Hello, Singers!
I’m soprano and vocal pedagogue, Heidi Vass. In my 20+ years as a singer, teacher and mentor, I’ve learned a lot about the art and craft of singing. And I’ve been incredibly busy using that knowledge and skillset to build the best platform for teaching voice on the planet.
Starting with the questions, What do classical singers need to learn? and Who are the best people in the world to teach it? — I set out to recruit top artists and leading experts, and to curate a platform to bring you the best structured tutorials you’ll find anywhere.
It all starts with the voice.
All great vocal study should begin from the foundation of the physical process of singing. The human voice is a miracle, and no two voices are the same. Though every human voice has unique, beautiful qualities, the foundational principles of vocal production are universal.
In classical singing, we have been studying this process for centuries. From historical techniques that are still used to train the world’s elite opera singers (Bel Canto) to cutting edge science-informed voice pedagogy, tonebase Voice is built on the foundation of vocal technique. On this journey, you’ll learn how your voice works and how to actually apply the principles of solid vocal technique.
Of course, not every avenue for the pursuit of technique appeals to every singer. Even within the classical singing world, there are divergent stylistic considerations. That’s why we are building a library of experts from the U.S. and abroad with differing perspectives and specialties, including…
- U.K. voice expert Dr. Jenevora Williams, who will teach you how the voice fundamentally works.
- World-class opera coach Rachelle Jonck, who will lead you through the principles and practice of Bel Canto technique.
- Lynn Helding, the world’s leading expert on science-informed voice pedagogy, who will teach you principles of voice technique.
- Don Brinegar, a legendary choral technician, who will share insights into sound production for the choral singer.
Of course, what would all of that vocal technique be without a repertoire that you can apply it to? With that in mind, we have assembled a roster of world-class singers, vocal coaches and master voice teachers to walk you through the best repertoire out there!
With Sasha Cooke teaching you to sing Carmen, Rod Gilfry showing you Rogers and Hammerstein’s classic Soliloquy, Paul Groves sharing his wealth of knowledge with Schubert, John Holiday showing you how to soar with Handel, and Amy Shoremount-Obra helping you tackle Beethoven’s Arias…there are so many wonderful pieces you’ll be able to explore and practice to develop your vocal technique.
If all those languages feel a bit challenging to you, we have the resources to help you navigate that too! With courses in IPA, Italian, French and German diction launching all season, you’ll not only have the technical skills to navigate the repertoire, but you’ll have the resources to manage singing in all the foundational languages for classical voice.
Though we are launching with a wonderful tutorial library steeped in art song and opera, diction and technique, we will be bringing you new repertoire with an ever-expanding roster of world-class singers, teachers and coaches every week. There will always be something new launching on tonebase Voice!
I look forward to meeting you and interacting with you in the coming weeks and months, as we launch our LIVE streams and Two-Week Intensives. As you’ll soon see, tonebase Voice is much more than a video course library. It’s a living community that exists to help you get involved, ask questions, and most importantly — SING!
Helping singers find their voice is my life’s passion. I can’t wait to share that passion with you and inspire you to be the best singer you can be, on the world’s greatest online training platform for singers: tonebase Voice.
Welcome!
Heidi Vass, B.M., M.M., NATS
