(Photographed Above: Dr. Darren Wicks, Brenda Earle Stokes, Jeanie LoVetri, Dale Cox, & Dr. Melissa Forbes, all faculty at the first LoVetri Institute held in Australia, 2016)
Hi Brenda, thanks so much for taking the time to meet with us today.
In January, you’re headed back to Toowoomba, Australia to teach a CCM voice course, what can you tell us about your upcoming class?
I created a course directed at teaching singers, singing teachers and choral conductors how to sing and teach jazz, pop and rock. In my travels I noticed there were courses on the voice and acting, but no offerings on how to stylistically approach the musical elements of these genres. As a jazz pianist (both of my degrees are in jazz piano), who has played in many jazz, pop and rock rhythm sections, I want to take this area of expertise and combine it with my knowledge of the voice and singing. The result is a soup-to-nuts course, where we address groove, improvisation, rhythm, stylistic inflections, as well as vocal technique. We will be singing our way through all of these styles and there will be a jazz trio in residence for an entire day! [Read more…] about Spotlight On Somatic Voicework™ Teacher Brenda Earle-Stokes
Every Sunday, 8-11pm
Brenda Earle Stokes is thrilled to announce she will be will be doing a 4-day intensive masterclass in Jazz, Pop, & Rock for singers and teachers of singing at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Australia from January 7th to 10th, 2018.
course of her varied career with the article’s author, Christina Hennessey, gave Jeanie a chance to reflect on the circuitous path that has brought her to her present life as a singing voice expert. Click here if you would like to read the whole article.
Wellesley College. The following weekend she was back in NYC at an open house and a day of working with Somatic Voicework™ teachers and three of their students in the Teacher Support Group. As always, everyone had fun, enjoyed yummy snacks and fine company and the great discussion about vocal pedagogy for CCM styles.
Having been born in the UK, after Music & Opera training I acquired work in a Contemporary Opera, where I met my husband, who was the composer of the piece. He is from Australia. I worked in a subsequent five shows, which in the 80’s were considered ground breaking experimental theatre shows with music & singing. They might be termed Music Theatre as opposed to the commercial title Musical Theatre. I also toured Italian Opera in between working these shows. I did very little teaching then. The teaching work I was involved with was usually because I’d been approached for help from fellow peers who were also performing. I worked with a couple of successful pop stars on technique, etc.
I have been interested in different vocal pedagogy methods ever since I started teaching. I started at an excellent community music school, and my students really wd at an excellent community music school, and my students really wanted musical theatre. I had three lovely degrees in classical singing, and had only really taught classical previously. Because I worked for a school, I had to teach any student that they put in front of me in the style that each student wanted to study. I learned very quickly that I didn’t know enough, and I set off on an adventure to figure out how to belt and how to provide solid technique for my students in any genre of music. It took some time, but I found my way.
I have formally trained in three major methods. As I studied these three methods in detail, I began to see common threads among them, but also some significant areas in which they differed. I believe that a book that identifies these commonalities and differences among major methods would be really valuable to the voice teaching community. I have gathered a huge amount of data from exemplary teachers about what they are actually doing in the studio, particularly when it comes to CCM singing. Many of the CCM books that are available are vague about how people are teaching vocal technique. Moreover, there are many different approaches. I am interested in the nitty-gritty details, and I think other teachers are too. My hope is that it will be published sometime next year. 
Somatic Voicework™ in Brazil
The LoVetri Institute for