MY GREATEST WHY

"When you LOVE what you do, you'll never work a day in your life". I'm paraphrasing what Confucius said, but it's true: we are happiest when we are doing what we love to do. That's something I learned a long time ago. When I'm happy, I inspire those around me to find their own happiness. As a voice and music teacher, choral director, and musical theater director, my students inspire me as much as I inspire them, maybe more so because it keeps me motivated to continue on my path as a mentor.

When I was a classroom music teacher, a student gave me a coffee cup that says, "The Tape That's Holding My Day Together".  She said it reminded her of my music classes and she wanted me to have it. Every time I drink my morning coffee out of that mug, it reminds me of why I do what I do. 

But there are reminders everywhere, every moment of my day.

When I was her age, I moved across the country from New York City to a swampy little town in Florida. I was missing my friends, I missed the four seasons, and I was was really missing the diverse culture and history of the big city. 

I was so unhappy that my grades plummeted from straight As and honor roll to nearly failing and being left back, all because I didn't have a connection to something greater than myself.

Till I discovered singing. 

Joining the choir breathed life into me. My grades shot back up to straight As, I got leads in musicals, went to All-State, won Solo & Ensemble competitions, and got scholarships for music college. 

I knew singing saved me, and I couldn't possible give it up. 

I promised myself that if I did everything I wanted to do as a singer, that I would one day pass the torch to  other singers. 

I've gotten to perform all over the world, seeing places I would never otherwise see if it wasn't for singing. I've toured with Broadway shows, I've written my own headlining shows, won songwriting competitions, and sang on cruise ships. It's an amazing life that I chose, and there is opportunity for anyone who chooses it, too. I can help you find the right path for you! 

When the pandemic hit, I had to pivot and give up the touring life. There was a bit of fear in performers that the industry would never bounce back again. What the hell were we going to do?

Well, we professional singers -- we've got grit.

We know how to survive if we sometimes struggle to thrive. Because when we thrive, we thrive BIG TIME.

My 25+ years in the music industry kept calling me throughout the pandemic. Literally. I've dug my heels so deep into the industry that I was called for regular booking engagements. And, some singers needed to keep up their vocal training, but also they really wanted to maintain a sense of balance and hope.

Teaching voice, singing for the joy of it, and the reciprocal nature of being a professional singer will forever continue to beckon me. 

 And I wouldn't have it any other way.

The choir at the high school where I learned to love singing so much no longer exists. I think about all the young would-be songbirds that never discovered their voice, their version of "happy" the way I did, because they don't have an outlet for it. What if singing could have changed their entire life, like it did mine? Like it did for my student who gave me that coffee mug? 

She's still singing to this day, in fact. She still has her 'happy".

ACADEMIA

I've long had an issue with academia. Colleges taking your money from you but never really giving you a way to survive in the real world, particularly in the music industry.

Yes, I have a masters in music and a post-secondary degree in speech pathology. But most of the things that I've experienced as a professional singer have nothing to do with what I learned in college.

I learned from pounding the pavement, learning the hard lessons, and asking questions from those who knew more than I did. No one taught me that in a classroom, but I certainly asked the right people the right questions. I'm glad I did because it got me where I needed to be so that now I can teach others. 

However, in teaching private lessons I can teach technique and I can have short conversations about the industry. But I just don't have the ability to teach everything I know in that one hour my students have with me once a week.

This is why the online course structure intrigued me; I've been through several as a student myself, so I decided to build my own courses.

It started during the pandemic, when I began by calling everyone I knew to talk about their experiences in performing, and what they believed our new normal would look like on the other side. I called this the Successful Singers Interview Series. Then I created a children's songwriting course.

Ideas began to flourish, but there was one that I didn't think was attainable back then; a full-suite mentorship for Songbirds who want to become professional singers. 

Well, here I am, and I couldn't be more excited! I now own an online and in-person vocal academy, a music school that teaches children to professionals everything they need to know to make it work in this industry, the way they envision it: 
The Business of Singing Mentorship.

This is how to be happy! This is how to live the life you love. The pandemic gave me, and all singers, a breather to pivot a little bit so that we could regroup and figure out a new way to do what we love. 

BOOK YOUR 1:1 PRIVATE LESSON WITH CORINNE

(ONLINE OR IN MY STUDIO)