Allison has taught private voice and theory for twenty years and takes a great deal of joy in imparting her musical knowledge to students from various musical backgrounds and of all age groups. A passionate, warm, and enthusiastic teacher, she is experienced working with preschool children, primary school children, adolescents, adults of all ages, and seniors in a variety of musical genres, including classical, musical theatre, pop, jazz, blues, folk, and singer-songwriters. She also has experience working with trans singers and seeing both them and changing adolescent voices through their vocal transitions. She has worked with numerous students who have come to her with vocal injuries, including nodules, muscle tension dysphonia, or hoarseness resulting from prolonged illness or intubation.
Allison works to provide a space that is inclusive, encouraging, inspiring, and safe, regardless of race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, religion, cultural background, or creed. Since music has always been a source of great joy in her life, she aims to provide a fun, open, and encouraging environment in which her students can freely explore, experiment, and discover. Skills she may seek to improve include intonation, breath management, vocal range, vocal timbre and production, musical style, posture and alignment, and diction. Allison is experienced singing and teaching repertoire in English, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and French, and has also supported her students in exploring repertoire in additional languages, including Russian, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese.
An experienced Royal Conservatory of Music examiner, she has examined candidates across Canada and her students have excelled and scored high marks in exams ranging from preparatory to ARCT levels, both in voice and theory. A registered and active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ORMTA), and the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association (CMFAA), Allison’s students have won competitions and been awarded scholarships through both these organisations and their affiliates, including the North York, Toronto Kiwanis, and Ontario Provincial Music Festivals. Her students have additionally performed for a variety of professional and amateur organisations, and been accepted into competitive training programs throughout Canada and in Europe.
An experienced adjudicator and clinician, Allison has adjudicated numerous music festivals from coast to coast and has conducted choral, vocal, and educational workshops and masterclasses for the Edna Manley Music College in Kingston, Jamaica, the University of Mississippi, the British Columbia Provincial Music Festival, the Grande Prairie Music Teachers’ Association, the Regina Conservatory of Music, the Regina Music Teachers’ Association, the Royal Canadian College of Organists, Halcyon Choir, Cantabile Chamber Choir, Ontario Cross-Cultural Music Society Choir, Toronto Concert Choir (formerly Ryerson Oakham House Choir), Vox Choir, MacLachlan College, Opera Atelier, and the voice studios of Diana Woolrich and Jennifer Carter.
Allison completed a Masters of Music in Opera at the University of Toronto and a Bachelors of Music in Voice Performance at the University of Victoria, and was a young artist in the Calgary Opera Emerging Artist Program. Still active as a performer and a lifelong learner, she currently studies intermittently with W. Stephen Smith in Chicago, and her past teachers and mentors have included Mary Morrison, Timothy Noble, Wendy Nielsen, Selena James, Alexandra Browning, Diana Woolrich, and Norma Bertsch.
When she isn’t singing or teaching, she enjoys attending rock concerts and music festivals, going to the climbing gym, running down by the lake, playing tennis, traveling, reading, knitting, photographing, practising French, and spending time with her husband and dog in the great outdoors through their various skiing, backpacking, hiking, and camping expeditions.
For inquiries about either online or in person voice or theory instruction, or for more information, please contact Allison directly. She would be delighted to hear from you.
2023 Studio Recital Photo
