I haven’t been one of those teachers who likes to share her student’s performances because to me, it always seems a little bit ego-centered. Teachers out to “show” what they’ve done with their students. And, truth is, everyone progresses at a different rate and I never want a student who is coming along at their own pace to feel that they have to rush and “catch up.” I want my students to feel that wherever they are, so long as new skills are developing and bad habits are being forgotten, they are on the right track and that’s all that matters.

However, I have decided to share this one performance from my student, Louise Carrozza, at Teachers College, Columbia University, Musical Serenades, from last week. Because she was so happy with her work and wanted to share her joy. So I feel I should too. And, perhaps I’ll start sharing more from my students in the future. I just want to always do it from a place that is about and for my students.

For pedagogical context (since this site is about voice work), we worked roughly 6 weeks together. Louise came to me concerned with a disconnect in her upper passaggio (approximately C#5-E5) where it thinned out and squeezed, and she had trouble connecting to her voice above it (starting around F5 and above). Also we needed to reorganize her approach to consonants so they would not interrupt vowel space. We worked on alignment and better onset as well as staying connected down in the body. This song really shows how much she managed to incorporate in a short time. I’m proud of the work she did this summer!