|
Despite her numerous performing credits and ongoing singing career, contralto Victoria Hart feels her greatest contribution to the vocal arts is in her work as a teacher. Dr. Hart began teaching voice privately in 1983 in Boston, where she was associated with the John Payne Music Center. Dr. Hart is currently a member of the voice faculty of Cerritos College, and has been on the faculties of Westmont College in Montecito, California and the Artistic Repertory Theater School in Orlando, Florida. For the past ten years she has been teaching privately in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Her students include professional and aspiring opera singers, musical comedy and pop singers, serious amateurs and gifted teenagers.
 Dr. Hart’s anatomy-based approach to singing works with any style and genre of singing, and has helped many singers quickly overcome long-standing vocal problems. Dr. Hart herself used this approach to successfully recover from the thyroid surgery that threatened to end her singing career. The techniques she learned in that recovery process she now uses to assist her students in overcoming their own difficulties. The fundamental idea behind her approach is that singing is a dynamic balance between structural and release elements. When we sing, certain muscular systems must work hard, so that other systems can profoundly release. When these structural elements are not working properly, or the release elements are compressed and tense, then all sorts of vocal problems ensue – tension, pain, hoarseness, lack of range, register breaks, strained sound. When these physical elements are understood and work in harmony, however, vocal tension is completely eliminated, the break between registers disappears, high notes blossom, and the true beauty of the voice is revealed. The good news is that there are very precise and anatomically-based ways to develop this coordination, and once developed, these methods always work.
Dr. Hart brings a number of unique and invaluable insights and aspects to her teaching. As an active performer, Dr. Hart has first hand knowledge of the technical demands of a performing career, as well as the benefit of networking with colleagues and keeping up-to-date in the professional sphere. Victoria Hart received her D.M.A. degree in Vocal Performance from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She brings years of experience and a broad knowledge of vocal style, repertoire, and acting skills and techniques to enhance her students’ learning experience. Dr. Hart’s students include professional singers from the world of opera, concert, musical theater and television. Her students have sung leading and supporting roles in many regional opera companies and concert organizations throughout the United States, including the Los Angeles Opera, Cleveland Opera, Sacramento Opera, Nevada Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera San Jose, the Hollywood Bowl, Portland Symphony, and the Bakersfield Symphony, to name a few.
|
