Vocal training for healthy lifelong singing. All musical styles welcome! Age 10 to Adult
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Current students
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Recital June 2023
Recital June 2023
Introduction
Welcome to the Maria Damore Voice Studio. I look forward to providing you with a comfortable and positive environment where you can learn and grow as an artist. I offer both in-person and online lessons.
I have been a professional singer/actor for 25+ years and am known for my ability to sing in a variety of musical styles including musical theatre, pop, rock, jazz, classical, and Greek folk music. I have performed in countless musical theatre/opera productions, sung as a soloist with orchestras, bands, and ensembles, produced my own concerts/cabaret shows, and produced my own CD, "Moonglow."
As an active performer dealing with the myriad of variables and situations that can affect singing and performance, I feel well-qualified to teach, guide, and problem solve with singers in the various situations they may encounter while performing.
Scheduling
Lessons are scheduled using MyMusicStaff Scheduling software. You will be able to adjust your own schedule if you need to move your appointment, add appointments, or cancel appointments (as per cancellation policy). You will also receive reminder emails and texts about upcoming appointments.
Payments
45 minute lesson – $40.00
For students with a recurring weekly time slot, payment by cash, check, Venmo, Zelle, credit card (with added fee), or bank transfer (with added fee) is due by the first lesson of every month for all lessons in the month. For students who cannot maintain a regular weekly schedule, lessons must be paid for as they are scheduled or can be purchased in blocks of 2, 3, or 4 and scheduled during available openings.
Lesson Format
Singing is a physical skill just like playing soccer, the violin, or dancing. In order to develop a strong, flexible, and balanced voice with greater range and freedom to express, the first half of the lesson includes:
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exercises for strength and flexibility
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postural alignment
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breathing
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kinesthetic awareness
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learning how the voice functions
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problem solving technical difficulties
Following this, we work on music (musical theatre, pop, country, rock, classical, jazz, etc.) We may also address the speaking voice, basic music reading, and microphone technique.
Cancellation Policy
If a scheduling conflict arises, please cancel by NOON, TWO DAYS before the scheduled lesson to receive credit for your payment. These guidelines ensure that your cancelled time slot is made available for other students who are looking for an open lesson slot. Cancellations without two days' notice will be charged. Two cancellations outside the cancellation policy time frame due to sudden illness or emergency will be permitted and credited during a semester. If I need to cancel a lesson, a make-up lesson will be scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time.
Studio Registration
Register with the studio using the form below. Once you've registered, you will receive an email with directions to create an account in MyMusicStaff. From there, login, click on the calendar, and schedule your first lesson. Email me with any questions:
Information on Vocal Health
Student Feedback
Maria Damore is a wonderfully talented singer and vocal teacher. She uses research based approaches to help students learn to sing the right way. She follows a very strategic progression and does not allow her students to sing songs that their voices are not ready for. She also holds recitals to allow students to practice performing in front of others and put their skills to use. Watching my daughter's progression over the years she's been working with Maria has been remarkable. We are so lucky to have found Maria for her vocal instruction. I don't think we could have asked for a better vocal teacher!
Christine Paige
Maddie has been with Maria for about 3 years. Maria has given Maddie self-confidence and a passion for singing. Maria has patience, caring, and talent that she shares with her students. For us, Maria is a blessing.
K. Montag
There are things in life well worth marking, celebrating, or remembering. In August it will be one year since we started, on what was for me, a novel journey into this world of singing and vocal training. Not unexpectedly, yet always with anticipation when delving into a new area, was it quickly evident to me that like a multitude of human endeavors, “singing is a world”. But what was a bit more revelatory, was rather than being something to learn as any skill, placed into your life’s toolkit, and then pulled out for use, singing became, and is quite still becoming, a source of joyful resonance, not only physically, but spiritually. In fact, I would say that “this joy in singing” sits well among the quintessential examples of what joy means, occupying the points of intersection in the Venn Diagram of our physical and spiritual states. What's more, in the sense of this being a world, I know it is still largely unexplored for me. And for me, the adventure of learning and new experiences lay with other fundamental principles at the very heart of what I most value in life. Which brings me to the classic complement to such processes, the teacher and guide. Certainly, your knowledge, skill, and patience in presenting both the vision and the particulars of this discipline are both a fundamental necessity and catalyst to any advancement achieved. For this, I thank you. Richard Muller
Education / Training
Vocal Pedagogy:
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Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method - Associate Faculty for the LoVetri Summer Pedagogy Institute for Teacher Training - earned December 2022
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Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method: Levels I, II, and III – 2023, 2022, 2021, 2018 at Baldwin Wallace University LoVetri Institute, and 2011 at UMass-Dartmouth and Shenandoah University CCM Institute
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Westminster Choir College Vocal Pedagogy Institute – 2019
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Shenandoah University *CCM (Contemporary Commercial Music) Institute – 2016, 2017
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Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method: 3-day Intensive - 2015
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Teacher Support Group Sessions with Jeanette LoVetri, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 - online master classes 2019
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Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method: Post Certification Courses at Shenandoah University CCM Institute – 2012, 2014
*CCM – Contemporary Commercial Music
(this includes popular music styles: rock, musical theatre, country, jazz, etc.)
Other Academic:
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Bachelor of Arts in English/Psychology from Immaculata College
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Master's Degree in Administration from West Chester University.
Private Study:
Voice: Toni Marie Palmertree, Jeanette LoVetri, Tamara Black, John Nicholas Peters, Randi Marrazzo
Acting: classes at Arden Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, and Wilma Theatre; acting coaching with Neill Hartley