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 of all age groups. A passionate, warm, and outgoing teacher, she is experienced working with preschool children, primary school aged children, adolescents, adults of all ages, and seniors and 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 or 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, 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 organizations and their affiliates, including the North York Festival, Toronto Kiwanis Festival, and the Ontario Provincial Music Festival.
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, University of Mississippi, B.C Provincial Music Festival, Grande Prairie Music Teachers’ Association, Regina Conservatory of Music, Regina Music Teachers’ Association, Ryerson Oakham House Choir, Opera Atelier, and the Royal Canadian College of Organists.
Allison completed a Bachelors of Music in Voice Performance at the University of Victoria and a Masters of Music in Opera at the University of Toronto, 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 W. Stephen Smith, Mary Morrison, Timothy Noble, Wendy Nielsen, Selena James, Alexandra Browning, Diana Woolrich, and Norma Bertsch.
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.
