Opera Voice with Mary Frances K.

TEACHING OVERVIEW: Mary Frances has been teaching voice since 1987. She works with youth and adults, beginner and advanced. She helps voice students develop a natural, healthy, beautiful sound, proper placement and projection of the voice for singing and speaking. Her goal is to help singers gain fulfillment and joy while improving their art. She believes music should be fun and rewarding. VOICE STUDENTS of hers have won university placement and scholarships and have been accepted into Allstate Chorus for High School in Georgia. She also teaches PIANO. She has taught piano for about 10 years. She studied piano privately for 10 years and had further study at Indiana University. Students wishing to have any COMBINATION of piano, music theory, sight reading and/or vocal development can receive a program of study that meets their individual needs. PERFORMANCE EXPERIENCE: Mary Frances has performed with the Southeastern Savoyards Light Opera Company, the Atlanta Opera Chorus and Studio, the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, Marietta Theater in the Square, and Neighborhood Playhouse. She has sung title roles in Patience, Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel. Other roles include Josephine in HMS Pinafore, the Princess in The Student Prince, and Connie in The 1940's Radio Hour. She has performed many roles with Capitol City Opera Company (CCOC) including Annina in The Saint of Bleecker Street, Bastienne in Mozart's Bastien and Bastienne, Nora in Vaughan Williams' Rider's to the Sea, and Gilda in Milton Granger's Talk Opera. She sang for many years in CCOC's school outreach program. She has sung many concerts for CCOC as well. Mary Frances was a soloist in Handel's Messiah for Peachtree Presbyterian Church. She has worked as the soloist at The First Church of Christ Scientist in Roswell, Georgia and at The Second Church of Christ Scientist in Sandy Springs, Georgia ( This church has now closed). She occasionally directs and sings in the choir, and substitutes for the cantorial soloist at Congregation Dor Tamid in Alpharetta, Georgia. EDUCATION: Mary Frances holds a bachelors degree from Indiana University School of Music in both Voice and Theater. Mary Frances was a long time student of the late Elizabeth Nohe Colson of Atlanta, Georgia. She continues to study with Irena Sylyia, director of Panama Opera. She has attended Brevard Music Center, The Georgia State Opera Workshop and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. While in Graz, Mary Frances was a finalist in the Meistersinger competition. *LESSON DETAILS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LESSON LENGTH: 30-minutes for beginning adults and elementary students up to 5th grade. 45-minutes for intermediate adults and students 5th to 8th grade. 60-minute lessons for more advanced students high school and up. TEACHING STYLE AND CURRICULUM: ALL: My teaching style is relaxed and nurturing I use positive reinforcement to encourage progress with adults and children. Students are allowed to progress at their own pace. PIANO: I prefer the Alfred's Basic Piano Library series for my piano students. I find that my students learn more music theory and music reading with this series. If the student has started lessons in a different series, I can work with that as well. I have a large music library that provides a wide selection of music in addition to the Alfred books. I expect most beginning students to learn basic music reading and theory in 3 to 6 months. They should also to be able to play simple tunes in that time. I am an active professional singer, so I have a large library of vocal material at my disposal. All piano students are REQUIRED to have an instrument to practice on at home. The piano MUST HAVE AT MINIMUM: IF Digital - 88 full sized, weighted keys with polyphonic sound ( at least 10 keys should be able to sound at at the same time) and a sustain pedal, OR - If Accoustic - maintained and properly tuned. VOICE: I begin my voice lessons with breathing techniques and vocal placement using widely accepted exercises coming from a large body of sources such as: Vaccai, professional level vocal teachers, coaches and directors that I have worked with and learned from over the last 30 years, and the writings of highly acclaimed authors in the vocal field. I also have a wide selection of art song books, oratorio, musical theatre, and opera. My background is classical and musical theatre, but I believe all styles of singing need the basic skills of breathing and vocal placement. I strive to keep voices healthy as well as find each student's most beautiful sound. Most students will see progress in breath control, range, projection and diction in 3 to 6 months. Repertoire is chosen on an individual basis. Younger students and beginners will be encouraged to not push their voices with material that is too difficult for their individual abilities because singing requires a certain amount of physical endurance. My goal is to find each student's natural sound for whatever style he or she sings. Voice students are encouraged to bring a recording device to lessons to use for later practice and study. STUDIO EQUIPMENT AND LIBRARY: Piano, Computer with Internet Access, Library of Music and Reference Materials (Sample Listing): Alfred's Basic Piano Library Books Twenty-Four Italian Songs and Arias, Medium High and Medium Low Voice; Schirmer Sing at First Sight; Alfred Basics of Singing by Jan Schmidt; Schirmer Many Soprano Collections of Arias, Oratorio, Sacred, and Art Songs from Schirmer Several Broadway Music Collections from Hal Leonard Discover Your Voice by Oren Brown Training the Speaking Voice by Virgil Anderson International Phonetic Alphabet for Singers by Wall Dynamics of the Singing Voice by Meribeth Bunch Classical Singer Magazine Subscription Journal of Singing, The Official Journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing,Inc.Subscription SPECIALTIES: I am classically trained bel canto voice teacher, but I can work with broadway and pop styles. I teach sight singing for students pursuing auditions for All State Chorus and College entrance, etc. I use the Alfred Basic Piano Series for Piano students