About my teaching

Singing is part of the human heritage. Just like speaking or walking, every human being brings theability to sing into the world. The positive and powerful effects of singing for body, mind and soul has been underlined by years of research. Best of all, should singing skills be lost due to lack of care or use, they can be found again with expert guidance.

It is my goal to show each student ways to discover and open up their own abilities so that they can sing beautifully, with self-confidence and, above all, joy. In our lessons I aim to introduce each student to their own "personal musical instrument": the voice.. My theoretical and methodological foundation is based on current research and findings in vocal methodology and vocal physiology.

My voice students are quite heterogeneous: from young people who are just starting to explore their voices; older people who want to keep their voices fit as they age; people who are preparing for their musical studies; practicing singers, choir directors and actors.

I have successfully prepared numerous students for entrance exams for voice as a major (classical, musical and as a major subject in school music) and as a minor subject. Currently, alumni of mine study in Berlin, Halle and Mainz; sing in Dresden, Boston and Berlin and are independently active in musical life.

Because of the great variation among my voice students, my own continuing education as a singer and teacher is important to me. For this purpose I have not only intensively studied conventional classical singing methods (MA, Washington University; SMP, HdK Berlin), but also functional voice training in both the Lichtenberg and Rabine methods. My artistic interests, grounded in the canon of classical repertoire, have broadened to include historical performance practice, jazz and klezmer. These have significantly expanded my conception of singing. Simultaneously and complementary to this comes work wit the Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais and the breathing technique according to Middendorf.

My groups have been awarded the Hessen State school theater prize, the Rheingau-Taunus Integration prize, and the "Initiative and Performance" grant from the Hessen State Bank. My private students regularly win state and national prizes in Germany's major music competition "Jugend Musiziert". They have gone on to win scholarships in their own right to attend the Munich, Frankfurt, Mainz and Berlin University of the Arts in musical performance, the Rockefeller Foundation Vocal Scholarship at tne University of Chicago, and most recently the Tangelwood Festival Chorus

Here are two who are performing on their own:

Efti Tade, Composer, Performer and Producer                    .Cat Olea, Jazz, Latin and good vibes