LEAD
ABOUT
LEAD
Our passion for teacher education is fueled both by a proximity to the current methods of teacher training and the drive to improve upon them. Through a series of fortunate events, both of us have acquired terminal degrees in our field. Jared has an MFA in Musical Theater Voice Pedagogy and Joey a Ph.D in Music Education for Musical Theater Voice Pedagogy. However, our journeys to get there were not exactly straight forward. That is why, when we were asked the question: “What educational steps do I take to become a voice teacher?” by aspiring teachers, we struggled to find a clear answer. So we made it our mission to find—really create— one.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to make the journey to studying vocal pedagogy more straightforward (and much less expensive). We aim to provide educational resources for teachers that are focused on how teachers learn. Whether you are just getting started, looking to build your studio, or are looking to grow your toolbox, we aim to offer courses filled with both immediately applicable teaching strategies and information which inspires continued reflection
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
We start by focusing on what voice teachers currently know, what information is necessary to get started, and what information fuels their continued growth.
Our educational and professional experiences provide us a unique view of both what studio voice teachers need to know and what can be improved in how we teach teaching.
This means our curriculum may look different than what you see in academia or how a vocal pedagogy text lays out information and we can assure you, that is intentional.
There are 3 important ideas we have learned from studying how teachers learn:
USING WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW
Your experience as a singer is beneficial to helping you teach. You are filled with useful insights. Our job is to help guide you towards which insights are useful in the voice studio.
LEARNING BY DOING
If you want to improve at teaching, you have to teach.
TIMING OF INFORMATION MATTERS
The what and when of knowledge matters. It is our job to equip you with relevant knowledge at the time it is most impactful.
We guide you through these concepts using these strategies…
OUR STRATEGIES
SINGING PRACTICES
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We want to help you understand how to listen for and guide sounds in students by focusing on your own exploration of sounds.
TEACHER'S LAB
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This is learning by doing, but with bumpers. We help you teach by zooming in on specific goals and providing guidelines for your teaching exploration.
CASE STUDY METHOD
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We use cases to explore typical and atypical teaching scenarios and prime how you think about long-term voice building and education.
WHO WE ARE
JOEY HARRELL
I HAVE MY PH.D IN MUSIC EDUCATION FROM PENN STATE UNIVERSITY WHERE I FOCUSED ON MUSICAL THEATER VOICE PEDAGOGY.
My passion for teacher training evolved from my own journey and the pursuit of knowledge about how to train the voice. I finished a Master’s Degree in Vocal Pedagogy feeling ‘not ready’ to take on the world as a voice teacher. I didn’t feel equipped to start and independent voice studio, nor did I feel ready to handle the unique demands of teaching at a college/university. I needed more training, more education, more experience…but from where?
While I was fortunate enough to find my path, I had a strong desire to understand how we can provide a more clear trajectory for aspiring teachers. The result was a dissertation in which I studied the experiences and decision making of novice Musical Theatre voice teachers focusing specifically on what information was most relevant to their development. After all of that writing, I was ready to take action. That is why I am here. My goal is to help guide you along your journey not just in learning how to teach but helping you use your knowledge to build a career.
JARED TRUDEAU
MY AIM IS TO EMPOWER VOICE TEACHERS, CHOIR DIRECTORS, SLPS, AND MUSIC DIRECTORS TO HELP SINGERS BECOME THEIR MOST EXPRESSIVE SELVES.
I have an MFA in Voice Pedagogy for Musical Theatre from Penn State University and have been teaching teachers for the last decade in my private studio and as a faculty member at The Boston Conservatory. My own route to becoming a voice teacher and researcher was rather circuitous—I was Pre-Med at Tufts University, though I ultimately realized medicine was not my calling.
I received degrees in Psychology and Music, completing my honors thesis in the Music Department investigating vocal pedagogy for treble voices in Musical Theatre. Since then, my professional life has been all about helping teachers and singers develop compelling vocalism, whether in the voice studio, classroom, workshops, or acoustics and MRI labs. My experiences as a young person with voice teachers, choir, and speech therapy left an indelibly positive imprint on my life. As an adult, I have been lucky enough to be mentored by, and collaborate with, some of the most amazing educators in the world, and that gift sparked a desire to develop direct, tangible resources that will help you in the studio, clinic, or rehearsal today.
COURSES
BUILDING A STUDIO:
GETTING STARTED RIGHT NOW
CLASS DESCRIPTION
This is the first class of a three course module aimed at taking the strengths you already have as a teacher and improving how you utilize them to guide students. During Getting Started Right Now, we will clarify and improve the way you structure lessons. We begin from the ground up, exploring the fundamental sounds that comprise expressive, flexible singing, especially in Musical Theatre.
BOOK A WORKSHOP
Jared and Joey had transformative experiences in choir and theatre growing up. We at BroadwayVox love coming into your school or performing arts center and working to empower your singers to be their most confident, authentically expressive selves. We also want to help you as choir directors, music directors, and drama teachers expand your toolkit so that you can help each one of your performers fulfill their creative potential.
OUR WORKSHOPS CAN BE TAILORED TO YOUR NEEDS AND CAN INCLUDE:
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Group voice sessions during which everyone sings and explores the many colors their voice can make
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Masterclass sessions where we work with soloists to improve their performance through the integration of vocal technique, acting, musicianship/style, and body-work
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Ensemble sessions where we help the ensemble of your show sing authentically in the style of the show
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Lectures about vocal pedagogy, vocal health, or the history of vocal sounds in Musical Theatre