Debbie has a wonderful knack of describing exactly what she wants from her students’ technique in a way that speaks to the individual. If one image she uses doesn’t speak to you she always has another way of describing exactly what she wants! A great teacher with infinite patience who nevertheless is prepared to push her students to get the best out of them.

Lessons with Debbie have always been fun and enormously helpful: great warm ups, lovely ideas for repertoire, super to have her piano accompaniments.

Her interpretive suggestions and humorous visualisations always worked for me too!

Deborah is a joy to work with, sparky, funny, demanding, encouraging and patient. The reason she is so effective in front of choirs is that besides her great gifts as a vocal coach she is a born collaborator. Her understanding of what hard-pressed singers and conductors need comes from personal experience as both.

The points she makes arise naturally out of the concern of the moment, and she tempers brilliantly what she does according to the difficulty of the programme, the stress level and the lateness of the hour.

She finds new solutions to old problems and old solutions, always freshly expressed, to new ones. 

I asked Debbie to run a ‘Back to Basics’ workshop on Zoom. Our members had not sung for months and were desperate to participate in some organised singing.  Debbie put together a couple of one hour sessions incorporating some excellent warm up and singing exercises to help everyone ‘get back in the groove’. Our members loved the sessions and Debbie too. We had some very positive feedback, for example:

“Thank you so much for tonight's fantastic 'Back to Basics' workshop.  I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and found all of the warm-up exercises most helpful.  I have left the session feeling very refreshed and BUZZING!  I can't wait to start rehearsals again"

I would not hesitate to recommend Debbie as a voice coach, singing teacher, or workshop leader either on line or (preferably) in person. 

Debbie has been teaching me singing since July 2020 and I find her kind, encouraging and very knowledgeable - in fact she continues to research the art of singing and introduces new techniques and exercises every lesson.  Typically, half the time is spent on technique and the other half on repertoire.  Every lesson is different and we have covered 11 songs in these five months, in four languages.  Her outgoing and engaging personality always make for an entertaining and enjoyable hour!

As a singer herself, Debbie knows how the voice works. She uses this skill and her insight into my way of thinking and my musical knowledge, or lack of it, to explain to me what she wants in a way that is clear and understandable. Being an accomplished accompanist, Debbie can tailor any lesson the way it’s needed which encourages me and motivates me to achieve continuous improvement.

I have had so much positive feedback that I don't know where to begin. The ladies especially enjoyed working with someone who really understands the female voice. In fact lots of singers said how much they valued working with a actual singer - it is quite a different perspective from the one offered by many a conductor.

After the first hour everyone seemed to feel that they sang better, but most important, Deborah turned a piece which had been quite hard work into something we began to feel we could manage, and could actually perform with some sense of the occasion and fun. Her warm approach meant everyone felt they learned something and improved.

Praise for your work with the singers continues to be voiced. Everyone has expressed how much they enjoyed the session. One of my choristers last night explained how satisfying it was to have vocal matters discussed in terms which amateur singers could understand. No one was talked down to, a sensible choice of music was well used to demonstrate typical choral challenges and useful vocal modelling was offered.

Basic physical issues (such as posture, sitting and standing) were not ignored and a positive atmosphere was created throughout with much humour among the many bons mots!

One singer e-mailed me to say how the time had flown for him. Another - a young tenor emailed to express surprise that we had been able to call on the services of such an eminent expert.

Debbie has been my singing teacher since 2002. During this time my vocal range, stamina and confidence have improved dramatically.

She has taught me to understand how my voice works and how to identify and overcome perceived vocal problems.Her vocal exercise regimes, which are challenging at times, have been key to this. She has encouraged me to learn a wide range of repertoire.

Her teaching is further enhanced not only by her own knowledge and experience as a professional singer, but also her language and keyboard accompaniment skills. 

Lessons with Debbie are well constructed, challenging and enjoyable. I always come away motivated to learn more.If you are prepared to put in the practice she will help you achieve levels of singing you never thought possible!

Thank you Debbie for years of singing inspiration.

Singing on your own in front of someone can be as nerve-wracking as if they’d asked you to take all your clothes off, but the good thing about Debbie is that she bounces everything along in such a bracing way that you soon forget to feel embarrassed about exposing yourself vocally.

Rather than presenting you with a list of your imperfections all at once, she introduces opportunities for improvement by degrees so you’re not completely overwhelmed by how much work there is to do. She has the perfect vocal exercise for every occasion, and songs in appropriate keys for every voice.

Debbie is never less than wholeheartedly enthusiastic and refuses to be anything but positive in the face of whatever you throw at her - she really does seem to believe in your capacity for improvement even (especially!) when you don’t yourself!

I am sure that you will all agree that Deborah was a wonderfully 'accessible' singing tutor. I learned an enormous amount from her splendidly clear instruction, which was imparted with great good humour and all-round encouragement. Somehow, she cheerfully avoided any negative comment and was always positive about the technical points that she was trying to explain. Brilliant!

Many said how well she dealt with the youngsters, never talking down to them and giving them real encouragement. From where I was at the back, the difference she made to their sound by just correcting one vowel sound was absolutely amazing!

Debbie has been working with me for the best part of two decades with both of my choirs, doing technical and voice coaching with the boy choristers of St Albans Cathedral Choir and similarly with St Albans Bach Choir.

Her energy and enthusiasm when she attends rehearsals really helps lift the singers' and the conductor’s spirits, her acute ear for vocal sound transforms singers, sections or the whole choir alike and she has the ability to pin point exactly what will help deal with a knotty technical issue and put it right quickly and efficiently.

It is this last aspect that really inspires confidence in singers and I have found it invaluable over the years.

 

Debbie’s lessons are helping me hugely and since starting as a beginner I have noticed a great improvement with my singing technique, as well as sight-reading, general musicianship and confidence.

From the beginning, Debbie had a very clear idea of what I needed to work on in order to develop my singing. I really appreciated her identifying specific areas for improvement and setting the direction. There are usually one or two key elements to remember from each lesson, which provides a good focus for practicing and is a useful way of building up the technique.

During 2020 I appreciated how Debbie adapted the lessons to continue via Skype. It works really well and has allowed me to continue to work on my singing.

I have been having lessons with Debbie for over 10 years. Right from the start she was encouraging and positive. 

She has the uncanny ability to identify the vocal problem just from hearing a few bars of singing. 

Her coaching  always works as she is focused and  clear in her advice. The advice is not general but tailored to the individual in front of her. She has a vast armoury of vocal exercises to tackle any vocal problem. She also chooses exercises that are relevant to the repertoire  I am learning so that the warm up section is directly relevant to the current repertoire.She is adaptable to beginner or professional. 

It’s always a pleasure having a lesson and I look forward to my sessions with her as I always leave feeling positive.

Debbie provided St Albans Bach Choir with a series of Masterclasses during Lock-Down 2020 and each was like a lifebelt for a drowning man (or woman). We got  to exercise our voices and to sing some music together, all lead by the incomparable Debbie! We are back for more to keep us going during 2021. Thank you Debbie.

Debbie’s lessons are hard work, but always fun!  Debbie is skilled at getting the best out of her students, and she tailors exercises and voice production techniques to move students away from bad habits and to develop their voice.  

Lessons always end with performing pieces, which Debbie accompanies herself on the piano.  This  gives the opportunity to learn a wide variety of repertoire, and also to develop performance skills and musical interpretation.

I have occasional singing lessons with Debbie.  We work hard; I get plenty of constructive criticism, but it’s always blended with a (valid?!) compliment. I leave feeling inspired (and mentally exhausted!), determined to work on my voice regularly.  ‘Little and often’ is Debbie’s advice, and that’s eminently achievable. 

I have had lessons with Debbie for many years. Lessons are relaxed, fun and rewarding.

She is very knowledgeable and tenacious (can get bossy when she needs to be!) when teaching technique but also doubles as a style and language coach so teaches a lot of her technique through repertoire. It also helps that she is a good pianist so you get to know the accompaniments. 

I found Deborah after seeking a teacher to help me improve my vocal skills. I have always sung, however, sought to enhance my technique.

Deborah is an absolutely wonderful teacher; she's incredibly patient, supportive, and charismatic to the point where I feel like I'm singing with an old friend.

Deborah is also very experienced and highly knowledgeable. She has helped me gain a better understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the voice. The lessons, albeit challenging on occasion, have helped me grow substantially as a vocalist. I highly recommend! 

Debbie’s teaching style is infectiously enthusiastic, brisk, energetic, positive; she listens and observes acutely, and picks up things I don’t even know I'm doing. Lessons are packed with exercises chosen to develop technique and extend one’s range, followed by putting it all into practice singing songs, which is the after all the whole point!  

Debbie never seems to tire. She uses humour and anecdote; she explains, she analyses, she demonstrates, she entertains. To ensure that nothing can be forgotten (after all, a significant number of her pupils are not in the prime of life!) she encourages singers to record their lessons, and she expects them to go away and practise. And to come back for more!