamber Orchestra, Opera on the Spot, and The Solano Chamber Society.

I earned my Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA with Kevin McMillan. During my time in Harrisonburg, I founded Harrisonburg Opera Theatre and was the church choir director at Sunnyside Retirement Community Meredith Chapel.
I completed my Post-Graduate Artist Diploma in Voice at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of acclaimed opera singer, Deborah Voigt. While in San Francisco, I interned in the Education Department of San Francisco Opera and taught Kindergarten and First grade music with the San Francisco Conservatory in the Schools mentor-ship program. I also received a full scholarship to attend the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism.

I earned my Masters of Fine Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of California, Irvine at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts where she sang the National Anthem for President Barack Obama at the school’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. At UC Irvine, I received critical acclaim for my portrayal of Euridice in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, and as the Soprano in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater.

I specialize in the Alfred Series for piano and My First Piano Adventure for young students. This approach focuses on ear training and reading music. Custom exercises and choice of material is based on the student's level and field of study. Lessons are scheduled at the student's convenience as per availability. Frequency and length of lessons is based on the students needs.

Young voice students are taught general concepts, music theory, and ear training. After the voice is more mature, advanced and serious vocal study can be pursued. Melissa's students receive a well-rounded training in the style of their choice: Classical, Popular, Musical Theatre, and Jazz.

I emphasize solid technique, posture, breathing, and control, in addition to music fundamentals.

r role debut as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy. During the 2015/16 season, Ms. Balter returned to the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival as Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, where she also covered Countess Almaviva under the baton of Maestro James Richman. In addition, she appeared as La Chatte/L’Écureuil in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Previously, Ms. Balter joined the roster of Russian Opera Workshop, where she covered Zemfira in Rachmaninoff’s Aleko and the title role in an abridged version of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. Balter began the 2016 season as a guest artist in From Heidelberg to Hanover, where she performed Strauss’ Four Last Songs in addition to selections from Lohengrin, Der Freischütz, and Tannhäuser with Lyric Opera Baltimore Artistic Director, James Harp. Highlights of the 2014/15 season included Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Alice (cover) in Verdi’s Falstaff with Harrower Opera Workshop, and An Evening of Opera & Song with the McDonogh Guest Artist Series. Ms. Balter holds the position of Artistic Administrator at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival having previously served as Director of Admissions. Jamie Balter maintains a private voice studio in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, previously having studios in Springfield, Illinois and Miami and Tallahassee, Florida. She has previously served as the head of the voice program at The Music Factory in Springfield, Illinois and served on the faculty at The Stubbs' Music Center in Tallahassee, Florida.  This spring, Ms. Balter will be teaching a masterclass as part of a series at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland titled An Artist Works: Tools of the Trade where she will discuss vocal technique, the key elements to having a successful audition, and how to make a website and a résumé.  

r of Robin's students have attended or participated in the the University of North Texas, the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA), Luther College, Tisch School of the Arts, Minnesota Opera Clinic, and Minnesota All-State Choir. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Voice at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

ve helps me be a better teacher!

I also believe that the gifts that I have are meant to be used to help others. This is my calling and great joy!

negie Hall.
As a teacher, students have said about Mr. Drackley:
“Peter helped me get to my high notes with a bright sound that felt relaxed and easy” -Brett Andrews, Tenor/Dancer
“Peter’s experience as a performer helped me not only achieve a healthy full sound, but a strong connection to the role through body work and character analysis.” -Abigail Lawsonn, Operatic Soprano
My technique is based on a relaxed but engaged posture, the management of air instead of "pushing" or "shoving" air, a bright but warm sound, and taking your space as a performer, a singer, and a human being.

st nuanced singers and musicians. Let's start the journey together!