Voice Lesson Testmonials

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I’ve been a singer as long as I can remember . I always struggled to hit notes freely in my upper range and never knew why. After 4 years of being a middle school teacher, my voice started to experience the wear and tear of daily abuse - by Friday mornings,  I was often unable to phonate for singing until the afternoons. I was scared- I’ve seen what happens to vocal music teachers after years of overuse. I went to an ENT and was told I was experiencing vocal fold paresis, and that’s when I found Kelly! She taught me techniques that transferred techniques of singing into my speaking voice, allowing me to use my natural resonance and breath support instead of my vocal folds to generate the vocal intensity needed to manage a room full of middle schoolers. She freed my singing voice with postural and relaxation techniques for my tight pharynx, and suddenly I could sing those high notes freely. 

I enjoyed working with Kelly so much, it is part of the reason I decided I would love to help others with their communication and singing on an individual basis, so I decided to become an SLP. I can’t thank Kelly enough for helping me overcome the years of abuse and misuse, and for teaching me techniques that I still incorporate into my speech everyday! 

I began taking voice lessons with Kelly my freshman year of College. That was over a decade ago and I still credit her as having one of the most profound impacts on my life as a creator and vocalist.  Having had a background singing gospel music, I was used to trying to produce the strongest and heaviest sound that I could muster.  By the time I met Kelly my voice was damaged and so was my confidence. I had been forcing my instrument in a direction that it wasn't made for. 

Kelly has a gift for not only hearing what's wrong when a person sings or speaks, but also seeing it. She can see the tension in your body. She had the ability to see and sense improper posture and habitual physicality's that hindered my voice from being free. Kelly helped me to love my instrument, understand my instrument, and have the awareness needed in order to take care of it. She is a treasure.

-Brianna B - American Idol: Season 8 - Hollywood Contestant

I've been a student of Kellys' for the last ten years now, and throughout this time I have come to learn that Kelly is incredibly unique because she continues to educate herself on the body, vocal mechanism, vocal therapy techniques as well as proper technique singers must use to sing in healthy ways. As a student in the arts, it is important to me that whoever is teaching me, “walks the walk” as well as “talks the talk”. Kelly embodies that whole heartedly. Nothing she tells us is fluff or empty metaphor. She is incredibly intelligent, and passes on what she has learned to her students. As a singer herself, she is keenly aware of where stress or tension can arise in the body, and the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional work that goes along with finding your true sound.  She is a treasure in this age of instant gratification because of how she  teaches and what she teaches us. I am beyond grateful that I have the honor of calling her my voice teacher and I highly recommend her. She will make you work, and you will have challenges, you will also start to be just as aware as she is. You will start to recognize things in yourself that perhaps you didn’t before, and  you will sing in ways that you never thought were possible.

I am a recent graduate of Wagner College. A year into my studies at Wagner, I received surgery to remove vocal nodules that I had. Being a theatre performance major, I was scared. You hear horror stories about getting this surgery, but of course without it, I was severely struggling with bringing my vocal cords together and thinning them out. I feel truly blessed to have worked with Kelly. After having the surgery, I had to go to 6 months of vocal therapy to help regain my vocal strength and I was also diagnosed with Muscle Tension Dysphonia. The reason I feel so blessed to have worked with Kelly is because she really understood my voice and what I was going through. She has an unbelievable talent for pinpointing my vocal weaknesses - most of which I didn’t even know about myself - and giving me perfect exercises that help me still to this day. Since working with Kelly, I have been equipped with everything I need to succeed as a singer and performer, and I am now really able to recognize my own shortcomings and am more confident than I’ve ever been in my vocal capabilities. 

After an injury to my vocal cords and my second bout with vocal nodes I decided I needed to do something to improve my technique, help support my voice and avoid the possibility of another injury ending my singing career.

Even before singing became a vocation I identified myself as a singer, and if I wasn’t able to raise my voice and share it with others I didn’t know who I would be. My work with Kelly - which included changing the way I used my breath, where I ‘placed my voice’, and ‘whole body’ exercises - taught me to be stronger more confident singer. 

Thank you Kelly for sharing your knowledge, your support and helping me avoid another vocal injury.

Super Qualified! Truly Professional! Very Experienced! When I think of Kelly, I think of someone who has mastered her craft. She knows all of the possible intricacies of the singing voice. Having been to many voice teachers, I can confidently and literally say that Kelly knows my voice inside and out.  She brought me through a very hard time in my singing career where I had a semi-paralysis on my vocal folds. After a good year of therapy we were able to make the transition over to vocal coaching. I would recommend Kelly to any singer or any individual who constantly uses their voice for their profession. 

- Patsy P - Singer, Teacher, Worship leader

Kelly has been my vocal coach for many years. During the Christmas season of 2013, I was singing a lot and was experiencing vocal fatigue but pushed through it. After the Christmas season, I felt a heaviness in my throat. Kelly recommended that I go see her ENT. After a scope, he diagnosed me with vocal chord paresis. Kelly and I had to start reworking my voice from the ground up to get the vocal chord to start working properly. We did a lot of vocal stretching of the folds and the muscles around it. Through her training and many hours of lessons, Kelly was able to get my vocal folds to work properly again. I am so grateful for Kelly and all that she did for me and all that she continues to do for me. 

Kelly's vocal instruction was pivotal in my career as a vocalist. I'd been singing since I was a little girl, but I noticed an immediate change in the way I sang, even in the little bit of wisdom I was able to glean in my high school choir where Kelly taught. Before then, I thought voice lessons were for opera singers, but I soon found that classical techniques would help me also as a contemporary vocalist. After high school, I continued to see Kelly periodically to help train and strengthen my voice. Because of the knowledge she instilled in me 20 years ago, I continue to grow year after year as I still implement the same techniques she taught me as a teenager.

Working with Kelly has been hands down, my favorite and most fruitful experience with a vocal coach. I’ve learned and grown so much in the past four years as her student. Not only has she helped me develop a fuller, more consistently rich sound, she’s also worked through some hearing loss issues as well as post-op recovery. Instead of trying to sing as if I had perfect hearing/pitch, Kelly showed me techniques that allowed me to work with what I had - to work with my body instead of actively fighting against it. She showed me the importance of muscle memory when it comes to singing; instead of listening for what is correct technique, I have learned to FEEL correct technique. This was especially helpful after I got my tonsillectomy in the summer of 2020. I was fortunate enough to have her as a resource after this invasive surgery. Together, we worked to stretch and remold the scar tissue in the back of my throat so that I could regain full access to the space and flexibility required to produce a rich, healthy sound. I am so grateful everyday to know and work with Kelly - she’s magic:)

 After many weeks of vocal rehab, Kelly gave me my voice back! Thank you Kelly for your hard work and dedication to helping me to sing and speak again and for working with my medical team to help me to heal well and get my voice back! 

When I met Kelly about 6 years ago, I was in dire straits. I had been fortunate enough to not have any damage to my vocal chords but within 5 minutes of our first meeting, Kelly was able to pinpoint exactly how to rescue my voice and prevent myself from any potential damage. We spent a lot of time focusing on breathing, relaxation and stance to help me find my center and help combat other issues such as seasonal allergies and bouts with reflux. She utilizes her understanding of physiology and how the body works to truly affect positive changes in my understanding of the inner workings of the vocal system. Her honesty, knowledge and guidance helped my voice get stronger. Kelly taught me how to not only speak again but sing again, properly and with the confidence I have lacked for some time. I am so appreciative of her talent and mentoring. She is dedicated to making her students the best they can be and overcome obstacles. I am forever thankful that by some stoke of luck I found her and get to call her teacher and friend.

My journey with Kelly started after I had just completed vocal therapy for a vagal neuropathy which manifested in a chronic cough over a period of 3 years.  My vocal therapist recommended Kelly as a great way to ensure vocal health while continuing exercises to strengthen my weakened voice.  Kelly patiently built up my voice through numerous exercises always emphasizing proper and healthy vocal technique.  Kelly continually highlighted the importance of the body connection to air/breath support throughout our lessons.   Kelly also employs numerous and varied exercises to open the voice anatomy…keeping the throat open or wide or tall, etc. 

One of the talents and skills that Kelly has is her active listening.   She quickly recognized (unbeknownst to me) how much tension I carried in my jaw and throat, and ‘on the spot’ produced exercises to alleviate the tension.  

Finally, when I started with Kelly, my goal was to strengthen my voice and range.   What I didn’t expect was that in introducing me to singing ‘line’ with breath control and the musical examples she introduced me to, that I would be motivated to seek out and join a chorus, singing mostly classical repertoire.  In this totally unexpected way, Kelly broadened my musical life. 

I strongly recommend Kelly for any level of performer seeking to strengthen their voice either from vocal injury as I experienced or for the fun of learning to sing and enjoying the music!