A Center for Singing

Lineage

I studied voice with 3 different teachers in the San Francisco Bay area: Michael Morris, Dorothy Barnhouse, and Hannah Jo Smith. These teachers were associated with my matriculation at Holy Names College, and the period directly after my graduation (1980 – 1988). They taught me to sing in the classical style.

My present orientation in vocal pedagogy is derived primarily from my more esoteric studies with Jürgen Schriefer (periodically in the years 1991-1994) and Christa Waltgen (2002); and secondarily from work with Wolfgang Strübing (1997) and Christiane Boele (1999 & 2003). All of these teachers are working out of the “School for Uncovering the Voice” - the lifework of Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström (1879 – 1972), which approaches tonal production from a spiritual perspective, as opposed to the more prevalent anatomical viewpoint offered in most college music departments.