About Celia

Welcome to the website for LaDolceDiva Voice Studio. My name is Celia Castro. I am a classically trained soprano and a voice teacher with 20+ years teaching singers and speakers from at all levels in all styles from pop to opera.

I understand the work and dedication it takes to continue to sing over a lifetime and my teaching helps singers use their voices as easily and efficiently as possible so that they can enjoy all the other things that go into performing! I am particularly interested in working with older singers because my experience and training have given me the tools and knowledge to help these voices. I understand that a voice can make wonderful changes with proper training and proper care, regardless of age.

Formal Education

My formal musical and vocal training started at the HS of Music and Art, then Mannes College of Music. I then received a private study grant which allowed me to study in Italy with Rita Patane. Also with the late Shirlee Emmons, Bill Riley, Randolph Michelson (a bel canto scholar and collaborator of Joan Sutherland’s), Neal Goren and David Jones. I would say that the bulk of my early development happened during this time.

Eventually I did finish my undergrad at Rutgers where I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Music and Psychology. Then in 2022 I received a Masters in Music and Music Education at Teachers College Columbia University, where I added a wider breath to my teaching skills.

Hands on Application

I have amassed a wide range of vocal exercises and techniques which I use on a case-by-case basis, depending on what I think the singer in front of me needs. Much of what I teach has been formed from working with some of the most diverse and knowledgeable Masters in the vocal arena. For instance, I had the pleasure and honor of working with bel canto genius, Randolph Michelson, before he passed away. I spent a couple of years soaking up the very sage Lindquist advice from David Jones, and still use many of his exercises personally and in the studio. I worked with Bill Riley, who was Deborah Voigt and Heidi Skok’s teacher, and with him I learned more about the science of voice and how exercises we used in the studio could be used with proper pedagogical adjustments across different singing styles in voices. Along the way, I kept all of the exercises I was ever given. Some did not apply to me, but over time I studied their practical applications and saved them. These are exercises I now share with my own students.

Current trends in the studio

Most recently, I have spent some time working and adding to my body of knowledge with Susan Eichhorn Young, who is an absolutely masterful pedagogue. Despite my years of study, she has shared even more new-to-me effective and beneficial exercises which have enriched my own singing and which I am sharing with my students because they work. I am forever learning and paying it forward.

I also work quite a bit with Dr. Bradley Williard, out of University of North Carolina, who has helped me organize and distill my lifetime of information into a more organic and holistic approach. He has studied the connection between trauma and the voice and how to help singers heal their voices by addressing trauma. Adding this knowledge to my psychology training, enables me to help singers navigate, not only their technique, but also to negotiate any traumas which may be blocking their progress. I do not consider myself a “therapist” and I do not attempt to be one. But I do find that singers make significant vocal breakthroughs when they are being seen as whole person, and not only as a singer.

The Main Takeaway

I bring a lifetime of my own vocal journey, stage experience, and gathering of knowledge. I may not have taken a straighforwared approach in finding my own voice, but this is why my teaching is fluid, flexible, and highly customized for each person. I truly understand that no two voices will learn concepts in the same way. I have a deep well to draw from in my teaching and I consider each singer as a work of art in formation. I take that very seriously.

But also… we laugh a lot in my studio. The number one thing I tell my singers is even as they are toiling and focusing, they should always take time to sing for the sheer pleasure of it.

I hope if you made it all the way down to here, that you now feel a desire to sing out… not for “perfection”, but because the voice is already a perfect instrument and you are always free to make a joyful noise. <3 “Sing for joy!”