<p>The first question...finding the voice teacher or knowing if they are the "right" one for you....I do not have a lot of "advice", but like with anything, you can ask around with others who are taking voice for MT and who they use, find out the background of that person, try it out and see what you think, etc. It sounds like your daughter takes voice lessons via school and that may be a different situation as you have who the school has on staff. Then, I suppose you have to think about if that is going well for your D or if she needs private lessons or not. My daughter's voice lessons/teacher were not through school. She wanted to take voice lessons starting in seventh grade which for her was turning 12. I asked around but basically already knew that those taking voice for musical theater in this region were going to a voice teacher who is 50 miles from us. He splits his week between his home/studio in VT and his private voice studio in NYC, plus he is on the voice faculty of Circle in the Square Theater program. We didn't really need to "check it out" because not only is he thought of highly, but we knew his credentials...a PHD in the field, years on a faculty in a MT program, students who have won Tony Awards, MAC, and Emmy Awards, and perform on Broadway, at the MET, etc. We felt fortunate that anyone like him was available given we live in a VERY rural area. But if I did not find him, I'd ask around more and find out the teacher's background/degrees/experience, the kinds of students the teacher had ,the types of music worked on, if the teacher ever worked with youth who were going on for BFAs in MT or voice or just what. Then, as with anything, you can try some lessons and see for yourself. </p>
<p>As far as the teacher working on coaching the songs, the acting of the songs and such.....First, I think it is important to have a voice teacher who actually is familiar with and works on the MT repertoire. Not all voice teachers do. Ours does the full gamut....can work on classical, Broadway, or pop. But a major thrust of the students we know working with him do work on MT. They may also do classical. But the lessons focus on technique....singing itself. He prefers to do these lessons in small groups (not that different than what is done with freshmen in my D's BFA MT program now). Teens of about a similar level are in the same group and they work on technique as a group but then part of class is each person works on a song. If my D had an audition for a show coming up and she wanted a private lesson for that, she could get one. During THAT lesson, he may also have coached a bit on the interprettation of the song and acting/performing it. He is more of a voice teacher than a vocal coach but also will get into vocal coaching if working on an audition piece. Then in senior year, anyone who was going to be auditioning for BFA programs, could switch into just private lessons and that is what my D had last year. They worked on selecting songs and technique of singing those songs but also performing those songs (interpretation). But as I mentioned in another post somewhere, my D ALSO took the songs she had selected to her Acting Coach (she got an acting coach just for college auditions and had never had one before). The acting coach was for the monologues BUT she also would sing her songs for him a capella and they worked on acting them. So, she got more of that with him than the voice teacher. One day the acting teacher and the voice teacher teamed up so my D could work on acting her songs but have the voice teacher accompany on piano, as a team. This was also done with her theater friend who studied with the same people and in fact is now her roomie and in CAP with her. I recall them doing this session together. </p>
<p>Previous to last year (which was in essence her "senior" year but she was actually a junior in HS), she had done three intensive 3 day workshops where her voice teacher brought up faculty from CITS in NYC to conduct. Those workshops worked precisely on this very thing.....the performance of the songs. One of the acting faculty from CITS then chose to move to VT and split his week in half like the voice teacher does. My D was in luck because that was just when she was starting her last year of HS and would be preparing for college auditions. She had no drama classes or acting lessons in our state. But now she was able to work with this same acting teacher/coach on the monologues on weekends and the voice teacher from the same NY faculty in separate lessons. But we knew that this acting teacher, who helped her on monologues, would also be able to coach on acting the songs because that is exactly what they used to do in the yearly workshop intensives that he came up here for. So, on a regular basis, the voice lessons did not involve acting the song, but when preparing auditions for a show or for BFA, the private voice lessons DID incorporate that some (her voice teacher is very involved in MT and has had many students go on for BFA programs so he is not like just a classical voice teacher by any means) and the material was ALSO worked on with an acting coach who likely is better equipped on the acting aspect anyway. SOME people have a voice teacher for technique and one for vocal coaching. As we live in a rural area, that kind of breakdown is not available. But that is an option elsewhere. But as long as the voice teacher is someone who prepares students for auditions, then they likey work on this aspect too but again, a student could also do what my D did which was to work on the acting of the songs with an acting coach (an acting coach familiar with MT and this sort of thing).</p>
<p>You still need to take voice lessons that help with vocal technique skills and with learning the songs for auditions but the interprettation also must happen and that can possibly be with the same teacher, or a vocal coach, or an acting teacher. Some students also have a bit of a natural "knack" for acting/performing the song anyway. </p>
<p>Susan</p>