Coaching
What is a singing coach’s job?
A singing coach’s job is to guide the client towards discovery, rather than dictate a methodology. Coaching encourages the client to be self-directed. A coach’s job is to offer various problem-solving solutions so that the client can make their own choice about what works for them. Coaching usually occurs in a professional context.
Where I coach…
Coaching at the Stratford Festival:
Since 2014 I have been the resident singing coach on the internationally recognized coaching team at the Stratford Festival, I have had the privilege of working with Canada’s most celebrated theatre performers and practitioners. Thus far I have coached vocal music in 37 Stratford productions of plays and musicals.
In my role as the resident singing coach at the Stratford Festival I work closely with the Head of Music, as well as with the conductors, composers and arrangers of music for the plays. I have collaborated with creative teams to adapt music, and have coached musical texts in Latin, German, French, English and Italian, and in many diverse musical genres ranging from Gregorian chant and liturgical music to operatic excerpts and contemporary musical theatre. The wide variety of musical challenges in this work at the Stratford Festival are continually new, interesting and rewarding.
The openness and willingness to experiment, collaborate, and explore new ideas is what makes my work with actors so fulfilling. This work continues to inspire me and influences my teaching at all levels of musicianship.
Coaching at the Birmingham Conservatory:
Since 2016 I have been a member of the coaching team in the Birmingham Conservatory.
In this elite training programme for young artists at the Stratford Festival, I work with actors in a series of group singing workshops, as well as in 1:1 sessions throughout the season. Through this work it is my responsibility to build competence and confidence in the foundational musical skills and singing abilities of each actor. I work to demonstrate a reciprocity between the benefits of singing technique and the spoken text work of these actors.
Vocal coaching
Date, Position, Production, Department, Institution
2023 - 2024, Singing Coach, Romeo and Juliet, Music, The Stratford Festival
2023 - 2024, Singing Coach, Twelfth Night, Music, The Stratford Festival
2023 - 2024, Singing Coach, Cymbeline Music, The Stratford Festival
2023 - 2024, Singing Coach, Something Rotten, Music, The Stratford Festival
2023 - 2024, Singing Coach, La Cage aux Folles, Music, The Stratford Festival
2022 - 2023, Singing Coach, Rent, Music, The Stratford Festival
2022 - 2023, Singing Coach, Spamalot, Music, The Stratford Festival
2021 - 2022, Singing Coach, Chicago, Music, The Stratford Festival
2021 - 2022, Singing Coach, Death and the King’s Horseman, Music, The Stratford Festival
2021 - 2022, Singing Coach, Richard III, Music, The Stratford Festival
2021 - 2022, Singing Coach, Hamlet, Music, The Stratford Festival
2021 - 2022, Singing Coach, Little Women, Music, The Stratford Festival
2021 - 2022, Singing Coach, Individual tutorials, Birmingham Conservatory
2020 - 2021, Singing Coach, Outdoor Cabaret Series, Music, The Stratford Festival
2020 - 2021, Singing Coach, I Am William, Music, The Stratford Festival
2018 - 2019, Singing Coach, Billy Elliot, Music, The Stratford Festival
2018 - 2019, Singing Coach, Little Shop of Horrors, Music, The Stratford Festival
2018 - 2019, Singing Coach, Othello, Music, The Stratford Festival
2018 - 2019, Singing Coach, Private Lives, Music, The Stratford Festival
2018, Singing Coach, The Hockey Sweater, Music, The National Arts Centre
2017 - 2018, Singing Coach, The Music Man, Music, The Stratford Festival
2017 - 2018, Singing Coach, The Rocky Horror Show, Music, The Stratford Festival
2017 - 2024, Singing Coach, Singing Workshops, The Birmingham Conservatory
2016 - 2017, Singing Coach, H.M.S. Pinafore, Music, The Stratford Festival
2016 - 2017, Singing Coach, Guys and Dolls, Music, The Stratford Festival
2016 - 2017, Singing Coach, The Madwoman of Chaillot, Music, The Stratford Festival
2016 - 2017, Singing Coach, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Birmingham Conservatory
2015 - 2016, Singing Coach, A Chorus Line, Music, The Stratford Festival
2015 - 2016, Singing Coach, A Little Night Music, Music, The Stratford Festival
2015 - 2016, Singing Coach, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Music, The Stratford Festival
2015 - 2016, Singing Coach, Shakespeare in Love, Music, The Stratford Festival
2014 - 2015, Singing Coach, The Sound of Music, Music, The Stratford Festival
2014 - 2015, Singing Coach, Carousel, Music, The Stratford Festival
2014 - 2015, Singing Coach, The Diary of Anne Frank, Music, The Stratford Festival
2013 - 2014, Singing Coach, The Man of La Mancha, Music, The Stratford Festival
2013 - 2014, Singing Coach, Crazy for You, Music, The Stratford Festival
2013 - 2014, Singing Coach, Mother Courage, Music, The Stratford Festival
2013 - 2014, Singing Coach, King John, Music, The Stratford Festival
2011, Singing Coach, Billy Elliot, Music, Mirvish Productions