I love the word "encourage." At its root, the word means to "make strong, hearten," to "see heart."​

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I have been teaching voice since 2012. If you're looking for a personal guide for you or your child, I'd love to hear from you. Voice teaching and coaching is always a part of my life and I love the journey of discovery and trust that is intrinsic to the exploration of voice.  

 

Music has lead me through many adventures of song and business - moving abroad to teach music in the highlands of Guatemala, beginning and growing a beautiful non-auditioned middle school boys choir, opening a brick and mortar community voice studio dedicated to the art and craft of the human voice in the heart of Charlottesville, VA, and later turning the studio into a thriving community health and wellness center. After sitting with some big questions of organizational management around voice and community (like it's simple but it's not), in the past year I have found myself working with climate change scientists in an organization that is showing me how complex organizations can be effectively lead with a collaborative ethos. Truly divine unfolding that led me to the midwest and higher ed administration. 

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Like anyone I am guiding through voice, letting my voice and song lead is an ongoing personal devotion and adventure in faith and joy.

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Amidst this rather prolific and full last decade, my teaching has been impacted by the life's work of a friend and colleague: The Five Relations, a rearrangement and distillation of Alexander Technique and The Art of Breathing into five simple counterbalance relations in the body. This framework simplifies voice teaching and invites the whole body into the conversation in a precise and playful manner. She and I created an online curriculum for singers.

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I have a deep appreciation for the intersection of athletics and voice and both setting young people up for a healthy athletic/musical career and helping adults connect the dots between their whole lives and nurturing the sacred gift that is their voice. Creating a language and spacious practice around stewardship of your gift as you move through your busy life is something that I love seeing singers embrace. I've been having fun in the past couple of years exploring movement through the Tracy Anderson Method - a program that focuses on accessory muscles and constantly changing sequences - and lately incorporating a little more dance in my life. It's only the last 200 years that voice and dance have been separated so it feels important to nurture these body and brain pathways in adult lives full of sitting. 

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I usually stay plugged into some variation of church music ministry, and have also served as a music minister. I studied vocal performance and choral conducting at the University of Virginia and I do my best to serve the music and remain flexible, allowing it to take me into other spaces.

 

I'm in love with Guatemala and have lived there for a few years, always enjoying the sunshine, fruit, speaking the language, walking everywhere and perhaps most importantly - easy and natural connection to people. These things are medicine for the soul and voice and I'm always trying to find these elements where possible in daily living here stateside.

 

My studio is virtual and where possible, I'm always happy to arrange to meet in person.

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I look forward to hearing your voice!