Step Up Vocal Performance Academy

After many years of producing very successful singers both privately and in groups I have decided to start my Vocal academy. After our successful appearance on “Don't Stop Believing” recently, I have created a course to develop singers in a solo and ensemble capacity. The course will be diverse and challenging. It will aim to prepare students for college auditions such as the Guildhall, Mountview, Guildford, Trinity etc but will also be a fun course for those who simply love to sing without necessarily wanting to have a career as a singer.

The idea behind The Step Up Vocal Performance Academy is to focus on singing but include drama and movement as an extension of what is done in the singing class. For example, if we do a Glee song, it will be set as a visual performance. The same will apply to solo performances. I will be inviting professionals from West End shows to set numbers from various musicals. I will also have song writing workshops to try and encourage singers to write their own music. We will also do group vocal exams in Musical Theatre, Pop and Classical with Trinity Guildhall, Rock School and London College of Music.

Auditions: There will be a short audition for this course. All those who audition will be asked to perform 1 song of their own choice in any style.

Vocal Classes:

• Learn about vocal technique and develop tone, strength, breath control, interpretive skills and much more.

• Work on presentation & audition technique.

• Develop Repertoire by learning about different styles & eras of music. Too many singers sing Musical Theatre the same way they sing Classical Music or Pop music.

• Feel confident about singing so you can take those opportunities to audition.

• The course is appropriate whether you’re at a local level within your school, theatre, music group or operatic society or for professional film, TV and theatre.

• Classes for teenagers & adults will work to develop and consolidate strong musicianship alongside sound vocal technique to enable you to use your own voice with confidence and style!

Course:

The aim of the course is to incorporate the following over a number of weeks:

• Vocal technique: How to strengthen the voice and increase range

• Ensemble work: Learning to sing in parts. This will be in Musical Theatre, Classical, Glee style, and arrangements of pop songs

• Solo singing: Making the right choices and learning to make the most of a solo performance; Audition preparation and presentation: How to 'lead' your audition pianist; Coping with unfamiliar and different audition venues; Positive thinking under stress & controlling nerves; Singing unaccompanied; Shortening songs for auditions (i.e. verse & Chorus); how to finish songs that don’t have an ending; microphone technique

• Song writing: Learning to write your own music and develop your own style. Making collaborations within the group

• Working with different professionals setting songs from West End Musicals

• Group and solo exams in Trinity Guildhall, Rock School and London College of Music. Exams are not essential and many people simply don’t want to do them and so exams are not compulsory within the course. However, exam syllabus these days are very wide-ranging with a huge range of fabulous music to choose from and if properly prepared there should be very little to worry about.

  The positive aspects of exams are that they give a real focus and purpose to practice. An exam is also a Performance Opportunity. Working on pieces for exams also means you have prepared pieces ready for audition, festival classes or concerts

• There will be dance and drama as part of the course. Songs will be set in context if appropriate or simply set to movement so all singers learn to be able to sing with movement

• Showcases will be organised for the general public to increase your profile

Professional Choir

I am constantly being asked to provide professional choirs for corporate work and so will be developing this as part of the course. The numbers in the choir will vary depending on the job