Piano with Jamie B.

Mezzo-soprano Jamie most recently received recognition by both The American Prize in Voice and New York Lyric Opera Theatre Competition for her performance of works by Strauss, Mozart, and Wagner. A native of Baltimore, Jamie earned her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Alabama under the tutelage of Dr. Paul Houghtaling. In August 2021, Jamie will sing the Sandman in Hansel and Gretel at Chicago Summer Opera. As a member of the University of Alabama Opera Theatre, Jamie sang the role of The Nurse in Philip Seward's Juliet and the Quiltlover in the world premiere of Michael Ching's RSBE - Remove Shoes Before Entering in the 2019/20 season. In the 2018/19 season, Jamie sang the roles of Consuelo in West Side Story and Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus. During the 2017/18 season, Jamie appeared as a guest artist in Visions of Dreams, where she performed selections by Duparc, Schubert, Mozart, and Lehár. In July 2017, she made her role debut as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy. During the 2015/16 season, Jamie 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, Jamie 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. Jamie 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 pianist 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. Jamie Balter maintains a private voice studio in Ellicott City, Maryland, previously having studios in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Springfield, Illinois and Miami and Tallahassee, Florida. She is the owner of Sunshine Music Studios and is currently an Adjunct Voice Instructor at Carroll County Community College and a Voice and Piano Instructor at the International School of Music. Ms. Balter 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 The Well-Rounded Singer where she will discuss vocal technique, audition techniques, dramatic interpretation skills, and improvisation. Teaching Philosophy: My goal as a voice teacher is to create a positive environment in my studio where my students can reach all of the goals that they set out to achieve.  It is important for my students to feel a warm, welcoming atmosphere, where they can make mistakes, take risks, and ask questions. The art of singing is a whole-body experience and it is essential for students to train and practice like an athlete would train for a high-level event.  I encourage my students to do some sort of physical activity that has an emphasis on the abdominal muscles (i.e. yoga, pilates, tai chi, weight routine), so that they feel what it is like to use the whole body as well as strengthen their core muscles. This directly relates to an appoggio based breath support, which is the technique I utilize in my own singing and in my studio.  I teach my students to use their entire body when they sing. I believe that students should practice physicality with gestures, so they can get connected to their whole body and feel a strong gravitational center.  As a voice teacher, I foster a healthy vocal technique and I believe that it is necessary for students to understand how the muscles work for inhalation, exhalation, and phonation. Utilizing gestures or movement will encourage the student to create a natural and free sound, so nothing is locked and can release tension.  In addition, I believe that it is important for students to have kinesthetic awareness of the process of singing. After a student has grasped a basic understanding of alignment, the body, and breathing, I tend to focus on phonation and resonance, especially having a clean onset after the inhalation. Singing relies on good muscle coordination, so careful practice and patience is needed.  The process cannot be rushed, but I feel it has gotten easier as my teaching experience has increased. Students in my studio have a solid foundation, which can be applied to any style of music that they wish to sing.   ​ Every student has different needs and it is crucial to cater each lesson to the particular student.  Therefore, I find parallels in my student’s lives and singing. For example, if a student plays a sport, I use elements from that activity, which has aspects that are similar to vocal technique.  It is essential for students to be able to relate vocal technique to something that they understand well. The process of singing can at times be hard to grasp, especially for a beginning student, so it is very important to be able to connect it with something that is in a student’s daily routine.  I do not use the same set of technical tools for every student. Every singer learns differently and it is important to be aware of how each student learns and to then choose the appropriate tools that will best serve the student. As a teacher, I have a great responsibility to inspire my students and to encourage and support their journey.