I'm a singer, actor, and teacher. I grew up in the Atlanta area singing at church and in musicals around town. After graduating from Converse University (it was College when I went there) with Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, I lived in Cleveland, Ohio for about 12 years singing and teaching alongside my work in the nonprofit field. Some of my favorite roles include Marian in The Music Man, Father in Children of Eden, Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast, The Waiter in She Loves Me in theatres in Cleveland and most recently Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music at Spartanburg Little Theatre. My wife and I moved back to Spartanburg in Feb 2023 and I'm excited to build up a studio here as we expand our family. If you're looking to prepare for an audition, improve your sight reading, work on acting/storytelling when you sing a song, improve your breath support, or sing new styles, I'd be glad to work with you!
Details:
General Lesson times: Tuesdays 3-6pm; Thursdays 3-6pm; Other times available upon request
Cost: $40 for an hour lesson; $25 for a half hour lesson (payable via cash, check, Venmo, or CashApp); Scholarships available. I never want cost to be a barrier for a motivated student so please ask if a scholarship makes lessons more accessible for you!
Email with questions: gwen.stembridge@gmail.com
I believe that if you can talk, you can sing! With that said, the more you practice certain styles and techniques, the more skilled you'll be at them! Here's what to expect when you come to a lesson:
I start out lessons with a check-in. Our minds and bodies and spirits are so connected and it's important to me to know what's going on in the lives of my students that might impact their singing. It helps me know when to give grace and when to work a little harder to get you to your full potential.
Then we'll warm up. The voice is made up of muscles and so just like in sports, dance, or any other kind of movement, we must warm up our voices to avoid strain and encourage healthy singing. Sometimes warm-ups involve making some unexpected sounds. We might meow like a cat to feel the resonance in our faces or make a "whoo" sound like we're on a roller coaster to stretch our range with freedom. All of these exercises help students move toward singing with more ease and strength.
We'll work on a song. This might be a song that you've brought that you want to work on for an audition or recital or that you want to sing at karaoke! While I'm classically trained and have sung mostly classical and musical theatre styles, I teach techniques that can be used for classical, musical theatre, folk, R&B, gospel, rock, and pop music. When we work on a song, I'll incorporate music theory and music reading into the lesson so that you're expanding your toolbox of skills. If you don't have sheet music for a piece, I can help you find some that we can work from together. If you would like help picking songs that might sound good in your voice, we can do that too!
Singing is about expressing and communicating stories and emotions. It's not about how much you sound like a professional recording. It's about how you bring your unique voice and spirit to a song. We'll work on storytelling once you feel confident on the notes and words.
Performance Opportunities: The studio will host occasional annual recitals during which all students from the past year are invited to sing.