VOICE STUDIO | TORONTO

Welcome to my Voice and Singing Performance Studio!

In this very dynamic and creative studio, every artist and student receives top level technical and performance coaching from an international industry perspective as well as access to study and performance opportunities in Canada, Mexico and France, including regularly scheduled masterclasses given by nationally and internationally renowned artists (singers, stage directors, conductors, agents). All of this offers a well-rounded and multi-dimensional mentorship to the artists.

There is full range of study options from “ad hoc” coachings to intensive “artistic residencies” for emerging/professional singers to suit their development and performance needs, be it preparation for recital/concert/role engagements, main-stage auditions and competition preparation.  Alternately, if you are a developing artist looking for a new musical home, I offer structured “semester” sessions with a plan mutually discerned for your specific needs and objectives. If this is you, DON’T FORGET TO ASK about the discount pricing for prepaid options (month or full semester)

The Singing Experience, in a word…

The human voice, the human body and the journey to master it as a musical instrument is mystical and abstract. For as many singers one may meet, there will be an equal number of varied descriptions and explanations of how they do what they do, both in the techniques of vocal production and interpretation. But, all of the great singers and teachers seem to agree on a common destination with each their unique road to get there. For me, that is one of the great points of curiosity in my vocation as a performing and teaching artist and is a great motivator in my pedagogical life. The conversation that I have with each artist I work with is unique in that no two people learn the same way. In my 30 years of teaching experience, I discovered I have a thousand ways to explain a thousand different things.

In my studio, I take on a holistic approach strongly rooted in the traditional Italian school of singing (Bel Canto). In that, great emphasis is expressed on the importance of the singer’s breath, the mechanics of breathing, engaging a “thoughtful” breath, the relationship between the breath and the voice, how to engage the voice (onset), tuning and harmonizing the vowels in their resonance and the development of the legato vocal line. I’m a firm believer that 50% of the singer’s technique relies on the Actor’s Process and the development of dramatic expression. As artists, we primarily work with words and the music is the dramatic extension. Ultimately, our objective is to develop the singing experience so that one feels one’s voice as etherial, effortless, yet profoundly vibrant and powerful, colourful and meaningful, successfully communicating the truth of the artist and their character while satisfying the performance space.

As a pedagogue:

Voice… Piano… Chamber Music… Performance Coaching

Stuart Graham, with 30 years as a pedagogue and performance coach, enjoys a solid reputation at home and abroad as a strong advocate and teacher of the lyric arts. Well regarded in the Toronto scene, he came to Toronto from Montréal, then affiliated with the Conservatoire de Musique de Québec à Montréal,  Mr. Graham’s studio quickly took root and the artists under his tutelage have enjoyed a very high and consistent rate of success, both at a student level and in the professional arena locally and points abroad (Université de Montréal, McGill University, Conservatoire de Musique de Québec à Montréal, University of Toronto, Glenn Gould School | Royal Conservatory of Music – Toronto, Berkley School of Music – Boston, Manhattan School of Music – New York, Britten-Pears – England, Royal Academy of Music – London, concert and opera engagements throughout Canada, USA, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Czech & Slovak Rep., Bulgaria & Romania). He is called upon to adjudicate graduate level recitals for the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) as well as for Music Festivals across Canada. Mr. Graham’s  pedagogical outreach now includes an established studio in Mexico City as well as producing/teaching a summer artistic residency at La Roche d’Hys: Domaine des Arts, Bourgogne, France, functioning as part of FORO S Pro Artist Incubator of which he is founder and general/artistic director, as well as being Past VP for the Executive Council of National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Ontario Chapter.

Some Success Stories:

Artists that have enjoyed the service of this Artist Incubator Program have directly acheived:

• Admittance (full performance scholarship – Graduate level) to McGill University, Conservatoire de Musique de Québec à Montréal, Unversité de Montréal, University of Toronto, Glenn Gould School | Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), Royal Academy of Music (London, England), Britten-Pears School, Manhattan School of Music (New York, USA), Berkley School of Music (Boston, USA)
• 1st Prize winner of the Classical Singer International Singing Competition (New York, New York)
• Prize winners in competitions in Barcelona, Brataslava.
• Finalist – New York Oratorio Society, New York City
• Professional engagements for concert, opera and musical theatre in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Chicago, New York, Sarasota, London, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Mexico City, Bogota, Medellin, Lima, Rome, Budapest, Prague, Bratislava, Burgas (Bulgaria), Bucharest & Brasov (Romania),  as well as for the Festival Juste Pour Rire, Cirque du Soleil, Shaw Festival, Stratford Festival.

un peu de frou frou…
Stuart Graham as Baron Gondremark in Toronto Operetta Theatre’s production of Jacques Offenbach’s LA VIE PARISIENNE, St. Lawrence Centre of the Arts, Toronto, Canada  (photo credit: Emily Ding)

Poulenc – Les Banalités

In recital with pianist Narmina Afandiyeva in Jeanne Lamon Hall, Toronto, Canada

As Taddeo/Tonio in Leoncavallo’s I PAGLIACCI with the Compagnia di Canto Vittorio Tosto in Milan, Italy

Prospectus:

Technical development is concentrated on the principles of Bel Canto singing

• Art of Breath
• Vocal Production – tuning and harmonizing vowels in their resonance, range and dynamic development, negotiation of registers
• Art of Articulation

Diction

• English
• French
• German
• Italian
• Spanish (Castillano & various accents of Latin America)
• Latin (Italian, German & French)
• Russian
• Czech

Performance Coaching of different Period & Musical Styles from Medival to Current Day

Repertoire:

• Art Song|Melodie|Lied
• Concert|Mass|Oratorio
• Opera
• Musical Theatre

 Preparation for:

• RCM Preparatory exams
• University/Conservatory Entrance Auditions
• Main-Stage auditions and Competitions (Regional/National/International)
• Public Performance (Role/Concert)

For more information or to book your free consultation, please contact Mr. Graham through the form below:

Breath & Warm-up: In Lesson with Stuart Graham

Excerpt of a studio performance of Pergolesi’s STABAT MATER