Kingston - Voice Lessons

abby stewart (Voice)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Style: musical

Teaching Day(s): Sunday

Abby Stewart is a 22-year-old singer/songwriter from Kingston, Ontario. She is a graduate of the St Lawrence College Music Theatre performance program and is currently continuing to get her BMT degree at Queens University. She has been singing and performing since she was 8 years old. She has her original music on all streaming services and has many music videos on her YouTube channel. She has opened and/or performed with many talents such as Dan + Shay, Hunter Hayes, Brett Kissel, Jess Moskaluke, Dallas Smith, Tim Hicks, and more.
Abby has been doing private online vocal and guitar lessons for 4 years and is excited
to make the move to Long and McQuade!
Abby charges $26 per half hour.

ari bautista oldale (Piano, Voice)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Day(s): Monday, Thursday, Friday

Ari is a classically-trained pianist, self-taught singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter with over 15 years of experience in many competitive, creative, & educational contexts. Between Ari’s involvement in the youth jazz scene and her classical piano training through RCM (Grade 9), she developed a strong passion for the world of music. While at Queen’s, she decided to pursue her interests in anatomy & the life sciences but continued to do casual freelance piano lessons and explored the collegiate a cappella scene. Between 2014 and 2018, she fulfilled positions of music director and business director for the pop/folk/R&B-inspired ensemble Trillers A Cappella and remained a member until graduating in 2020. During the past few years, her focus was to tap into a unique sound and buckle down to work on writing and producing her debut album, released in April 2023. Now looking to return to the teaching side of music, Ari hopes to use her versatile background in anatomy, music theory, education, and performance to help young pianists and singers meet their goals and have fun getting there. Her intent for future piano students is to help them develop fundamental tools every pianist needs: rhythm, reading music, understanding music theory, and developing a strong technical basis. Her intent with future voice students is similar, with the addition of helping them find their unique sound and exploring their creativity while maintaining a healthy, sustainable, and anatomically-informed singing technique.
Ari charges $26 per half hour lesson.

brittany smith (voice, songwriting)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Style: classical, rock

Teaching Day(s): Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Brittany has years of experience writing, performing and recording music with numerous bands across a wide range of genres. She has been teaching voice, guitar and songwriting since 2011 and recently added ukulele to her teaching repertoire. Brittany's relaxed voice teaching style blends classical and modern techniques with encouragement and positivity to bring out the best in her students. She works with guitar and uke students on chording, rhythm and accompaniment.
Brittany charges $27 per half hour private lesson.

darcie watson-laird (Piano, Voice, Trumpet)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Style: classical, musical

Teaching Day(s): Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Darcie (BAH, BMT) is a highly accomplished musician and performer who began teaching in 2015. Since then, she has developed a robust teaching method that caters to the unique needs and aspirations of each student. Darcie's approach to teaching emphasizes providing a well-rounded musical education encompassing multiple genres. Furthermore, she places great importance on music theory, sight reading, and ear training, understanding that these elements form the foundation for musical growth and proficiency. Her philosophy for vocal training is centered on the belief that anyone, of any age, can sing, provided they are given the correct tools to maintain a healthy sound. Darcie is also interested in
examining traditional methods of teaching to determine how they can be accurately adapted to reflect new research and findings in the industry.
Darcie firmly believes in the transformative power of music, recognizing its ability to enhance mental development, foster creativity, and instill a sense of discipline and dedication. With this understanding, she strives to make a positive and enduring impact on each of her students, nurturing their musical abilities and helping them discover their own unique artistic voice.
Darcie charges $26 per half hour.

patty smith (Voice, Voice, Voice)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Style: pop, pop, pop

Teaching Day(s): Monday, Tuesday, Saturday

Patty is a Kingston singer, voice teacher and choral director (Frontenac Women’s Chorus, 2015-2020) who has performed locally with various ensembles and as a special guest for various choral and orchestral concerts since 1997. She has taught private voice lessons since 2003; taught Applied Voice in the MDM Program at St. Lawrence College (2012-2022), and comes armed with knowledge gleaned from a BMUS (Queen’s University, Voice, Distinction), a College Degree (Humber College, Jazz Vocal, Honours), a certification to teach voice at the highschool level (B.Ed, Queen’s University), many years of private lessons with voice teachers from Kingston to Toronto, plus ongoing research. Having studied and loved many genres, Patty typically performs a mix ranging from 16th-century madrigals and Traditional, to 20th Century art music and jazz/blues/musical standards, to Sting and Joni Mitchel, all in one concert.
Patty has put together a solid teaching foundation that emphasizes good breath support and healthy vocal technique with which to express the student’s unique voice in a free, well-placed, sonorous manner. This classically based technique is used for all genres to keep the voice healthy and supple, to improve range, vocal tone, flexibility and durability, and is based on anatomical knowledge of the mechanisms that support and produce the wonderful phenomenon of singing.
Patty charges $26 per half hour.