W. Stephen Smith joined the Voice Faculty at The Juilliard School in the fall of 1998 after having served for eight years on the voice faculty at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. He has held a position on the voice faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 1996 where he was honored in 2001 as a "New Horizons" faculty member. Additionally, Mr. Smith was on the staff of Houston Grand Opera as Voice Instructor for the Houston Opera Studio from 1990 to 2003. He is in great demand as a voice teacher for many professional and aspiring professional singers in New York City and around the world. After moving to Houston from St. Louis where he was Chairman of the Voice Department at the Saint Louis Conservatory of Music, he maintained a voice studio in St. Louis for three years. He was a member of the music faculty at Oklahoma Christian College for eleven years and has also been on the artistic staff at Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony and the Cimarron Circuit Opera Company. He holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in Voice from Harding University (voice study with Erle T. Moore), the Master of Music degree in Voice from the University of Arkansas (voice study with Richard Brothers), and the Master of Performing Arts degree in Opera from Oklahoma City University where he was a voice student of the late renowned Inez Lunsford Silberg. Other teachers include Dr. William White.

Mr. Smith has given master classes and clinics throughout the United States, including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Oberlin Conservatory, and at Regional and District NATS conventions. He has also been a guest lecturer at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grand. Mr. Smith's voice students have performed leading roles in most of the major opera houses and concert halls around the world including the New York City's Metropolitan Opera, London's Royal Opera at Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, La Scala, New York City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Paris Opera, Oslo Opera, Vancouver Opera, Miami Opera, Sarasota Opera, Omaha Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera among many others. In addition to numerous places in the District and Regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions, twenty- five of his students have been National Finalists in the Met Auditions.

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W. Stephen Smith : The Naked Voice

Review: In The Naked Voice, W. Stephen Smith invites all singers to improve their vocal technique through his renowned and time-tested wholistic method. Focusing not only on the most important technical, but also on the often overlooked psychological and spiritual elements of learning to sing, his book allows readers to develop their own full and individual identities as singers. With philosophies and techniques drawn from a lifetime of teaching voice, Smith demonstrates how one can reveal the true unique sound of one's own voice by singing with the whole self. The master's method, presented in concrete and comprehensible terms with helpful illustrations, is enhanced by a CD containing exercises performed by singers from Smith's own studio-singers whose talent and training bring them across the country and around the world.The clear and easy style of The Naked Voice welcomes the reader into Smith's teaching studio, and into conversation with Smith himself as he presents the six simple and elegant exercises that form the core of his method. These exercises provide a foundation for free singing, and lead singers through the step-by-step process of mastering the technique. Throughout, Smith speaks sympathetically and encouragingly to the singer in search of an unencumbered and effective approach to the art.The Naked Voice is a must-read for all singers, giving teachers and students, amateurs and professionals, access to the methods and concepts that have earned Smith his reputation as one of the most highly-sought-after vocal instructors in the international arena today.

Chapters: A Wholistic Approach to Singing, On Speaking, On Breathing, The First Invention, The Second Invention, The Third Invention, Spontaneous Combustion, The Wobble, Getting High, Playing the Game, Finding Your Own Path, La Voce is You, Lifestyles of the Healthy Singer, How to Be Successful

6650b | Songbook & Online Audio $34.95 Vocal Technique