Page 78 - Classical Singer magazine 2019 Fall University Issue

FINDING THE RIGHT UNIVERSITY
VOICE TEACHER FOR YOU
BY PETER THORESEN
Don’t roll the dice this fall with your private voice teacher selection. The research and contact you make will have a lasting impact.
One of the truly great bene ts of studying voice at the collegiate/ conservatory level is the voice teacher/student relationship. Outside of applied private instruction, be it vocal or instrumental, there are far fewer degree paths that o er such an abundance of ongoing and weekly one-on-one time with an instructor. These teachers very frequently occupy positions of mentorship in the life
of a student, through undergraduate studies and beyond.
As in any relationship, issues of incompatibility and di erences of opinion
between student and teacher can arise. The aim of this article isn’t to directly address such potential roadblocks between the two, but rather to dig deeper into the process of nding the right teacher to bypass potential impediments to optimal training. Whether you’re preparing to begin your rst year
of college or continuing your studies in
a master’s degree, performer diploma, or doctoral or post-doctoral program, the decision to choose and/or continue with a voice teacher is critical.
There are some vocal performance programs in which preference or choice of
78 Classical Singer | September/October 2019