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“Kathleen has helped so many vocal students to gain knowledge and confidence in this fickle business”. (Dame Sarah Connolly)
“Kathleen is an inspiring teacher with an impressive track record of success. As a talent spotter and developer of potential she is second to none” (John Wallace), Former Principal of RCS
” Kathleen is without doubt a first class pedagogue with much to say about the art of singing” (Alexander Oliver, Tenor and former Principal of the Amsterdam Opera School)
I have loved my own “singing journey”. It has been hard at times but also wonderful. I have taken risks, travelled the world, and am now supremely content. I love my job. I love the music and the poetry. I love the collaboration between singer and pianist. I would like to think that I am carrying on the legacy of those who have gone before and sincerely hope that in my own way now, I can make a difference in my small corner.
My first teaching job, 30 years ago, was at the Junior School of the RCM in London while I was still a student, then subsequently at the Purcell School, St Paul’s Girls School, Beadales, Frances Holland and Dollar Academy. All of this has been an invaluable learning process for myself as I have honed and developed my own teaching experience and style. Over the years I have taught students of all voices, from all backgrounds and with varying degrees of musical expertise and vocal prowess.
VOCAL HEALTH AND SPECIAL NEEDS
Over the years I have learned a lot about teaching students with dyslexia, dyspraxia, physical disabilities and other special needs. I have come to love these challenges and the immense rewards that accompany them when a student blossoms and flourishes in ways that neither they, nor I, thought possible. Sadly, some singers have walked into my studio either burnt out or with nodules and I have been entrusted with the awesome and sensitive task of rebuilding several damaged voices. In these circumstances I have been acutely aware of the huge amount of trust invested in me by these students who come in a very vulnerable state and I have felt the responsibility hugely. Although often daunting, this painstaking process of diagnosis and rehabilitation is hugely rewarding when one sees these damaged voices (and often damaged people!) return to good vocal health and confidence and, in some circumstances, begin a very successful singing career. Again in situations like these there is no substitute for taking things slowly.