Small Group Singing Lessons: Royal Conservatory of Music - Level 1

LEARNING GOALS
-Repertoire (including a foreign language selection) 
-Master four technical exercises 
-Replicate rhythmic and singing patterns 
-Identifying and singing the major and minor 3rd intervals 
-Identifying major and minor triads 
-Level One rhythm and sight reading 
-RCM Exam preparation 

Sarah has been teaching private and group voice lessons for 20 years and is a Royal Conservatory of Music Elementary Certified Voice Instructor.  She holds a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Performance. 

Prior to teaching in Chicago, Sarah taught undergraduate voice at Belmont University working with CCM (contemporary commercial musicians), Bluegrass and Country singers, and was the head of the voice department at the Metropolis Performing Arts School in Arlington Heights.   

    Sarah’s students include singers of all ages and levels from beginners to touring members of Broadway In Chicago musicals, as well as commercial and recording artist. Her students have performed at The Goodman Theater, Second City, and as leads in musicals and operettas in the greater Chicagoland area. Sarah has prepared high school students who have auditioned for and been accepted to nationally recognized performing arts schools and conservatories for both classical voice and musical theater.  

    For eight years, Sarah was a teaching artist  with The Lyric Opera of Chicago's OperaKids!  program. This year long residency in Chicago public schools focuses on integrating opera into age appropriate curriculum. During this program, Sarah produced and directed an opera written by the students during this residency, as well as Stone Soup, an opera commissioned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago. 

    As an instructor of musical theater, Sarah co-founded two training programs: The Chicago Broadway Studio, an avenue for training young singing actors, and The Broadway Vocal Arts Summer Intensive Program for college students.

    A member of the National Association for Teachers of Singing, Sarah served on the board for six years as co-chair for the Musical Theater competition and as an adjudicator for both musical theater and classical competitions. She was awarded a National Association for Teachers of Singing Independent Teacher Fellowship in 2011. 

   Sarah has also been trained as a Level II Singing Voice Specialist (SVS). As a SVS, she is skilled in singing voice therapy principles and planning, techniques for singing behavior change, and principles in therapeutic songs, and holistic methods for preventing vocal re-injury.  In addition to singing training, Sarah has also studied human anatomy and physiology to fully understand how our muscles function and the breathing process during the singing.

Students will be given weekly homework assignments to practice what we've learned in class. Students may wish to review the lesson video as practice. 

Students will have access to piano accompaniment for their songs with their book. 

Students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they have learned each week.

45 minutes per week in class, and an estimated 0 - 1 hours per week outside of class.

We will use the Royal Conservatory of Music Prep level book. 
-Students should download the piano accompaniment (free access with purchase of the book) to practice the songs at home.