The Voice Studio

And an update some months since my initial review — I’m more convinced than before that she is among the top tier of vocal instructors available to us on the West Coast. She has an intuitive grasp on how to produce fuller, natural and more robust tonalities for any style of music you are interested in.
I can see why her other students routinely sweep recital awards, competitions and auditions. As below, the more practice, listening and rehearsal any student can do will give that student a greater chance for success and achievement.
By the way, one real gift is to hear her sing when she illustrates a lesson or song example. To hear that soprano performance voice — so perfectly controlled, spare and mellifluent with a golden sheen — is really quite wondrous and hypnotic.

I heart Katya.
I first met Katya last October, and have been taking on-​and-​off lessons with her (with weekly lessons during spring/​audition season of this year). Katya is a legit opera singer who effectively teaches singers of all levels (beginners to advanced), ages and musical types (e.g. opera, musical theater, pop).
When I first came to Katya, I never had private singing lessons before and did not know what a head voice sound like – I only had a chest voice that I often pushed. Katya changed that and my range has increased by almost an octave; I went from an alto to a soprano.
She works patiently with her students, customizing her lessons to what they need most. Also, she records every lesson and at the end of the lesson, she saves it onto students’ USB so they can listen to it and practice at home.
There are many other pluses to being her student. She will notify students of opportunities to perform – she’d sometimes set up student recitals or invite students to sing at various events. If you have another voice teacher (for example, because you’re an actor and voice is part of your curriculum), she’ll work with what you’ve learned in that class so that your ideas about voice aren’t conflicted.
I’m a bit bummed that I haven’t had as many chances to work with her in the past few months due to the nature of our schedules, but if you can get a first session with her, snatch it!

I am an adult beginning voice student. My goal was to entertain and sing for the seniors in retirement homes and assisted living facilities as a volunteer. So I started singing and learning a little over a year ago. I started my voice lessons with Katya about 5 months ago. At that time, I felt that my voice was flat and thin and it was not good enough to sing before an audience. I wanted to have a fuller and more colorful voice. Katya immediately understood my needs. She helped me draw parallels between my speaking voice and my singing voice, and worked with me on techniques to improve the quality of my tones. After only 2 lessons, I was already noticing richer and more resonant tones in my singing. I performed for the first time for the seniors at Lytton Gardens after 10 lessons with Katya. That performance came much sooner than I had hoped for, and I have been singing at least twice a month for the seniors since then. What a fun and rewarding experience it has been singing for the seniors! I am grateful to Katya for helping me achieve my goal sooner than I had anticipated.
On the technical side of singing, as I continue my lessons with Kaya, I have been particularly impressed with her emphasis on:
1. Proper vowel/​consonant production and proper diction
2. Breathing techniques and breath flow management
3. Proper posture/​alignment and integration of the entire body
4. Meticulous attention to details
5. Intuitive capacity to address problems.
Katya helped me understand and improve on various components that have an impact on the delivery of a song. She is fully present to every nuance during my lessons. She would spot issues immediately and come up with different ways to help me overcome the problems before they become bad habits or serious issues. Lest you should think that a lesson with Katya is a ‘total drag’, she has the ability to inject humor into most situations and bring a smile to my face.
On the artistic side, Katya has helped me understand what it means to be a true singer/​performer. I had thought that all it takes to become a singer is a good voice, and boy was I wrong! Thanks to Katya’s coaching, I am experiencing the importance and value in integrating my whole being into a performance. In gradually learning to integrate facial and body expressions with the technical, mental and emotional aspects of singing, I am becoming much more at ease with my singing. I am finding that my tone production is improving and I am feeling a much closer connection with my audiences.
I also want to thank Katya for helping me ‘break out of the mold’, and helping me develop my full potential as a singer. I had envisioned myself to be a ‘serious singer’ and only wanted to do specific types of songs. Katya encouraged me to sing «Surrey with the Fringe On Top» from «Oklahoma» for the seniors. It is a song I would have never picked because it does not ‘fit the mold’. She helped me with the artistic expressions in addition to the technical requirements in singing the song. I performed it for the seniors at Lytton Gardens a few weeks ago and it was very apparent that the audience loved it. I am loving it too, as I will be doing more of these funny, up-​tempo songs for my audiences.
In summary, I am very grateful to have Katya as my voice teacher. I know that I am on the right path and I am on my way. If you are as passionate about singing as I am, I highly recommend that you enlist Katya to help you with your singing. I am confident that Katya will help you make improvements regardless of your level. Let’s be thankful for the gift of our voice and rejoice in our singing!

I have been Katya’s student since January 2007. I came from a background of Cantonese Opera, but I always wanted to develop my voice for Western opera, musical theater, and art song. Katya is an amazing teacher who guides and leads by example in all aspects of singing and performing. She critiques without being discouraging, and she always has great insights for interpreting music. I’m very happy with the growth that I’ve made, and I’m so happy that I found Katya!