FIND YOUR BEST VOICE: Study voice with Dr. Craig Price
Rates and Additional Policy Information:
My Teaching Philosophy:
As a voice teacher, I seek to develop a level of trust with my students that allows for me to help each student find their most healthy and sustainable vocalism through the attentive pursuit of their most natural voice. We will seek to unleash the power of their own individual voice without any type of unnecessary manipulation, as well as gaining an understanding of the qualities of the singer’s voice that are most natural and make them unique. We will build on these qualities through the comprehensive study of vocal technique and aspects of voice performance which will give them the solid foundation and confidence they need to pursue a professional level of singing in their respective career, whether it be through education, performance, conducting, music therapy, or worship.
Through my teaching I seek to inspire and encourage a dedication and a discipline necessary to develop the fine-tuned attention to details that are required to achieve success in the craft. I believe in setting both short and long term attainable goals for growth and development as a musician and artist, and regularly assessing these goals together. We will not only focus on the foundations of vocal technique (breath management, phonation, tone quality, clarity) in pursuit of these goals, but will also hold them to high standards in terms of musical accuracy, diction, physical presentation, and musical and dramatic interpretation. All these things will be part of our regularly discussed and assessed goals.
Lastly, it is my belief that you can only truly grow as a performer by stepping out of the voice studio and putting these skills we are developing into practice. I believe regular performance opportunities are crucial in developing into a professional level performer and will encourage students to pursue as many opportunities as possible to perform. I will provide regular opportunities through a weekly studio performance class and regularly scheduled studio recitals. I will also encourage students to audition and perform on school sponsored recitals and productions, as well as audition for and even create their own performance opportunities in the community.
Craig's Training:
DMA Voice Performance, University of South Carolina
MM Voice Performance, Manhattan School of Music
BM Voice Performance, Furman University
Voice Instruction with Myra Cordell, Trudy Fuller, Neil Rosenshein, and Jacob Will
Vocal Coaching with Kenneth Merrill, Cristina Stanescu, Lisa Hasson, and Lynn Kompass
Opera studies with Gordon Ostrowski, Dona D. Vaughn, and Ellen Douglas Schlaefer
Regular Rates:*
Half Hour- $35
45 minutes- $40
Hour- $55
*Now offering a buy one, get one free special for new students through 9/30/21. Email today to reserve your spot!
Ages 8-13
I offer basic lessons in beginner piano, theory, rhythm, pitch matching, and a basic healthy vocal technique. This is perfect for a young child with a talent that wants to develop a strong foundation for future growth in vocal performance.
Ages 14- Adult
I offer private lessons with a strong emphasis on building a strong and healthy vocal technique, as well as developing strong performance skills. These students will build a strong musicianship and performance value through development of pieces to be performed in the community and on studio recitals. Beginning students typically start with a half-hour lesson and move on towards hour lessons as they progress in their study.
Audition Preparation
Some high school students preparing to enter college may be interested in taking a limited number of coachings to prepare for scholarship auditions at prospective colleges. I offer one hour sessions which focus on basic technique improvements, bringing pieces to life in performance, and coaching in audition skills that will give you added confidence to achieve success on your audition day.
Enrollment and Payment Policy
When signing up for lessons you are committing to a weekly appointment for the duration of the semester in which you are signing up for lessons. Tuition for lessons can be paid in one of two different ways. You can choose to pay in full at the beginning of the semester for the entire semester, or you can opt to be billed monthly for payment due at the 1st lesson of the each month during the semester. Failure to pay in full for the month by the 7th of the month will result in a $10 late fee. Payment can be made in the form of cash or personal check. If your personal check is returned for any reason, you will be billed for the $12 fee that is charged to me by Chase Bank. I do realize that sickness and other unexpected circumstances may arise. For that reason I’ve built in “make-up” dates into the semester schedule, where you will have the option to make up any lessons missed during the course of the semester. Please make arrangements for the make-up lesson with Craig individually, as they will be on a first come first serve basis. I will also offer openings due to cancellations to the entire studio for make-up lessons. For that reason, if you are going to cancel, please give 48 hours notice so that I have time to offer the opening to another student as a make-up.
Tuition must be paid whether you attend or not, as my time is contracted to each individual student for the dates as promised above. Tuition pays not only for the lesson but for expenses such as time spent planning, photocopies, practice recordings, keeping my music library up-to-date, time spent researching and planning community performances and other audition opportunities, as well as time spent studying new teaching techniques and professional standards.
Students are expected to arrive on time for lessons. If you arrive late you may miss that portion of your lesson in order for the studio to remain on time.
If students are not making adequate progress, they may be asked not to continue at the end of a semester. Students may go through difficult periods while learning and perfecting their performances. That is a normal experience for musicians at all levels. Parents are encouraged to call or email with any concerns or questions they may have regarding a student’s progress.
If the student chooses to discontinue lessons, a two- week notification is expected to allow time for their spot to be filled. If a student is a no-call, no-show for two consecutive weeks it will be assumed that they are forfeiting their spot to someone on the waiting list. If the student should choose to return, they will be required to wait for the next available opening. Frequent cancellation will also result in being asked to leave the studio.
To gain a better perspective of this policy, I encourage you to read the following article:
http://ottawasuzukistrings.ca/makeuplessons
