Ewa C. — Singing Teacher — Cooksville, Mississauga

Internationally renowned jazz vocalist, who recorded her own two albums. She is well known for her truly genuine interpretation of jazz standards, Brazilian classics, gospel spirituals, blues, and recently even classical opera. She started her musical career at the age of 8 as a cellist, then obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Jazz Studies from Concordia University in Montreal, and her Masters at York University. She is presently in her sixth year of obtaining a PhD degree in Music at York University in Toronto. With 30 years of experience in music pedagogy including preparation of students for examinations in the Royal Conservatory of Music Certificate Program levels 1 through 10 for voice and theory, Ewa specializes in teaching all genres of popular music, such as Pop, Rock, Hip-Hop, Metal, Soul, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, and Musical Theatre, as well as vocal jazz improvisation.

THE PROGRAM Please note that the program is created individually for each student, with the teacher taking into consideration the student’s age, natural musical aptitude, and a present level of musicianship, as well as individual goals and needs e.g. – a 10 year old youth who wants to take up singing for fun, will not be treated same as a 16 year old who attends a secondary level art school and is seriously thinking about a career in musical theatre. However, these are the general guidelines for the lesson plan: 1. Gradual, non-invasive work on the voice with specially designed exercises. Each student has access to ready-to-use accompaniments that enables them to practice on daily basis between the lessons at home, which significantly speeds up the physiological, psychological, and overall vocal development, and delivers almost immediate and spectacular results. 2. Conscious shaping of singing vowels and consonants in all registers of the voice, which provides clear and correct enunciation. 3. Adaptation of psychological aspect to activate the subconscious and intuition in singing. Control of the vocal mechanism through adequate training of the mind. 4. Gaining basic knowledge of actor’s work on the role, in order to form and develop methods for use in the interpretation of lyrics. 5. Learning a variety of musical styles (Jazz, Pop, Soul, Blues, Rock, Funk, R&B etc.) and – at the same time – familiarizing oneself with the particular characteristic elements for the given genre, which – consequently - enables the singer to become a versatile musician, capable of interpreting many different styles of popular music at a professional level. 6. Knowledge and practice in the field of stage performance and stage presence – working with a microphone, using equipment, computer music programs, set up and use of home recording studio etc.) 7. Fo singers songwriters who write their own music and lyrics - consultations on songwriting are available. The main purpose of vocal training is to build mental and muscular memory by finding the right settings for each note, or pitch - followed by multiple repetitions of this process. The vocal experience gained in this manner is then enforced through exercising repertoire adapted to singer current ability to consciously feel and control vocal tone production. 8. And last but not least - helping the student discover the incredible joy and satisfaction on the journey of realizing their vocal potential, and sharing the joy together.