San Francisco

A recording that changed the course of my life is the soundtrack to the 1985 film A Room with a View. It features Dame Kiri Te Kanawa singing the Puccini arias “O mio babbino caro” and “Chi il bel sogno di Doretta,” accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir John Pritchard. I saw the film as a girl, and the sheer beauty of Te Kanawa's singing in those recordings inspired me to become an opera singer.

Ballroom dancing, and baking

David Jones, Margaret Harshaw, and Martina Arroyo

“How can I make this feel more comfortable?” 

Too many singers assume that discomfort, strain, or even pain are just part of the learning process. But singing should never hurt! Discomfort is the body’s way of asking for change.
 

I was twelve years old at San Francisco Girls Chorus summer camp, having a private coaching in the camp cafeteria with our founder, Elizabeth Appling. Mid-session, she started talking to me as if I were going to have a career as a singer. At the time, I thought she was totally crazy—I was going to be a lawyer, like my father! But in hindsight, that moment planted a seed. It was the first time someone spoke to me as if a life in music were not only possible, but likely for me. Looking back, I can see that it was a defining moment.

Meeting my mentor, David Jones. His influence transformed my understanding of what it means to teach voice and sparked a lifelong curiosity about the physiology and function of the voice. He helped me see that teaching was not just my talent, but my calling.

I’d be an editor—helping people find the right words to express themselves. 

Handel for elegance and agility, Mozart for purity and balance, and Puccini for drama and passion!