Jane Edgren – Vocal Fitness Training™

Voice Instruction

In a singing lesson with Jane, students learn a healthy, consistent and reliable vocal technique, while expanding their vocal range and developing their own musical identity and style.

Jane is there to help anyone who has a strong desire to learn to improve their voice. She specializes in expanding range and developing easy, consistent and reliable vocal production. She offers short-term coaching and preparation for auditions, competitions, Broadway musical performances, and college entrance auditions.

Jane has been teaching private voice lessons for most of her career, drawing on her rich background of performing various styles of music.

Jane is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and has recently finished her first book of vocal training, Sing! 20 Singing Lesson to Improve Your Voice.

Biography

Jane has been singing her entire life, growing up in a musical household and studied piano, violin, organ and guitar.  She attended the renowned University of Michigan as a Voice Performance Major and earned her Bachelor of Music, studying voice with Leonard Johnson.  Following her graduation, she continued her vocal studies with the respected New York City opera soprano, Eva Likova, and later moved to New York City to continue her operatic training.

After a time, she began vocal study with the Metropolitan Opera soprano, Sherry Zannoth.  When Sherry received a contract to sing in Germany, Jane began working with her teacher, Maria Farnworth.  Her vocal coaches in New York included Benton Hess, Julie Kuipers, and acting with Jay Lesenger.

Jane has performed with opera companies in New York City, as well as a participating in an opera workshop at the Juillard School and seminars at the Manhattan School of Music.  During this time, Jane performed leading roles of Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Violetta in La Traviata, and Leonora in Il Trovatore.

She has performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras and choruses under the direction such conductors as Christof Perick, David Tang, Scott Jarrett and Peter McCoppin, as well as presenting a number of recitals and concerts. She has appeared as a soprano soloist in concert with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and the opera Der Freischütz.

Teaching

Jane has taught voice throughout her singing career, and has embraced teaching singers of all different styles and genres.  She has many years of experience the teaching concepts learned from her rich background as a classical opera singer.  She is proud to teach the best aspects of healthy vocal technique to popular music singers to help them navigate the demands placed on their voices.  Her studio includes students who sing pop, rock, jazz, musical theater, contemporary Christian, folk, country, and classical.

Many of her students are working, professional performers pursuing singing careers as solo artists, or with bands.  Three of her students have made it through the first, second and third rounds of two different television reality singing shows, while others have released their own albums.  She was the vocal coach for the Christian rock band, Philmont, is currently working with two other Christian recording artists, and coaching singers who are touring nationally with their bands.

Jane has twelve years of experience teaching children both in her studio, and as the director of a children’s choir program at one of the largest Lutheran churches in the Southeast, in addition to teaching Kindermusik for seven years.  Jane has a firm understanding of the child’s voice and is very particular about the training of young voices.

Jane studied voice with seven different teachers, as well as many vocal coaches. Each one of them brought their own special gifts to the table and helped her to develop her abilities as she gained knowledge and artistry from their teaching. Along the way, experiencing different perspectives and various approaches taught her both how to sing and how not to sing. Her teachers always encouraged Jane to teach voice, and she has done so throughout her singing career.

As the years progressed, and as she gained a wealth of experience teaching, she began to refine the way she presents information to her students. Many nonclassical singers joined her studio with little or no vocal training, and it became evident to her that their vocal lessons required a new approach. They needed clear and easily understood instruction to give them enough information about the voice without overwhelming them with too much technical detail.

Initially, many were concerned that they would learn vocal technique that would give them a classical sound, but the exercises and approach in the technique Jane teaches are not specific to any particular singing style (although they certainly are robust enough to develop a classical voice). Rather, following her progressive curriculum of vocal training gives singers a reliable foundation and helps to create sounds that are strong, pure, and healthy.