Joan Kirchner is also a noted music teacher. Her students span every age group and every level of musical expertise, from the novice to the professional. Vocally, Joan’s teaching techniques are based on the methodologies of Cornelius Reid. A twentieth-century voice teacher who returned to the techniques of the old Bel Canto style of singing when his own voice was damaged through the faulty vocal teaching methods then in use. He believed it is not the role of the teacher to determine what the voice should sound like; rather, his vocal exercises are individualized to create a healthy voice for each student – to teach students to communicate through the act of singing, not the mechanics of singing. Joan studied in Toronto with a disciple of Read, Carol Forte who, building on Reid’s work, believes that good vocal instruction involves the teacher’s ability to hear and convey to each student the relationship of their particular vocal difficulties to the problems they may be having with their vocal mechanisms. Then she helps each student overcome their problem by use of specific vocal exercises. Like her mentor, Joan’s object is not to force the voice into a precise ‘style’ of singing, but rather to nourish and develop the whole singer.
“I came to Joan as a woman in my sixties who hadn’t sung in over twenty-five years. Joan’s uncritical teaching techniques helped me to get my voice back. It’s not the same voice I had when I was eighteen; instead, it’s a mature and more expressive voice, representative of the person I am today.” Harriet Rzetelny, voice student.
For more information on lessons in voice, piano, organ, or flute, please email [email protected].