Our Teachers
Along with Elaine Overholt’s private teaching, Big Voice has some of the best vocal, acting, piano & guitar teachers/coaches to be found anywhere!
We are Currently Accepting New Students from Beginner to Professional Singers!
Elaine Overholt – see “Elaine’s Bio”
Kat Lucas
To have someone with Kat Lucas‘ world-class experience teaching at Big Voice Studios is truly a coup! As a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and session musician, she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her students at Big Voice. From 2009-2014, Kat toured with international pop icon P!NK on backing vocals, keyboards and guitar and she currently writes, sings lead vocals, and plays synth and guitar in indie band Toy Daggers.
At age three, Kat started at the Yamaha Music School, studying classical piano, jazz piano, improvisation, and composition and then represented Yamaha all over the world, conducting workshops, performing her original material and learning all she could about stage performance. By Grade 9, she had completed her Grade 10 Piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music and wrote a concerto called “Dreamcatcher” which she performed with the ‘Toronto Philharmonia’. Kat has also had extensive training in both guitar and voice. Some of her early coaches include Oscar Peterson and Carol Welsman, but most recently, her training with Elaine Overholt has taken her knowledge of the voice and performing to another level.
She has performed at arenas and stadiums all over the world, including festivals such as iHeart, Isle of Wight and Hyde Park Wireless. Her television appearances include the American Music Awards, X-Factor, Ellen, The View, The Today Show, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, VH1 Storytellers and Jimmy Kimmel.
When Kat discovered the toll that a major tour can take on one’s vocal cords, she set herself to learning the importance of proper technique and training, and how to keep her voice healthy under a very demanding tour schedule. With over a decade of experience in the music industry, she is very excited to share her wealth of knowledge and take her students to the next level in their understanding of proper technique, and stage performance. We LOVE having Kat at Big Voice!
Denielle Bassels
What a voice and talent Denielle Bassels has! One of the most unique and powerful artists on the performing/recording scene today, Denielle is an award-winning singer, songwriter, and teacher of jazz, blues, pop, theatre and music off the beaten path.
Since her return to Canada from Switzerland, where she was performing her unique style of jazz/electro-swing/pop, Denielle has completed her Bachelors of Music from Humber College, released her studio EP “Gypsy Summer”, won the grand prize in the John Lennon Song Competition, and received airplay on both Canadian and European radio. She is a performer for “Electro-Swing Club Toronto”, and her quintet regularly performs various jazz festivals across Ontario, thus giving her first-hand experience in developing a powerful stage personae. She also just received an $8,000 songwriting grant from New Venture Seed Fund.
Bassels has been influenced by singers such as Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee and Amy Winehouse. “At a Jam one night, (in Switzerland), I met a band of gypsy players who asked me to improvise to a tune I’d never heard of, ‘It doesn’t matter, make it up’, they said. And so I did. It was the beginning of many musical adventures”.
As a gentle and passionate teacher, Denielle has helped singers, from children to adults, prepare for auditions and roles for anything from entering music schools to professional roles in theatre, commercials and showcases for pop and R&B performances. No two voices are the same, and so her approach with each student is very personal and caring, catering to each unique individual.
“My goal as a teacher is to unlock the voice that’s already there.” Denielle has also just won a grant from the Canada Council For the Arts and is writing her first full-length album, expected to be released in early 2015!
Hayley Preziosi
Hayley Preziosi is an extremely gifted teacher, coach, artist and songwriter that we are thrilled to have on our team at Big Voice Studios! A graduate from Western University, with a double major in both classical voice and popular music studies, she brings valuable experience and knowledge to share with all artists. Hayley is a very, very passionate teacher. In addition to performing, recording and touring, Hayley has been teaching vocal lessons and workshops around the GTA for the last 8 years. She believes the voice is one of the most powerfully expressive tools we possess, and is inspired to help each singer find their Big Voice!
Currently, Hayley performs and tours regularly with Toronto-based highly-acclaimed a cappella group Countermeasure, best known for their sophisticated arrangements, seamless harmonies, and infectious energy. With Countermeasure, Hayley has shared the stage with such vocal giants as The Swingle Singers, The Nylons, Corey Hart, Chantal Kreviazuk, Nikki Yanofsky, Alan Frew, and Blue Rodeo. She has appeared on Global TV, Rogers TV, CP24 and City TV Breakfast Televison, at the SOCAN Awards, Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, and toured the US, Canada, and Europe. The group’s first two albums “14 Characters” and “Made to Measure” have played on CBC Radio One, JazzFM, and on syndicated radio stations across North America. “Made To Measure” won the 2017 best album at the 2017 Contemporary Acapella Recording Awards.
Hayley’s solo credits include such performances as duetting with the late tenor Michael Burgess, and performing the national anthem at Maple Leaf Gardens. Her Musical Theatre credits include roles such as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast & the Love is a Poverty You Can Sell series. At the Toronto Fringe Festival 2010, NOW Magazine described the show as: “Sultry … Seductive … Uniformly Delectable” ★★★★★,” and won Best of Fringe!
Hayley has also had much studio experience, on recordings of her own, the many recordings of Countermeasure as well as much back-up singing on other artists’ projects. She is also a passionate and prolific songwriter, pianist, is currently writing her first EP, and is passionate and dedicated to each student finding their own unique path as a powerful artist. Her experience in many genres and her deep training in vocal technique make her a powerful teacher. Hayley also has a wicked sense of humour and a way with words!
Bracken Burns
Big Voice Studios is thrilled to introduce coach/teacher Bracken Burns, just recently back from a decade in the UK and exploding onto the Canadian scene with her ‘firecracker’ energy, talent and experience! Bracken has a Masters degree in Arts (performance and pedagogy) from the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is a professional vocalist, coach/teacher, actor, pianist, songwriter, director and producer as well as having been an accomplished videographer for many of her music projects. And yes, she does all of them very well!
Bracken has studied a number of vocal techniques and, as a teacher, has found her focus settling on the Big Voice pedagogy – a thorough combo of vocal technique and powerful performance training. Her students can be found on London’s West End, Britain’s Got Talent, Neptune Theatre, and some are touring across the globe. She has taught voice, musical theatre repertoire and piano for Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Arts1 School of Performance, MacEwan University, Bigfoot Arts Education and several international schools.
With an exciting performing career in the UK which has taken her to Frankfurt, London, Scotland and Wales doing the shows ‘Saturday Night Fever’, ‘Wasted Love’, ‘Four Femmes On Thames’ (Uk Musical Comedy Awards WINNERS 2016), Bracken is now LOVING being back in Canada, her original home. She sports a healthy balance between the art of teaching voice and the arts of performing, directing, acting, writing and producing, which all fuel and deepen her teaching abilities. This is invaluable for her students as they benefit from all of Bracken’s considerable experience. Other performances include appearances in film and television in the UK (Channel 5, InnerQuest, Mysterious Love) as well roles in musicals / concerts such as ‘Singing’ In The Rain’, ‘Clinton The Musical’, ‘Leader Of The Pack’, and the Bath Theatre Royal Production of ‘Singers of the West End Tour’ which toured in London and across the UK, Germany and the English Theatre Frankfurt. Oh yes, and she has acted & played trumpet in a Michael Bublé video. Whew!
When Bracken puts on her producing and directing hats, she adds her expertise to her own company Blahzy Creative (SKY 1, Channel 4 UK) and is currently producing and developing a new musical TV sitcom called “Wasting Love” with Free@Last TV (UK).
There is a deep passion in Bracken for finding the deepest, most powerful artistry possible, not only in herself, but in each and every one of her students. Bracken Burns is a force and we are so fortunate to have her back in Canada and at Big Voice !!
Chris Tsujiuchi – Repertoire Coach/Audition Preparation
Look out Big Voice Studios – here comes a whirlwind known as Chris Tsujiuchi. Immediately after Chris Tsujiuchi graduated from Sheridan College’s Musical Theatre Performance program, they were smart enough to unhesitatingly hire him on as a vocal coach and accompanist. And now we are thrilled to introduce him to you at Big Voice Studios! His talents are vast, ranging from risk-taking performer to musical director to brilliant pianist to arranger to passionate teacher.
Chris has taught and/or music-directed legions of artists in the Canadian musical theatre and pop scenes at Sheridan College, Randolph Academy and George Brown College as well as the brilliant cabaret icon Sharron Matthews. As a singer, he has also toured with the prestigious Nathaniel Dett Chorale and created his own one-man cabaret shows. His extensive and well-received live performances have led him to completely understand the demands of putting a show together and making it world-class.
Michael Hanrahan – Acting and Performance Coach
Michael Hanrahan has established himself as an integral part of Big Voice Studios in Toronto where he instructs students of an elite standard on song performance and speech training and co-teaches the sought-after Performance group sessions with Elaine Overholt. His straightforward approach to coaching inspires singers and actors to find their authentic, powerful and passionate voice and communicate that in their given field. Michael Hanrahan is a founding member & actor of The Soulpepper Theatre Co. which The New York Times heralded “the best reason to stay in the city [of Toronto].” He was hand-picked in Chicago to join the Stratford Festival Theatre Company where he spent four years. Mr. Hanrahan has lent his spectacular speaking voice to many television and radio endeavours for the CBC, The New York Times, and The Discovery Channel as well as appearing in numerous films, television series and commercials. Mr. Hanrahan has been an instructor at De Paul University, MacMaster University, The University of Ottawa and The University of Waterloo as an artist-in-residence. He has also guest lectured at many other colleges and universities throughout North America.
Wendy Lands – Voice-Over Coach
Wendy Lands is a genius at all things “voice”. At Big Voice Studios, we are incredibly lucky to have her teaching a very powerful and beloved voice-over class (speaking on radio and TV commercials) and she is one of Canada’s busiest VO artists herself. Not only that, she is a celebrated and Juno-nominated singer/songwriter/recording artist with a number of albums under her belt, having been signed to record labels Polygram, EMI, Universal Music Group (UMG), Fontana North and Warner Chappell Music Publishing. And Wendy exercises her performance ‘chops’ by touring regularly across the Canada and Europe.
Also a prolific songwriter, Wendy has co-written songs with The Jacksons, Melissa Manchester, Paul Williams and was chosen to record the companion album to the Oscar-winning film The Pianist. And just to conquer yet another world, she was a cast member in the original Canadian production of Les Miserables at The Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. “I think my curiosity is my superpower. It keeps me turning corners and investigating possibilities. It takes me to unexpected places, creates interesting situations and makes my life a constant adventure”.
Wendy is the voice behind over a thousand radio and TV commercials, including Mattel, Tim Horton’s, Bell, Advil, Ford, Fox-TV, ABC “Daytime”, YTV, TMN and CMT to name a few.
She is warm, funny, passionate and thrilled to be teaching what she has learned through her own experiences in VO, creating a warm and safe environment for speakers to try crazy and wonderful possibilities as she guides them to their VO dreams. She teaches everyone at their own level – from beginners to working pros.
“When I see that light bulb go off, or when a VO artist books a job or gets an agent, I feel even more excited than when it started happening for me!”
Visit www.wendylands.com.
Glenn Morley – Composer / Conductor / Music Director / Producer
Glenn Morley is a Toronto-based composer, conductor, and musical director with an extensive background in music for Theatrical, Live Events, Concert, Television, and Film media. With credits for more than 2000 television episodes, he has won 3 Gemini Awards. His compositions are heard in numerous programs: The Nature of Things, Royal Canadian Air Farce, Freaky Stories, Man Alive, Country Canada, Frontiers of Construction, Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards,Twice In A Lifetime, and currently Jerry and the Raiders.
Mr. Morley was Music Supervisor for ABC/Disney’s ‘The Music Man’, ‘Martin & Lewis’ (Emmy Nomination), and garnered a Genie nomination for his score for Red Green’s Duct Tape Forever. He produced and orchestrated ‘Canto’, Gino Vannelli’s acclaimed crossover CD, Alfie Zappacosta’s CD ‘Start Again’ , co-produced Mark Masri’s ‘Intimo’, and has orchestrated/arranged a number of tracks on Amy Sky’s CD ‘Alive & Awake’.
He has functioned as Composer/Musical Director for more than 80 stage productions in both Canada and abroad including the Stratford, Shaw and Blythe Festivals, and MTC. He created the score and sound design for the spectacular Sound and Light Show on Parliament Hill and was the Musical Director for the Re-Opening Ceremonies for the Royal Ontario Museum, and Musical Director/Producer of the first Canadian Songbook for the Luminato Festival.
Mr. Morley has had his works performed by orchestras across Canada (Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra.) He has frequently conducted/produced recordings for other composers (Henry Mancini, Louis Applebaum, John Welsman, Neil Smolar, etc.)
A founding member and past President of the Guild of Canadian Film Composers, he is currently the Vice-President of Project Productions of the Glenn Gould Foundation, and a SOCAN Board member.
Blahzay Creative – Video Recordings
At Blahzay Creative, we specialize in work that pushes formats and shines light on the raw and unique. We endeavor to give our audiences something that lasts, tests their comfort levels and entertains. With several awards under our belt and working with networks like Channel 4 in the UK, we continue striving to collaborate with voices that need to be heard across live action narratives, music videos and selected branded/digital content. We are excited to partner with Big Voice Studios and look forward to working with more established and emerging artists to create a visual that lifts and exposes their talent.
Robert Horvath – Piano Teacher
Robert Horvath was born in Budapest, Hungary. He began his studies at age of 7 and four years later he won First Prize at the Hungarian-Russian Competition for Young Pianists, which was broadcast on Hungarian National Radio in 1982.
He studied at the Bela Bartok Conservatory of Music and at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he graduated with a prize in piano and a Master’s Degree in Performance and Teaching. In 1995 won a scholarship to the Hochschule der Kunste in Berlin, Germany. After arriving to Canada in 1998 he has made solo piano recordings for CTV‘s music library and numerous recordings with the Sheraton Cadwell’s Orchestras. Robert is regularly engaged to classical concerts as a soloist with symphonic orchestras. He has great reputation as well in the jazz and big band styles as he had played jazz on musical events with well known bassist Dave Young. Robert has been the musical director of several musical productions in Toronto including “Me And My Girl” and “Hello Dolly“.
Throughout his musical career, Robert was consistently worked with classical, jazz and musical theatre singers as an accompanist as well as a coach.
Currently Toronto based, Robert is in great demand as a piano teacher, to which he maintains a strong and active commitment. He runs a thriving private teaching practice in the city and is an established piano tutor to young pianists.
In 2008 Mr. Horvath was rewarded a grant by the Canada Council for the Arts.
Fees
FEES ARE SET BY EACH INDIVIDUAL TEACHER.
THE FEES RANGE FROM $80 – $140 / lesson.
