Testimonials

I have been learning singing from Carmela for several years and it has been an amazing experience. This is my second attempt to learn singing, after a break of some 40 years, and came about because I returned to amateur musical theatre and realised that I needed help with both technique and extending my bass-baritone range upwards.

Having been a teacher myself and knowing that Carmela had a background in both teaching and music, I was confident that my lessons would go well. I soon realised, however, that teaching singing is unlike the teaching of any other discipline because what we are learning is the manipulation of internal parts of our bodies over which we have limited direct control. To complicate matters further, there is no agreed definition of the vocabulary that we all understand and can act upon.

This is where Carmela’s knowledge and personal experience of learning singing come to the fore. In my early lessons, she would often ask me if I could hear some particular sound or fault in my technique and I would look at herblankly. Unfazed, Carmela would then seek to either demonstrate what she had heard and/or describe it in a different way until I understood. This is the mark of a true teacher and few people have the skills that Carmelabrings to bear in her lessons.

As time went on, Carmela and I established a vocabulary that she knew would elicit the responses she required from me. Needless to say, this means of communication makes for much greater efficiency of learning and satisfaction with the learning process. Two of my adult daughters also take lessons with Carmela and I know from speaking with them that she has particular ways of communicating with each of them that are both personal and meaningful.

In addition to being able communicate her requirements superbly, Carmela has an extraordinarily good ear for picking up and determining the causes of errors or quirks in technique. Combining this with her eagle eye for posture and breathing means that her students receive a complete package of techniques for singing success.

Carmela is, of course, a classically trained singer but she has developed her teaching techniques to include the full range of singing styles that young students require today. When waiting for my own lessons, I have often heard her teaching students modern styles of singing with the same detail and support that she supplies to students learning classical or musical theatre styles.

For those of us who are native speakers of English, Carmela’s Italian background is of immense importance. Whether we like it or not, English vowels and Australian diphthongs just don’t cut it for singing – the Italians have the vowel sounds that give rise to clarity, no matter what size the venue. As well as being fluent in Italian, Carmela has sufficient knowledge of both French and German for those who wish to learn the operatic repertoire, a repertoire with which she has great familiarity.

When it comes to the early training of children, Carmela is just as skillful, careful and sensitive as she is with adults: I know because she also teaches one of my grand-daughters. Carmela is very careful with the young voice to make sure that it is not damaged by an over-abundance of enthusiasm while still ensuring the satisfaction that comes from making progress.

Finally, I would like to comment on the pleasure of learning singing with Carmela. She is always happy to see her students and there are never any histrionics – she is not a temperamental artiste. I always feel a sense of achievement and happiness when I have a lesson and the experience would be worthwhile as a tonic even if I learned nothing about singing, but that is never the case!