Hi, I am Valdis! My motto is "teach as you have been taught". This is how belcanto school survived until nowadays. I spent 17 years of my life studying and singing in Italy before moving to the US. In my opinion, there are two main teachers in every singer's life: the singer himself and the stage. My goal is to teach how to listen to yourself giving the right tools in order to make a singer independent and professionally auto sufficient. Simplicity and naturalness are the keys: these are the principles applied when I was learning and I am trying to continue this tradition without any alteration.
I am a professional opera singer with more than 60 roles in my repertoire (mostly principal). I performed in more than 70 theaters in more than 20 countries: La Scala di Milano, Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Theater an der Wien, Spoleto Festival USA and many others.

I have a master's degree from Conservatorio Boito di Parma, Italy. Currently, I am pursuing a DMA degree at UC Santa Barbara. My specialization is Italian music. As a teacher, I have primarily taught to young opera singers. However, I have some singing students as well. As an active singer, I know the inside of the theaters and the repertoire: you can prepare an entire role with me or prepare an audition.