NYSTA Jan-Feb 2021...Diane Aragona at [email protected] We hope that you are staying well and wish...

Vol. 18, no. 3, January--February 2021 NYSTA©

VOICEPrintsJOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK SINGING TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATIONVolume 18, Number 3 January--February 2021

Winter Online Event: Narciso Solero: Turning Your Ordinary Studio into an Extraordinary One!......................................................................................................................54

President’s and Editor’s Messages........................................................................................................55-56

2021 Events Calendar................................................................................................................................57-58

NYSTA Professional Development Program.....................................................................................59-60

Feature Article by Emily Lamia: A Study of Breathy Female Adolescent Voices As a Result of Poor Self-Concept, and How Music Educators Can Reverse the Cycle...........................................61-66

Book Review by Dann Mitton: A Systematic Approach to Voice: The Art of Studio Application by Kari Ragan..................................................................................................................67-69

Feature Article by Dana Lynne Varga: Embracing and Taking Pride in Your Correlating Career.....70-77

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Winter Online Event

Narciso Solero: Turning Your Ordinary Studiointo an Extraordinary One!Sunday, February 21, 2121 8:00--10:00 PM EST

This program explores how to turn dreams for your studio into realitythrough goal setting and implementing the steps to achieve those goals.Any topic is fair game: studio administration, professional development,repertoire building, or how to achieve the highest level of artistry fromyour students.

Teachers complete a survey in advance, submitting ideas for goalsthey would like to achieve, although they have yet to take any action orsignificant action toward achieving these goals. Narciso Solero draws onexperiences in his own life as a pianist/teacher to address the value insetting ambitious goals. He also uses his experience having lived throughstage-four cancer and an exhausting chemotherapy regimen to show thatwe have more courage and strength than we realize when we choose toface our insecurities and fears, and have the courage to pursue our dreams.

Teachers who wish to participate, contact president Elizabeth Saundersat [email protected] by January 15 for Narciso Solero’s Advance Survey.

Narciso Solero


PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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Elizabeth Saunders

Elizabeth SaundersPresident, New York Singing Teachers’ Association (NYSTA)

Happy new year, happy new website!

We are so pleased to have Matthew Hoch’s hard work on a newwebsite created for NYSTA finally come to fruition. There have beensome hiccups along the way but they seem to be ironed out now.If you haven’t already, please visit the new site! Before you do, though,please take note of the following for the smoothest experience:

1. When you log in to the new website for the first time, you willneed to use your email address (not your username from the oldwebsite) and you’ll need to reset your password by clicking the“Lost Password” link on the login screen and following the steps.

2. Once logged in, go to “My Memberships” to ensure that yourmembership is active.

3. Nota bene: Members who were signed up for auto renewals on the old website must maketheir first renewal on this new site manually and enroll in auto renew on the new site. Paymentinformation could not be transferred from the old site, so you will need to follow the steps to selectyour membership level and renew. Once you have renewed this first time on the new site, you cansign up for auto renewals moving forward.

4. If you have any questions about your membership or the renewal process, please emailDiane Aragona at [email protected]

We hope that you are staying well and wish you a beautiful and rewarding 2021!


EDITOR’S MESSAGE

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Jennifer D’Agostino

VOICEPrintsJennifer D’AgostinoEditor-in-Chief

Elena BlyskalAssociate Editor

Nico de VilliersAssociate Editor

Andrea Chenoweth WellsAssociate Editor

John OstendorfDesigner

Volume 18, No. 3

Jennifer D’AgostinoEditor-in-Chief, VOICEPrints

Greetings and Happy New Year !

I distinctly remember a trapper keeper with a quote inside that Iloved when I was younger. I cut out the quote and taped it on mybedroom wall. It read, “You may be disappointed if you fail but you aredoomed if you don’t try.” This viewpoint led me throughout my musicallife without my ever realizing that it was written by none other thanBeverly Sills. (These days whenever my kids need an answer they justask our Google Home!) As a teacher, I cut out short inspirational quotesto put on my studio music stand or to offer as a token of wisdom tostudents. It’s fun to see their faces light up. It’s my way to send alittle light out into the world! I believe that there is hope and caringon the other end of any dark tunnel, and I encourage you to find waysto help your students thrive with positivity.

Every new year comes with new goals, aspirations, and resolutions.I write this editor’s letter with the hope that what we experienced in 2020will soon be behind us and that it has taught us to find ways to growthrough the challenges we’ve faced together as a community. I havewatched such creativity shine via social media, I have connected withfriends on Zoom, and I have been inspired to move forward with theconviction that I wouldn’t want to do anything else with my own lifeother than being a positive force in the world of music.

This issue is an exciting one. The feature A Study of Breathy Female Adoles-cent Voices is by Emily Lamia, a music educator on Long Island, NY. Herthoughtfully-produced article highlights the changes in female adolescentvoices and the perception of students this age, as well as how teachers canbetter navigate these waters to allow healthier self-concepts to arise. DanaLynne Varga’s article Embracing and Taking Pride in Your Correlating Careeris a great template for those who want to explore multiple career paths,thus allowing everyone to find resolve in their music making, no mattertheir level of artistry. I first heard Dana in an interview with NicholasPerna on his podcast VocalFri and later saw her name as the founder ofThe Empowered Musician group on Facebook. Her contribution to thisissue will be invaluable for teachers and students alike. The book reviewby Dann Mitton features Kari Ragan’s A Systematic Approach to Voice: TheArt of Studio Application. It has been on my short list of purchases since itspublication last year. I appreciate Dann’s time, knowing how busy he isas creator and a co-moderator of The New Forum for Professional VoiceTeachers on Facebook. Dann is an avid reader and voice teacher fromToronto; I look forward to more collaborations with him in future!

Please send questions, comments, or article submissions to me directlyat [email protected] or through the website at https://nyst.org/submit-an-article/.


Winter Online Event

Narciso Solero: Turning Your Ordinary Studiointo an Extraordinary One!Sunday, February 21, 2121 8:00--10:00 PM EST

Narciso Solero

2021 EVENTS CALENDAR

Narciso Solero, pianist, piano teacher, and lecturer in piano peda-gogy, received the Master of Music degree in Piano Performancefrom Indiana University (Bloomington) and pursued studiesin the doctoral degree program in piano performance there. Hereceived the Bachelor in Music Degree from DePauw University.Solero is an active master class teacher and lecturer in Virginia.He has been a featured panelist for the Northern Virginia MusicTeachers Association. His students were filmed and featured inthe ASCD educational video Learning to Think…Thinking to Learn,released in 2007.

As a performer, Solero regularly collaborates with other artists at theKennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and elsewhere. He has performedextensively throughout the US and overseas, including concertoperformances at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, solo recitals throughoutthe Midwest and in the Washington, D.C. area, and concerts withsingers in Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok, and Singapore, as well as TVbroadcasts on KBS-TV Korea. He has worked with such artists asPlácido Domingo, soprano Harolyn Blackwell, soprano BeverleyRinaldi, and TV/movie star Vanessa Williams.

Narciso Solero and tenor Jon Robert Cart have released a compactdisc of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and other songs for Music MinusOne; he is pianist on a CD featuring the art songs of Joseph Marxand Anthony Taffs with soprano Maureen Balke. He has performedat Lincoln Theater as part of the D.C. Mayor’s Arts Awards Programpresented by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Hehas been guest artist of the United States Air Force Chamber Players.

Solero lives and teaches in Arlington, Virginia. His students rangefrom pre-kindergarten age to high school seniors; a number havebecome college music majors and have performed in competitionsand festivals and won many prizes. He teaches adult students aswell, from amateur beginners to professional pianists wanting topursue continued studies.

Narciso Solero currently serves as President of the Virginia MusicTeachers Association (VMTA). He served for four years as Presidentof the Washington, D.C. Music Teachers Association (WMTA), andwas a board member for Northern Virginia Music Teachers Associ-ation and for the Springfield Music Club. He has also served onthe music faculties of Albion College, DePauw University, OlivetCollege, and Kellogg Community College and served as a charterboard member for what is now the Music Center of SouthCentral Michigan.

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Spring Online Event

Teaching Voice Students from East AsiaUnderstanding the Linguistic Challenges and Advantages Uniqueto Native Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Japanese SpeakersWith Ryu-Kyung Kim, Stephen Ng and Sahoko Sato Timpone

Sunday, May 16, 2021 2:30--4:30 PM EDT

Voice teachers today are often working with students for whomEnglish is their second language. It is increasingly helpful forthem to understand the linguistic tendencies of representedlanguages. This presentation, followed by Q&A, will explorespecific examples for speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese,Korean, and Japanese, where these languages present bothchallenges and advantages to vocalists compared to AmericanEnglish speakers. The goal of this presentation is to help voiceteachers become more acquainted with these languages andto provide them with practical tips to apply in their studios.Through examining linguistic perspectives and providingspecific exercises, we aim to advance vocal teaching for EastAsian singers.

Ryu-Kyung Kim

Stephen Ng

Sahoko Sato Timpone

Solero is a cancer survivor—Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s lymph-oma—and has been in remission since January 2017. Hisexperience living through and surviving advanced cancer isknown to his followers on social media. He continued teachingfull-time during intensive chemotherapy to cope with hisdiagnosis and treatment and he is currently preparing to writeabout this experience in which music played a crucial role inhis mental and emotional well-being while fighting cancer andultimately beating it.

Teachers who wish to participate, contact president ElizabethSaunders at [email protected] by January 15 for NarcisoSolero’s Advance Survey.

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Vol. 18, no. 3, January--February 2021 NYSTA©59

NYSTA Professional Development ProgramSpotlight on the PDP

This is the second installment of our Spotlight on the PDP.We are getting close to launching the new courses and aretaking this time to introduce you to our new instructors.Developmental Repertoire will have three sections: classical,musical theater, and CCM. John Nix will be leading theclassical portion of the class and brings years of experiencewith development repertoire to the PDP. If you’re interestedin being on the PDP mailing list, please email Amanda Flynnat [email protected].

Amanda Flynn: Tell me a bit about your background as it pertainsto the class you are teaching.

John Nix: I have been interested in the role of carefulrepertoire selection in the development of singers for years,starting during my training with Barbara Doscher in the early-mid 1990’s. After she passed away, I spent the better part offive years preparing her repertoire notes into the book FromStudio to Stage: Repertoire for the Voice. In working on the book,I looked at the score of each piece she catalogued (over 3,000songs and arias), and greatly increased my knowledge of vocalrepertoire. I have continued to refine how I think about andteach repertoire selection during my teaching career, and amexcited about being able to reach more students through theNYSTA program.

Repertoire selection is where we really see whether or not ateacher can synthesize and apply information about anatomy,physiology, acoustics, and voice development over the lifespanto make informed choices of music which enhance the growthof a singer.

AF: Can you tell us a little about any considerations you took inputting this course together for NYSTA?

J.N. It was very interesting putting together a series ofmodules for a course which would be delivered in acompletely asynchronous format—something I had neverdone before. I had to re-think how to test for comprehensionof the material!

AF: What are you most looking forward to with being involvedwith the Professional Development Program?

J.N. NYSTA’s program has a long and prestigious tradition.I am excited to be one of the mentoring faculty helping toguide other teachers improve their instruction and deepentheir knowledge of singing teaching. I guess there is a little bitof “imposter syndrome” in the back of my head, joining peoplelike Oren Brown and Scott McCoy as an instructor!

Amanda Flynn is currently onfaculty at Pace University andis also the owner of a privatestudio with clients performing onBroadway, Off Broadway, nationaland international tours, regionaltheater, and with careers asrecording artists. Amanda wasProduction Vocal Coach for TheLightning Thief and Be MoreChill, both on Broadway. She alsoserved as a Vocal Consultant forthe regional premiere of Love inHate Nation.

She holds a MM in VocalPerformance with a MusicalTheater concentration and anAdvanced Certificate in VocalPedagogy, both from NYU.She completed the VocologyMentorship at Mt. Sinai, theDistinguished Voice Professionalcertificate from NYSTA, andcompleted her Certificate inVocology from NCVS. A recipientof the Van Lawrence Fellowship,Amanda is a voice researcher andhas presented at conferences acrossthe country. She is thrilled to beon the NYSTA Board of Directorsas the Director of the ProfessionalDevelopment Program.www.amandaflynnvoice.com

Vol. 18, no. 3, January--February 2021 NYSTA© 60

John Nix is Professor of Voice and Voice Pedagogy and chairof the voice area at the University of Texas at San Antonio.His mentors include Barbara Doscher (singing, pedagogy) andIngo Titze (voice science). Current and former students havesung with the Santa Fe, Arizona, Chautauqua, St. Louis,Nevada, Omaha, and San Antonio opera companies, and twohave served as NATS Intern Program Master Teachers. Inaddition to his active voice teaching studio, he performsresearch in voice pedagogy, literature, and acoustics, havingproduced 42 published articles and eight book chapters; healso co-chairs the NATS Voice Science Advisory Committee,and serves on The Journal of Singing’s editorial board. Mr. Nixis editor and annotator of From Studio to Stage: Repertoire for theVoice (Scarecrow, 2002), vocal music editor for the OxfordHandbook of Music Education (Oxford University Press, 2012),and one of three general editors for the Oxford Handbook ofSinging (Oxford University Press, 2019).

For more information about the Professional Development Program,including how to register for John Nix’s class, please visitwww.nyst.org.

John Nix


A Study of Breathy Female Adolescent VoicesAs a Result of Poor Self-Concept, and How

Music Educators Can Reverse the Cycleby Emily Lamia

“It’s Not What You ARE That is Holding You Back;It’s What You THINK You Are NOT.”

Adolescence is a phase of life that most people are willing to castaside and never look back on. It is bound with an inexhaustibleamount of awkward growth spurts and moments of physical,social, and emotional self-loathing. The physical changes thatadolescents undergo have frequently been discussed by vocalpedagogues as being the agent of change in vocal experiences.Most notably, male voices drop nearly an octave as the larynxexpands and the vocal folds thicken. Females also experiencechanges in their voices as they begin their transition to adulthood.Among many other changes, female voices typically becomeextremely breathy as they begin to adjust to the growth happeningwithin the body. However, can we attribute the breathiness offemale tone quality solely to the physical changes these individualsare experiencing? In the discipline of psychology and other aspectsof life, it is openly accepted that poor self-concept and self-esteemwreak havoc on one’s physical abilities. The same can be said forthe singing ability of a female adolescent. If she does not believethat she can achieve a clear vocal tone, she will not be able toproduce it. While physiological elements are the main source offrustration in girls, music educators must become aware that theway a female adolescent views herself can also have a stronginfluence on her vocal tone. In the music classroom, educatorsmust not only actively work to strengthen female vocal folds asthey continue to develop; they must teach singing techniques thatwill support their students’ sound once the changes have ceased,while also teaching the concepts of self-love and self-appreciationto culminate in a healthy development of the female adolescentvoice and spirit.

During adolescence, females undergo three primary changes:physical, hormonal, and emotional. All three areas of developmentand change have the potential to negatively impact their singingquality, specifically inducing, or aggravating, breathiness. Thesechanges are unavoidable, suggesting then that breathiness is inevit-able. As a voice teacher, it is important to understand why breathi-ness is occurring, especially after years of childhood tonal clarity.

Since physical changes in the adolescent are the most obvious,much research has been done regarding the lengthening of thelarynx and its influence on young voices. However, most researchand discussion remains limited to male changes. This is the first ofmany reasons why female vocal changes may have a more drastic

Emily Lamia is a recent collegegraduate from CUNY QueensCollege, the Aaron CoplandSchool of Music, where sheearned her Bachelor of Arts inmusic education with aconcentration in choral studies.Her interest in music educationbegan in the summer of 2015when she had the opportunity tosing and travel with AmericanMusic Abroad. This experiencedemonstrated the ability of musicto bring communities together,and the relevance of music in therealms of politics, science, andcultural anthropology. Since then,she has conducted research ontopics of vocal pedagogy, musicol-ogy, and music education, earn-ing herself the Cora Alter Awardin Vocal Music Education in2019 from the Aaron CoplandSchool of Music.

Emily Lamia is currently anelementary classroom musicteacher and children’s chorusdirector in the Port JeffersonSchool District on Long Island,New York. During her teaching,


psychological effect on girls rather than boys; while girls areaware of the changes that their male peers are going through,female changes are so minute that they may only recognizethem within themselves. This could potentially lead to feelingsof isolation or failure for being “out of the norm” of societalstandards. While completely untrue, the lack of research in thesubject has led to a highly discussed male phenomenon and ahidden female event. Nevertheless, there is clear evidence thatthe larynx in females undergoes an enlargement process. In adiscussion of female speech pitch, May and Williams mentionvarious researchers who studied the gradual decline of thefemale speaking pitch with age. They specifically noted R.J.Duffy’s conclusion that girls’ fundamental speaking pitchlowered gradually from about 266Hz in 11-year-olds to anaverage frequency of about 245Hz for postmenarchal 13-year-olds, and 237Hz for girls age 15. Additional studies have foundlittle significant differences in speaking pitch between ages 15and 17, meaning that by this time, most girls have attainedadult vocal characteristics.1 The reason for the drop in phona-tion pitch is the growth that the larynx experiences. During thetime of adolescence, female vocal folds increase about three tofour millimeters in length, which is about a 25% size increase.

Not only does the laryngeal growth influence pitch, it alsoproduces a breathy sound in adolescent girls’ singing, which isusually a more noticeable result than the change in pitch. Mayand Williams suggest that breathiness is the result of “differinggrowth rates of muscle and cartilage during maturation.”2

Alderson claims that the vocal folds outgrow the surroundingmuscles, specifically the interarytenoid muscles, which thenstruggle to completely bring the folds together. The muscleshave become weakened due to their insufficient size in relationto the new cartilage growth, and thus result in incompleteglottis coverage.3

While physical growth happens at rates and times specific tothe individual, all female growth is induced by the increase ofprogesterone and estrogen hormones in the body. However,the presence of female hormones does more than inducegrowth; progesterone and estrogen actually promote cyclicvocal changes until the female individual has undergonemenopause. During the first phase of the menstrual cycle,known as the follicular phase, estrogen levels increase whilethe levels of progesterone lower. This combination of hormonelevels leads to a dilation of the nasal passages, which maymake it more difficult for singers to both produce and heara resonant sound. This could potentially lead to a breathiersound than normal. In addition, young girls may experiencean increase in reflux symptoms due to the slowed gastricmotility, and therefore, it is important for voice teachers toexplain healthy vocal hygiene practices, especially at this time.Abdominal cramps may be another circumstance that adoles-cent girls experience during the follicular phase. Due to the

1 William V. May, and BonnieBlu Williams, “The Girl'sChanging Voice,” Update:Applications of Research in MusicEducation 8, no. 1 (1989): 20–23.https://doi.org/10.1177/875512338900800105, 22.

2 May and Williams, “The Girl'sChanging Voice,” 21.

3 Richard Alderson, CompleteHandbook of Voice Training,Parker Publishing Company,1979.

she utilizes elements of herresearch to ensure that studentswork within a supportiveenvironment to gain an under-standing of healthy singing, anappreciation of world music, anddevelop literacy skills in order toacquire a life-long appreciation ofmusic. When she is not teaching,Emily enjoys making music andspending time with her family.


inexperience that girls have with dealing with this discomfort,cramps may potentially impair efficient phonation by interfer-ing with their ability to maintain breath support.4 Once theybegin to struggle with breath support, the girls are bound toexperience additional breathiness in their tone.

During the second phase of the menstrual cycle, the lutealphase, progesterone levels increase drastically, producing moreprogesterone than estrogen. The progesterone hormone pro-motes the production of viscous secretions on the laryngealepithelium, thus decreasing vibratory efficiency. Because thesecretions at this time are thick and sticky, the vocal foldscannot come together at their natural rate. When this happensin adolescent girls who do not yet have the singing techniquenecessary to encourage complete glottal closure, a breathier-than-normal sound may be produced.

In addition to physical and hormonal changes, adolescent girlsexperience emotional changes, often referred to as “the emo-tional rollercoaster.” Primarily, this stage of life is defined bypeer relations. Adolescents, both female and male, begin todevelop an attunement to social evaluation and have a strongdesire to be accepted by their peers.5 This brings many ques-tions to the forefront of the adolescent mind: do others likeme? Am I worthy of their attention? Adolescents seem to havea heightened awareness that others are watching them andforming judgements about themselves. Females, especially,associate this sense of judgement and belonging with physicalappearances and personal capabilities. If they do not meet acertain standard, they are likely to experience a decrease inself-esteem, and potentially, a growing sense of negative self-concept. For chorus teachers, this will also be a time whenencouraging good postural habits is crucial. Due to theincreasing awareness of bodily appearance, girls who havephysically developed at a more extreme rate than their peersmay have a tendency to hunch over to seem shorter, or extendtheir chest and neck to seem taller, both of which could poten-tially aggravate their breathy tone, induce breath managementstruggles, and teach poor postural habits.

In addition to singing ability, the singing culture does not gounaffected as girls begin their journey through puberty. Manygirls who take voice lessons or participate in choir identifythemselves as “singers.” They take great pride in this label,and soon it becomes part of their self-concept. So, of course,the changes in their voice affect them on a very personal level.Success on a musical level helps them develop positive feelingstowards themselves:

“My voice is becoming fuller and brighter. It’s the same atthe top and I have less trouble with low notes. I have moreconfidence in singing solos.” (Chrissie, 15 years old)

“I don’t think my voice sounds breathy. I think it hasbecome stronger. My confidence has grown because Ifeel I am getting better at singing.” (Katy, 15 years old)

4 Sameep Kadakia, DaveCarlson, and Robert T. Sataloff,“The Effect of Hormones onthe Voice,” Journal of Singing 69,no. 5 (2013): 571.

5 Leah H. Somerville, “TheTeenage Brain: Sensitivity toSocial Evaluation,” CurrentDirections in PsychologicalScience 22, no. 2 (2013): 121–27.https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721413476512, 122.


“My voice is higher, more mature, brighter, a bit strongerand doing the musical gave me confidence. I am moregrown up.” (Amy, 13 years old) 6

While every voice teacher would love to hear that theirstudents are becoming more confident as they experiencevocal success, vocal failures or shortcomings will also impactthe female adolescent self-image.

“So, I was trying to sing it and all of a sudden when I get tothe high point, I just lost my breath and I couldn’t go thathigh. And then the song comes back down and I tried tosing again and I couldn’t go back up that time. So I was justlike, ‘what’s wrong with me?’”(Maria, 9th grade)

“I usually carry most of my friends in singing and I’musually a very loud singer and not afraid to sing really loud.But on some of those notes that I can’t sing, it makes me feellike, ‘wow, I’m not doing anything to help when I shouldbe.’ It makes me feel helpless.” (Kate, 8th grade) 7

In these cases, the girls are ashamed of themselves for notbeing able to produce a tonally acceptable sound, despite thefact that they cannot control these occurrences. While long-term studies regarding the effect of these negative views arehard to find, one can imagine that this vocal inconsistencyand lack of vocal satisfaction can take a toll on a girl whoonce thought herself “a singer.”

Peer isolation is also a real agent of self-deprecation in adoles-cent girls. Because girls at this age are extremely conscious ofhow they “fit in,” feelings of isolation are commonplace.Given that the chorus setting is a naturally social place, it iseasy for girls to incorrectly assume that they are the onlyones struggling, resulting in a feeling of peer isolation.

“It’s just, it seems that sometimes I have to try to put alittle more effort into it than other people might.”(Julie, 12th grade)

“Yeah, ‘cause I don’t, ‘cause I… ‘cause nobody else’s voicedoes that. Like I haven’t heard it.”(Alysa, 7th grade) 8

The feeling of peer isolation could lead to a decrease in thestudent’s self-concept, especially if singing has been seen asone of their greatest strengths. Now, in adolescence, singinghas become something that they associate with humiliationand isolation, becoming the basic principle for failure. Mayand Williams describe a very realistic situation that a sociallyconscious singer may experience during adolescence:

The child receives praise from parents and peers for herlovely, light, silvery, vibrato-free singing voice. Vocalmutation begins and the girl notices that her voice issomehow different. She fixes the mouth, the abdomen,the posture, and the mind in the same way she always hasdone, but now a different, rather unpleasant sound filledwith breath and wobbles emerges. The uninformed girl

6 Susan Monks, “AdolescentSingers and Perceptions ofVocal Identity,” British Journalof Music Education 20, no. 3(2003): 243–56. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0265051703005424, 249 & 251.

7 Bridget Sweet, “The Adoles-cent Female Changing Voice:A Phenomenological Investi-gation.” Journal of Research inMusic Education 63, no. 1(2015): 70–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429415570755, 80.

8 Sweet, “The AdolescentFemale Changing Voice,” 81.


surmises that the voice she once had is lost… [and] never tobe regained. She feels uncomfortable enough with all theother physical and social changes and pressures which sheis experiencing and she wants to be recognized as an inde-pendent person. If the music teacher focuses exclusively onthis student's physical problems associated with her singingwithout attending to her psychological difficulties, then thatteacher risks alienating or discouraging the student. Thesimplest solution for this child is to remove herself fromthe circumstance or drop out of music class. As a result, abudding talent may be lost.9

Hence, the physical changes that a girl and her voice undergocan have deep-seated implications. In the scenario above, thechild has decided to abandon singing altogether because shesees herself as a failure. She will probably never sing again dueto an embarrassment and frustration that was never resolved.In the situation where the student continues to sing, she willcontinue to feel like an outsider until she recognizes that she isnot the only one struggling. A year after her comment above,Alysa wrote “I notice the other girls’ voices crack, so I don’tfeel as bad,” 10 but it was only when she realized that shewas not isolated from the group that her situation becameacceptable in her eyes.

Therefore, one of the most important things that a middleschool chorus teacher can do is talk to her female studentsabout the changes they are, or will be, going through. If theteacher opens up a conversation about these vocal changes,it will not be a source of embarrassment for the students, butrather can become a bond of commonality. Once girls under-stand that they are not the only ones struggling with phona-tion, they will become less quick to place themselves in isola-tion. Silvey also encourages music educators to use encourag-ing words in the classroom. When teachers acknowledge theeffort and bravery associated with trying something new,students will become less apprehensive towards using theirvoice. He also suggests giving the students time and space toexplore their vocal changes in a non-threatening situation. Inthis case, the teacher should affirm the student’s effort, butprovide no additional commentary. Allowing the studentstime to explore with each other demonstrates their similarities,and the teacher’s openness and understanding to theirpsychological situations.11

In terms of breathiness specifically, while it is not somethingthat can be avoided, there are approaches that music educatorscan take in terms of helping the female adolescent to control it.Once it is emphasized that the student is not alone in herexperiences, attempts can be made to “imagine out” thebreathiness. Since the idea of placement, as Huff-Gackle putsit, is “an illusion, a form of imagery” as is the idea of peerisolation, the teacher and student can work together to findan image which encourages freedom of sound and relinquish-

9 May and Williams, “TheGirl’s Changing Voice,” 22.

10 Sweet, “The AdolescentFemale Changing Voice,” 81.

11 Philip E. Silvey, “ReducingApprehensions of AdolescentSingers in Choral Classrooms.”Music Educators Journal 100, no.3 (2014): 53–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432113517719, 56.


ment of breathiness.12 However, there is no evidence thatthis is actually possible, and if the voice teacher attemptsthis with a student whom it is not working on, the studentmay express additional feelings of failure.

Given that breathiness is the result of weak muscles, itmakes sense that the voice teacher incorporates warmupsmeant to strengthen the adductor muscles. The use of longtone warmups will do this, especially if the sustained tonesbegin in the singer’s low register. Cottrell claims that byfirst engaging the TA muscle in the low register, “all regis-ters of the voice will be improved and strengthened.”13

When singers are asked to sustain a pitch, they are forcingtheir vocal folds to come together for a long period of time,and over time, they will get used to the feeling of completeclosure associated with the long tones. Pulsation exercisescan also be used to achieve the desired result. Alt suggestsa series of pulsation warm-ups that not only activate theepigastrium, but get the breath freely moving through thebody. These exercises primarily work to strengthen thestudent’s muscular breathing mechanisms.14 This works inachieving a more adult sound by encouraging air throughthe body. As the body of the female adolescent grows, shemust be taught that more air is now necessary to movethrough her larger body to produce a pleasant tone. Alt’sexercises gradually accustom students to this realization.

Breathiness in female adolescent voices is the result ofphysical, hormonal, and emotional changes associatedwith puberty. These changes are uncomfortable, confusing,and potentially harmful to a young girl’s identity as asinger. It is important for choral educators to understandthat breathiness is not necessarily something to “wait out,”as in the cases of mutational chinks but rather somethingto take by the horns and train out of the body. Whilebreathiness and other difficulties associated with adoles-cent changes cannot be stopped, if addressed properly,they can be hurried aside while also teaching the studentabout proper singing techniques. If not addressed prop-erly, breathiness can continue to become something thatcripples the self-concept of adolescent girls. They can growto believe that singing is not a talent of theirs, or that theyare different from everyone else—all because a chorusteacher never explained that these changes are normal anda sign of healthy growth. Chorus and voice teachers have aresponsibility to their students to explain these changes sothat passionate singers are not turned away out of shame.

12 Lynn Huff-Gackle, “TheYoung Adolescent FemaleVoice (Ages 11-15): Classifica-tion, Placement, and Develop-ment of Tone,” The ChoralJournal 25, no. 8 (1985), 18.

14 David Alt, “Misunder-standing Breath ‘Support’for Singers,” The ChoralJournal 30, no. 8 (1990), 35.

13 Duane Cottrell, “BuildingVocal Strength with SustainedTone Warm-Ups,” The ChoralJournal 56, no. 3 (2015), 78.


By way of apt titles, A Systematic Approach to Voice: The Artof Studio Application does not disappoint. Practical studioapplication is central to this book and obviously drives theauthor’s curation of strategies, vocalises, and images. Its toneand style are accessible. Dr. Ragan’s efforts to write from astyle-agnostic point of view suggest that she aspires to capturea broad readership.

Dr. Kari Ragan is an accomplished artist, academic, and sing-ing voice specialist (SVS). She maintains successful studiosboth independently and at the University of Washington,where she is the Artist-in-Residence at its School of Music. Shehosts a popular ongoing NATS Chats series, where she inter-views a broad range of voice stakeholder colleagues, and alsoworks as a clinician in master classes and voice workshops.She continues to present her research, which includes theevolution of a framework for evidence-based voice pedagogy(EBVP).1 This book distils the author’s 35 years of experienceteaching both classical and CCM genres.

Her book’s thesis is that there is an ongoing need to sharescientific principles of voice production with teachers whomay not yet understand how these principles apply to artisticsinging. It responds to this problem by translating science-informed principles into real, practical, repeatable exercisesto train our singing artists.

The core systematic approach of this book is sandwichedbetween an introductory pair of chapters and a concludingchapter that details eight warm-up routines tailored by gender,genre, and level of experience. Chapters Three through Sevenfollow the familiar divisions of the singing system (respiration,phonation, registration, articulation, and resonance) used byhistorical pedagogues García, Battaille, and others.2 Maleperspectives on the singing voice dominate our discipline, yethere women’s expertise is amplified. The book communicatesa sense of pedagogical lineage, invoking previous teachers’heirloom exercises (Lader, Doscher, Faull) contextualizedthrough the EBVP lens. Each chapter concludes with a much-appreciated Selected Resources section that effectively leaves ametaphorical trail of citation breadcrumbs for further reading.The book concludes with a handy Index.

A cardinal strength of this book is Chapter Four’s explorationof the features and benefits of semi-occluded vocal tractexercises (such as straws and water bubbles), with examples tofollow in the teaching studio. While this information alreadyexists in the greater body of voice pedagogy literature, Chapter

BOOK REVIEW: A Systematic Approach to Voice:The Art of Studio Application

by Kari Ragan

Review by Dann Mitton

KariRagan

1 Kari Ragan, “Definingevidence-based voice pedagogy:A new framework,” Journal ofSinging, 75, no. 2 (2018): 157-160.

2 Manuel García, École deGarcía: traité complet de l’art duchant, (Mayence, Paris: Schott,1840 (Teil 1), 1847 (Teil 2)).;Charles Amable Battaille,Nouvelles recherches sur laphonation, (Paris: VictorMasson et Fils, 1861).


Four on Phonation centralizes it into a convenient and acces-sible resource. In addition, kinesthetic singing tools (e.g. thebarre3 ball, the Flow-ball by POWERbreathe, and exercisebands) are reviewed and justified. Advocacy for thesekinesthetic singing tools comes with the sensible advice that“once long-term skill acquisition is achieved, the tools needonly be used as an infrequent reset.” (p. 5)

Chapter Five on Registration condenses traditional trainingfrom historical singing resources to present a sequence ofnineteen exercises beginning with secondo passaggio work andculminating in the messa di voce exercise. This chapter cansignificantly inform the teaching of someone without prioraccess to this information by serving as a helpful structure tounderpin explorations in registration for all levels.

Despite its position as a twenty-first century resource, thisbook’s twentieth century roots are showing. Chapter Four onPhonation might seem to suggest that the Bernoulli principleis still the foundational point of departure for moderndiscussions of vocal fold oscillation, but twenty-first centurythinking on fold oscillation and the voice source continues tomove our thinking forward, and is perhaps better served witha discussion of Chen’s 2017 monograph.3 A paraphrase ofHerbst and Švec’s 2014 conceptual model of gradual, finelycontrolled adjustments along two intersecting continua result-ing in four generalized phonation types (aBducted falsetto,aBducted chest, aDducted falsetto, and aDducted chest) cer-tainly belongs in Chapter Five’s discussion on Registration.4

Chapter Seven’s discussion of Resonance could be meaning-fully enhanced by paraphrasing Miller or Bozeman’s near-ubiquitous work on the interactions between harmonics andresonances of the vocal tract, rather than just referencing it ina callout box.5 This book joins the majority of recent voicepedagogy resources in perpetuating the use of the word“formant” as a shorthand for “resonance of the vocal tract,”when in fact the two are not strict synonyms. To capture thatnuance, it would be good to include a clarifying footnote ina future edition such as the one Bozeman offers.6 A welcomevisual aid in this chapter would be the inclusion of spectro-gram images to help explore what the spectral envelopemeans and how its graphic depiction of resonance representsthe singing voice. Hopefully a second edition will see theseelements filter through into the main text.

A recent claim in the voice pedagogy community perpetuatedhere is that the pharynx lacks the ability to expand.7 SLP KerrieObert (who contributed Figure 7-lI on p. 200), points out thatthree muscles of the pharyngeal wall (salpingopharyngeus,palatopharyngeus, and stylopharyngeus) participate in thedilation, shortening, and widening of the pharynx when themuscles contract.8 Admittedly, swallowing is not singing. Butthese muscles of the pharyngeal wall have not been convinc-ingly discounted as agents of a widening pharynx during

3 Julian C. Chen, Elements of HumanVoice (Singapore: Word Scientific,2017).4 Christian T. Herbst and Jan G.Švec. “Adjustment of GlottalConfigurations in Singing.”Journal of Singing 70, no. 3, 2014:301-308.5 Donald G. Miller, Resonance inSinging (Princeton, NJ: Inside ViewPress, 2008); Kenneth W. Bozeman,Practical Vocal Acoustics: PedagogicApplications for Teachers and Singers(Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press,2013).6 Bozeman, Practical Vocal Acoustics,11.7 “there are no muscles that ‘open’the throat for singing” p. 160.8 Personal communication withKerri Obert via Facebook Messenger,June 4, 2020; Willard R. Zemlin,Speech and hearing science: anatomyand physiology (Boston, MA: Allynand Bacon, 2008); Susan Standringand Susan Standring, Gray’s anat-omy: The anatomical basis of clinicalpractice; 42nd International edition(Elsevier Health Sciences, 2020).


the act of singing. Therefore, this claim may besomething to reconsider.

Like all voice pedagogy resources in our constantlyevolving discipline, this book contains some datedinformation. However, it falls squarely on the side ofmust-have resources that belong on the shelf of theinformed pedagogue due to its wealth of semi-occluded vocal tract exercise demonstrations and itssympathetic coverage of modern kinestheticsinging tools. Independent practitioners with goodfoundations in anatomy and physiology will benefitgreatly from the specificity in this book. It will make astimulating supplementary text for undergraduatepedagogy courses, as well as a worthy subject forcritical review in graduate-level literature surveys.

Voice teacher andresearcher DannMitton earned hisDoctor of MusicalArts in Performance(Voice) degree with aspecialization in voicepedagogy from theUniversity ofToronto. His workexamines theintersection betweenlow male voice

development and Russian lyric diction. A keenreader of voice pedagogy literature, he is inter-ested in how ongoing discoveries in appliedvocal acoustics can describe and demystify thekey elements of historical methods.

Dr. Mitton’s professional basso opera rolesinclude Angelotti, Don Alfonso, Bartolo,Rossini’s Basilio, the Commendatore, HardBoiled Herman, the Narrator in Britten’s PaulBunyan, Sarastro, Sparafucile, and Zaccaria.He is a proud alumnus of the Tanglewood MusicCenter, the Aspen Music Center, the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme, Jane Eaglen'sWagner Intensive, the Highlands OperaStudio, and Dolora Zajick’s Institute forYoung Dramatic Voices.

He is Vice President of the Ontario NATSchapter and created and co-moderates the NewForum for Professional Voice Teachers onFacebook. Our ubiquitous migration to onlinevoice teaching this year has meant that hisprivate studio now serves students in Canada,the US, and Europe.

Born and raised in Moncton, New Brunswickon Canada’s east coast, Dann and his husbandBob now share their east-end Toronto home withOwen and Conor: two giant, fluffy, ridiculousBernese Mountain Dogs. While they haven’tquite mastered barking in harmony yet, it is amusical family so it is only a matter of time.

dannmitton.com


Embracing and Taking Pridein Your Correlating Career

by Dana Lynne Varga

“If you can see yourself doing anything else, do that.” Soundfamiliar? All musicians have heard these words, and manyhave stopped pursuing a music career because of them. I’d liketo invite you to consider an amendment to this old chestnut:“If you can see yourself doing anything else, do that too.”

A correlating career is a career that runs alongside your singingcareer, which is ideally both lucrative and personally fulfilling.A correlating career is NOT:

A Plan BA Fallback

A Side HustleA Day Job

A Muggle Job

A correlating career can be in music…or not! Working in adifferent field does not make you less of a musician. In manycases, a non-musical correlating career means valuing themusical side of your life more, experiencing less burnout andkeeping the passion alive. Perhaps most importantly, a corre-lating career is something to be proud of, something to beembraced, not a source of shame or feelings of inadequacy orfailure. Having viable skills outside of performance providesfinancial security, peace of mind, and increased career fulfillment.

The professional singing world is more saturated andcompetitive than ever before. So listen up, because this isreally important: just about every professional singer has to haveadditional income streams for all or part of their career. This is theunfortunate reality in America in the 21st century. The systemicissues that got us here (and the massive changes needed to getus out of here) are a conversation for another day.

“The 1%” are elite opera singers at the highest level who makea very comfortable living singing full-time and may neverneed a correlating career. There are plenty of others, let’s callthem “The 5%,” who sing in A- and B-houses, and make a full-time living through singing. Many of these folks experiencelong dry spells without gigs, their life circumstances change,or they become burnt out from the demanding lifestyle. I havecolleagues who sing at the Met and have one, two or eventhree additional income streams including teaching, webdesign, real estate and life coaching.

The PipelineThe prescribed path to “success” for classical singers is what Icall The Pipeline. The Pipeline is still widely touted by institu-


tions and organizations around the country. We are toldthat in order to become a full-time professional singer,we must:

● Obtain both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree inVocal Performance, ideally from a top program;

● Begin auditioning for Young Artist Programs (YAPs)as early as junior year in undergraduate school, andcertainly by the middle of graduate school;

● Enter vocal competitions as young as age 21;

● Get several prominent YAPs and competitions onthe resume as early in the “emerging career” as pos-sible—it is at these programs and competitions wheremanagers will hear you and want to sign you, and/oryou’ll have enough experience and pedigree to beheard privately by prominent managers;

● Once signed, your manager will ensure you arehired consistently and you will have a wildlysuccessful full-time opera career!

Right! I would so love to get into why this is not effectivefor the vast, vast majority of singers, and empower youwith knowledge about the many different and wonderfulpaths to a career in classical singing that are available toyou—and talk about how even singers who shoot straightthrough The Pipeline often still end up struggling tomake ends meet. But this is beyond the scope of thispiece, so you’ll just have to check out some of my earlierwork, or come coach with me!

So what happens to the other 94% of singers? Unfortu-nately, a large percentage of them quit singing altogether.This is often due to having too much debt from musicschool to continue pursuing a career in singing (ironic,right? Yet another conversation for another day). Addi-tionally, there is a crazy amount of frustration, anger,shame and doubt that result from not being a Pipeliner.In other cases, the singer simply realizes that the lifestyleis not for them (because let’s face it, it is wickedly stressfuland complicated).

As for everyone else? They are figuring it out in theirown way. They are either independently wealthy, have apartner or family supporting them financially, or—youguessed it—they have correlating careers. And for themost part, they are ashamed of that fact. My job is tomake that stop.

This is where I point out that being a singer is really,really, really, really expensive. I highly recommend read-ing my colleague Zach Finkelstein’s article called “MillionDollar Voice” for all kinds of fun facts, figures and data.Please trust us on this: A correlating career will actuallyincrease your chances of staying in the singing game.


You’ll have the money to travel to auditions, pay for applica-tion fees (don’t get me started), have regular lessons andcoachings, maintain a website, and purchase audition andperformance clothing. You’ll be able to be choosier aboutwhich gigs you actually want to do. And you’ll have addedfulfilment from your secondary skill, and so your vocaltriumphs and failures will not define you (and failures arean inevitable part of the job).

Plan Ahead and Educate Them YoungIn 2021, singers truly must make a correlating career part oftheir career path mapping from the start, instead of scramblinglater on. Parents of teenage singers interested in a singingcareer especially need to be educated about the realities ofthe field, to help their kids navigate smart career planning. Ibelieve that voice teachers also have a responsibility to com-municate these realities to their young students (or send themto someone who can, if they do not feel equipped to do so). Itcan be very challenging to impress the importance of “boring,”pragmatic career planning upon young people with talent andstars in their eyes. But it has to be done. The younger thesinger is when they learn the cold, hard truth, the more likelythey are to have a fulfilling life in singing and correlating career(s).

To quote Sondheim, “Careful the things you say, children willlisten.” It is a great disservice to provide young people withoutdated, irrelevant career information, and/or informationstrongly based or influenced by a 1%-er’s experience. Between2012 and now, I have given career talks to over six hundredserious high school classical singers. I am in touch with a hugepercentage of them, and I can tell you with certainty that theinformation they were equipped with in high school had ahuge impact on their planning. Two of them whom I know ofare in the 1%. A dozen or two more are enjoying successfuljaunts through The Pipeline. Many have gravitated towardother fields altogether. The majority of them are in the processof cultivating their correlating careers, or living as professionalsingers with already established parallel career streams.

How does this even work? Let me address three elephants inthe room.

First: This is hard.I know what you’re thinking. How can I travel for singingwhen I’m tied down by another job? How can I go to an eight-week Young Artist Program without losing my job? How canI find the time to practice and perfect my craft as a performerwhen I’m distracted by some other job? How can I focus atwork when I am in tech week, rehearsing until midnight? Allgood questions. The key is choosing a correlating career that’sflexible and right for your needs. Time management, organiza-tion, self-care and vocal rest are also crucial to making thiswork. I am not saying it is always going to be easy. You’dbetter believe there will be weeks when you think “Am I


insane? Why am I doing this?” Well, you’re doing it becauseyou love to sing and you need to sing. And you also want to eatand pay your rent. And have health insurance. Essentially, youare your own patron.

Next: It is OK to not love your correlating career.Sometimes work is just work. Ideally, you derive somefulfilment from it. But listen, different strokes for differentfolks. For some, being personally invested in both the singingcareer and the correlating career is too much. They’d rather dowork that does not require them to be personally investedduring the day, and then pour all of their mental, emotional,and creative energy into their personal lives and their singingcareers. Great! You know you, so you do you. If you knowthat you need your correlating career to be personally fulfilling,you must plan it carefully and ensure that you are adequatelyqualified to find employment in your desired correlating field.

Last: It is OK to cycle through odd jobs and side hustles in yourquest to find your ideal correlating career.There is zero shame in working in retail or food service, cus-tomer service, driving for Lyft, delivering groceries, makingcoffee, providing childcare or anything else in the gig economy.Much of this type of work is essential, and a great contributionto our society! In some cases, folks find that they like the workenough and make enough money for it to be their long-termcorrelating career. If that is the case, I encourage anyonemaking minimum wage or thereabouts to work toward thenext pay level. This can happen by moving into managementpositions, always advocating for a raise, or applying for better-paying positions once you have a good amount of experience.

How Do I Figure Out What My CorrelatingCareer(s) Should Be?

Let me start by pointing out that private teaching is a go-tocorrelating career for professional singers, for obvious reasons.For me personally, this was an easy choice early on becauseI am extremely passionate about vocal pedagogy. I began aprivate voice studio when I was twenty, and have maintaineda full studio for almost twenty years now.

But a word of caution to would-be teachers: teaching is not foreveryone. A singer should only teach if they like it, if they’reeducated about vocal pedagogy, and if they are confidentthat they will help, not harm. A singer should not teach justbecause it is the most common correlating career and everyoneelse is doing it. Singers must realize that just because they singwell does not mean they are automatically equipped to teach well.Being able to do it is one thing, being able to teach it is verymuch another. I could go on about this for two pages, but I’mgoing to put a pin in it for now.

You must decide if your correlating career(s) will be in thesame general field (music/voice/arts), or in a completely


different field. There are plenty of excellent correlatingcareer options both inside and outside of the field ofmusic/voice.

The most important questions to ask when determiningyour ideal correlating career are:

● What is my skill set? What am I good at? What elsedo I love to do?● How many hours a week am I going to have towork in this correlating career?● Are the hours fixed, or do I make my ownschedule?● Can I do this work remotely, or do I need to bethere in person?● How flexible will this correlating career be when itcomes to my own auditions and gigs?● How taxing will this correlating career be on myvoice and body?● Am I entrepreneurial? Do I want to run myown business?

As with anything, there are clear positives and negativesto any career path. It is up to you to determine whetherthe pros outweigh the cons for any potential correlatingcareer. Here is a quick and dirty Pros and Cons List fromreal-life correlating careers I have encountered in mywork as career coach and lecturer:

CAREER POSSIBLE PROS POSSIBLE CONS

Private Voice Teacher LucrativeMake your own scheduleWork fewer hoursUse skills you’ve already acquiredImprove your own technique in the processVery flexible for gigs

K-12 Music Educator Benefits and stabilityConsistent, reliable payUse skills you’ve already acquiredOut by 3 or 4 PMPositively influence young peopleSummers off!

Professor in Higher Ed(Voice and/or related subjects)

Vocally taxingRequires business sense and organizationHard to enforce policiesInconsistent salaryRecruitment and retention requires a lot of time and attention

Vocally and physically taxingEarly morningsAdditional work required at homeVery limited flexibility for travel and gigs during school year

Lots of prep required for coursesMany extra requirements including committees and meetingsPay, especially for adjunct professors, often low.

Benefits and stability (if full-time; adjunct is variable)Gig flexibilityOpportunities for research, publishingSummers off!

74


Web Designer for Make your own scheduleWork remotelyHelp other musiciansLittle to no speaking/vocal energy required

Real Estate Agent Potentially lucrativeFlexible hoursFast-paced, interesting and varied workAffordable short-term licensing process (no degree required)

Massage Therapist LucrativeLittle vocal energy requiredFlexible hoursAffordable/short licensing process (no degree required)

Coding LucrativeLittle to no vocal energy requiredCan work remotelyCan get coding certification online

Arts Administrator Be in the room where it happens!Help work toward positive industry change!Utilize skills and knowledge you’ve already acquired

Fine Dining LucrativeGood social componentFlexibility for gigs (with advance notice)Yummy foodUpward mobility possible

Requires business sense, marketing, PR, etc.Time consumingUnpredictable and inconsistent paySecond correlating career likely needed

Tons of driving aroundUnpredictable and inconsistent hoursSometimes must be available at short noticeVariable income

Many hours on your feet; physically taxingVariable hours and pay

Boring and repetitiveLots of time at desk/on computerLimited upward mobility without degree in computer science

Long hours for low payDemanding and stressful work/ many jobs in oneOften take work home with youOften required at events outside of work hours

Vocally and physically taxingInconsistent incomeEvening hours likely required; may conflict with rehearsals/gigs

Musicians

CAREER POSSIBLE PROS POSSIBLE CONS

So What Do I Do About School?For those who plan ahead from a young age, it may bedetermined that a second degree/double major is re-quired in order to be qualified for the correlating career.Another option for college students is to major in thecorrelating career field and minor in music, being sure tostay as involved with the music department as possible.Then pursue plenty of musical opportunities andadditional training in the summers and post-graduation.


Contrary to popular belief, you do not necessarily haveto have a degree in music to become a professionalmusician. It really depends on how strong yourmusicianship is, how self-motivated you are and howdisciplined you are with practice. There is a lot you cando on your own if you have a plan and follow through.Singers interested in becoming K-12 music educatorsmay find that a music education major makes more sensethan a performance major, because they’ll still enjoymost of the perks of a performance major track but willgraduate with an extremely marketable degree.

Allow me to debunk a couple more common myths atthis juncture:

First, I assure you, it is absolutely possible to go tograduate school for music after completing an under-graduate degree in a different area of study! Also, gradu-ate school is optional. I promise. Again, this depends on theperson and his or her individual needs but there is norule requiring a singer to go to grad school for voice inorder to become a professional. And in 2021, the price tagof graduate school begs serious consideration beforeenrolling in a program just because you think you aresupposed to.

Second, a double major or non-music degree in under-grad may not be necessary for your potential correlatingcareer(s). Depending on where you go to college (if yougo to college), you can do a lot of correlating career prepsimply through elective courses. Most importantly,everyone should take at least an intro to business course. Ihope the why is obvious if you’ve read this far! If youknow that you are entrepreneurial and could see yourselfstarting a business, be sure to take additional business/marketing and accounting courses during undergrad.Learn how taxes work. Learn about economics. Samedeal for arts administration, if that is a path thatinterests you.

Third, if you are interested in becoming a life coach, loadup on psychology and sociology courses. Want to be avoice teacher? Take all possible vocal pedagogy courses(and those psych courses would come in handy too...)Do not assume that you will be able to work in highereducation as a voice teacher—prepare yourself for yourfuture independent private voice studio by, you guessedit, taking business/marketing/accounting courses.Interested in costume design? See if there is a course youcan take, or an internship possibility with the costumedepartment or a local theater/opera company.

Finally, hold space for the possibility that the correlatingcareer you thought you wanted doesn’t end up being the

Dana Lynne Varga is an accomplishedarts entrepreneur and performer and afierce advocate for musicians. She is theFounder and CEO of The EmpoweredMusician, Founder and Co-ArtisticDirector of MassOpera, and a sought-after classical singer, voice teacher, andcareer coach. In addition to maintaininga full private voice studio for over 15years, highlights of her teaching careerhave included seven years on the voiceand opera faculty at the BU TanglewoodInstitute, two years on the full-timevoice faculty at UMass Amherst andtwo years on the voice faculty at theNew England Conservatory Prep school.She is currently on the voice facultyat the Longy School of Music of BardCollege in Cambridge MA.

As career coach and lecturer, Dr. Vargauses her experience and knowledge tohelp musicians find and embrace theirauthentic career path and work towardfinancial security. She speaks for organi-zations and institutions across thecountry, with a focus on entrepreneur-ship, the many paths to a career inmusic, and how to build and maintaina private music studio. She publishesarticles frequently in Classical SingerMagazine as well as independently.

She regularly performs a wide variety ofrepertoire on opera and concert stages.Recently she made her Carnegie Hall


right fit. That is OK. The most important thing is that youdevelop multiple skill sets as well as knowledge about businessand finances.

Some Final Thoughts on Correlating CareersIf you’re coming to a correlating career after college orlater in life, great! As I said, many fields simply requirea certification process, which can be completed at anytime. You can always go back to school if another degree isrequired. You may find that you are already qualified toget started on your correlating career(s) right now. It’snever too late to start.

Not every singer will need a correlating career for life,but we all must be realistic about the income we canexpect from performing. A correlating career may wellbe what makes a continued singing career possible! Manysingers find themselves eventually choosing to make theircorrelating career their primary career. There are myriadreasons why someone would choose to stop focusing onperforming. You may find a decade from now that it’sactually your correlating career that has given you moresuccess, financial freedom, and satisfaction—and thisis OK.

Be proud of your correlating career. You are a multi-faceted, awesome human. Embrace what makes youunique, and carve out your own path in this crazyindustry during this crazy time. No shame, no shoulds.

Contact Dana Lynne Varga at www.theempoweredmusician.com.Those interested can book career coachings directly on theCareer Tab of this website and/or can submit a booking forspeaking engagements on the Speaking Tab of the site.

debut as soprano soloist in Haydn’sLord Nelson Mass with Mid-AmericaProductions. Dana’s 2019 appearance asPallas Athene in Gluck’s rarely heardParide ed Elena with Odyssey Operagarnered critical acclaim.

Other recent notable engagementsinclude Beethoven’s Missa Solemniswith The Cantata Singers, Beethoven’sNinth Symphony with the WellesleySymphony and Mozart’s Great Mass inC Minor with Coro Allegro. Favoriteoperatic roles performed include Musettain La bohème, Fiordiligi in Così fantutte, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene,Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Micaëla inCarmen, Hanna Glawari in TheMerry Widow, and the title role inHandel’s Alcina.

Dana Lynne Varga won the SecondPlace American Prize for Art Song andOratorio in 2019 and was the First PlaceWinner of the professional division of thenational Classical Singer Competition in2016. She holds the Doctor of MusicalArts (DMA) degree in Vocal Perfor-mance from Boston University, an MMin Vocal Performance from the NewEngland Conservatory, and a BM inVocal Performance from UMassAmherst.

www.danavarga.comwww.massopera.com

NYSTA Jan-Feb 2021...Diane Aragona at [email protected] We hope that you are staying well and wish...

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