As a voice practitioner, singer and somatic coach with twenty years of experience helping people free their voices, I know the impact of the voo exercise could be more immediate and potent.   For some people, the voo sound is inaccessible. For others the experience of the voo is unremarkable.  I hope this introductory workshop will offer you lots of helpful practices for working with your clients.  This work is deep and profound but can also be fun and hilarious.

I’m a singer and singing teacher, a composer and the founding director of the embodied vocal-performance ensemble, Constellation Chor.  We seek wild embodiment through voice and body. As a voice teacher,  I’ve taught Broadway stars, I’ve taught opera singers,  and I’ve worked with people who have never sung before but who know that singing is their birthright.  My perspective is grounded in the Libero Canto© Approach.  I have studied singing and singing pedagogy on this path for over fifteen years (under Deborah Carmichael) in Vienna and New York City.  The Libero Canto Approach was first developed by Lajos Szamosi in Budapest before World War II and is my primary pedagogical lineage. 

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I’ve always been clear that the vocal work I’ve been doing - with students, on my own - is indirectly therapeutic: when we focus on the holistic human Being and on truly freeing the diaphragm in order to sing more freely, healing of the nervous system and spirit is a natural byproduct of the work.  Any approach that is slow, body-centered and process oriented impacts the system in profound ways.  After recently completing a certificate in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy with the Embody Lab,  I am ready to claim the approach as directly therapeutic:  the program confirmed for me that the work I’ve been doing for years as a singing teacher overlaps significantly with trauma healing and somatic therapy modalities.  

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In fact - it seems to me that in these healing modalities, the use of voice is an important missing piece.  Though movement lineages such as Authentic Movement, Feldenkrais, Grotowski, and yoga have begun to be integrated into somatic therapies, and respected for their healing power, the understanding of how the voice fits in is under-explored.  And yet, sounding profoundly affects our breathing, our vagus nerve, our emotional life, our expressive life, our spiritual life. I want to share what I know about voice and body beyond my private session studio, and beyond the world of professional singing. I want to be in conversation with other folx doing the wild and freeing vocal embodiment work that is so essential right now in the world.  That’s why I’ve decided to teach this new virtual class. I hope you’ll join me.  

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What else? I was trained classically as a pianist.  I got my B.F.A from NYU (Tisch) in Musical Theatre.  I’m a former yoga instructor. I studied  Hindustani singing in India. I’ve deep-dived into Anthroposophy, a formative part of my earlier life.  I’m currently studying Tibetan Buddhism.  I consistently practice Circling (which I recently found out has roots in Indigenous practices), and Tantra. My ancestors are Jewish, Irish, and Scottish. Being in intimate relationship with singing is my life’s passion, encompassing all.  I believe process is product, that we are vessels for beauty and spirit, and that all black lives matter.

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Listen to Kimberly Anne Johnson’s podcast interview with Marisa: