Vocal Technique Classes for Adults
Contact the Northampton Community Music Center to register: (413) 585-0001.
I am excited and pleased to announce that the Vocal Technique Classes for Adults will be co-taught this year by Mr. Alan Schneider and Mr. Tony Lechner. I have known both Tony and Alan for twenty years, and I cannot imagine a better pair of instructors to teach these classes! They are both tremendously gifted and well-renowned musicians who, between them, cover just about every genre of vocal music imaginable -- from opera to rock, jazz to alternative, musical theater to art song! You can read more about Tony and Alan in their faculty bios included at the end of this page. There will also be guest appearances by the wonderful and talented Evelyn Harris, former 17-year member of the internationally acclaimed female a cappella group Sweet Honey In The Rock and winner of this year’s WFCR Artist Of The Year Award.
What are the voice classes all about?
The mission of Jane Hanson Productions LLC is Joy and Excellence through the Performing Arts. Whether you are a beginner singer looking to explore and strengthen your voice, or a seasoned professional looking for a place to hone performance skills and maintain and strengthen vocal technique in a non-threatening environment, there is a class for you! In all classes, emphasis is placed on developing healthy, sustainable vocal technique, nurturing each singer’s authentic voice, and helping each individual reach his/her individual goals and potential. See class descriptions below for more info on individual classes.
Details, Details!
There will be an information session and auditions on Sunday, September 12th from 2-4 pm at the Northampton Community Music Center, 139 South Street.
Classes will again be offered by level, in an effort to provide targeted content and maximum individual attention to each student. For those who participated in last year’s classes, and do not know which level to sign up for, you may contact NCMC for this info.
First classes:
Thursday, September 16.
All classes will have an accompanist and will take place in the Recital Hall of the Northampton Community Music Center.
Financial assistance is available through the music center to those who qualify. Scholarship applications are available at www.ncmc.net
All students will receive individual and group instruction throughout the year.
To register, please contact the Northampton Community Music Center at (413) 585-0001 or visit www.ncmc.net (for PDF registration and scholarship forms). Entrance to all classes is at the discretion of the instructors. To determine what level is right for you, or if you have any questions about any of these programs, please feel free to contact the instructors through NCMC at (413) 585-0001.
Level I
Thursdays 11:00 am – 12:15 pm
26 Classes - Tuition: $840
The perfect class for beginner and intermediate adult singers who would like to develop their vocal technique on a rigorous and supportive environment. Master voice teachers will help each singer discover and develop their own unique sound. The class will focus on achieving vocal fitness and strength, breathing techniques, expanding vocal range, and repertoire selection.
Level II
Thursdays 12:30 – 2:00 pm
26 Classes - Tuition: $910
This class is designed to meet the needs of professional and high-level amateur singers of any genre. Master voice teachers will focus on helping each singer achieve optimum tone quality and resonance with the least amount of physical effort, establishing a vocal fitness regimen to enhance flexibility, strength, and agility, and aiding each singer in pursuing his/her individual vocal goals.
Who are Tony Lechner and Alan Schneider?
Tony Lechner holds a Bachelor of Arts for Voice and a Masters in Jazz Composition and Arranging from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 1997, he founded the music department at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School where he taught all styles of instrumental and vocal music, theory and ear training, songwriting, and recording until the spring of 2010. In 1999, he created PVPA's jazz a cappella group 5-Alone, (5Alone.com <http://5alone.com/>) whose international awards and honors include performances by invitation at the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival, multiple I.A.J.E. (International Association for Jazz Education) conferences, as well as recognition from DownBeat Magazine, C.A.S.A., The National Harmony Sweepstakes, and the R.A.R.B.. He currently directs two Valley-based community vocal groups: the Valley Jazz Choir, and the Valley Jazz Choir for Teens.
Tony studied classical voice with the late Dorothy Ornest, Jon Humphrey, and Peter Harvey, as well as trumpet, piano, and arranging with Jeff Holmes, Yusef Lateef, Andy Jaffe, and Fred Tillis. During his post-graduate studies, Tony spent two years as a teaching assistant to the late Horace Boyer and directing the Umass Vocal Jazz Ensemble. With a solid technique and incredible musical versatility, his strong tenor voice is at home in just about any musical style, from classical, to jazz, to musical theater, to folk. Tony sang lead roles in Commonwealth Opera's productions of Oklahoma! (Curly) and The King & I (Lun Tha), and has fronted several successful Valley pop/rock/folk bands including North of Center, Yellow Brick Ed, and most recently Wild-Wood.
In addition to teaching and making music, Tony is an award-winning songwriter, taking top honors in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, the Billboard World Songwriting Contest, the UK Songwriting Contest, and the Great American Songwriting Contest. Most recently his original jazz composition "Partiste" was placed in the Paramount Studios film Dinner for Schmucks. He also does freelance work as a composer and sound designer for the Boston-based Fablevision Studios, where he just finished scoring a film of Peter H. Reynold'sThe North Star, narrated by Tim Curry and just accepted into the Chicago Film Festival!
Alan W. Schneider has appeared in opera, operetta, and music theatre productions with many companies in his native New England and elsewhere, including Opera Boston, Sarasota Opera, OperaDelaware, Florida Grand Opera, The Huntington Theatre Company, The North Shore Music Theatre, Opera New England and Boston Bel Canto Opera. He has most often appeared with Boston Lyric Opera, appearing in La Traviata, Lucie de Lammermoor, Salome, Don Carlos, Carmen, La rondine, and Rigoletto in the course of six seasons with the company. In addition to stage works, Mr. Schneider has given a number of recitals, in Massachusetts, New York, Georgia, and St. Thomas, USVI. He has also appeared in concert with the Kalamazoo, Springfield (MA), Chautauqua and Omaha Symphonies, The Bellingham (WA) Festival of Music, Providence Singers, Albany Pro Musica, The Shakespeare Concerts, and the long-running Mohawk Trail Concerts in Charlemont Massachusetts. A proponent and frequent performer of new music, he has created roles in world premieres of works by composers Eric Sawyer, Joseph Summer, Daniel Pinkham and Paula Kimper. Recordings of several of these works have been released on the Albany, Arsis, and BMOP/sound labels.
In the summer of 2001, he took part in the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program, appearing in Le nozze di Figaro and Chabrier's L'Etoile. The summer before, he performed roles in La rondine, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Street Scene with the Chautauqua Opera, and was chosen by that company to receive a Shoshana Foundation Richard F. Gold Career Grant. He is an alumnus of The University of Massachusetts at Amherst and received his Master's Degree from Boston University, where he appeared as Acis in Acis and Galatea, Reverend Pollard in Stephen Paulus' The Village Singer, the Mayor in Albert Herring, Harlekin in Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and Ferrando in Cosi fan Tutte. In May 2003, he finished the program at Boston University's Opera Institute with the title role in Mozart’s Idomeneo, which was the subject of a feature article by Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe.
Mr. Schneider lives in Northampton Massachusetts with his wife and son, and when not performing, teaches singing at Amherst College.
Solo Vocal Performance Class for Teens
For more information about Programs for Teens, click here.
