Check out my teaching website www.pianoandvoicewithbrenda.com for more information.
BRENDA EARLE, B.F.A, M. MUS
Brenda Earle Stokes teaches voice, piano, composition, theory and songwriting in and around New York City. She is a frequent guest clinician with high schools, colleges and professional choruses internationally and has conducted choirs and jazz ensembles. Brenda’s mission is to provide a solid musical foundation, presented in a clear and efficient manner in a thoughtful and caring environment.
ABOUT ME
“I am a pianist and vocalist skilled in the fields of classical, jazz, pop, rock, r&b and musical theater. I have degrees in piano and am fully certified in Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method, an extremely effective method for voice training.
Because of my diverse musical skills and interests, I attract students with a wide range of interests and goals, from professional and pre-professional to children and teens to adults wanting to learn for fun and personal development. My students have sung on Broadway, in national commercials, have recorded solo albums and have been accepted to performing arts high schools and top conservatories in the US and Canada. I am skilled at creating a course of study that serves each of my students unique needs and interests.
I have served on the faculties of City College, the New York Summer Music Festival, the Grammy-winning Brooklyn Youth Chorus and the Diller-Quaile School of Music. I currently serve on the faculty at Fordham University, where I teach piano, voice and direct a jazz ensemble.
I have been active in music outreach and am proud to have served at NYC inner city schools through the Midori and Friends Foundation and the New York Pops Educational outreach. I am an active member of The Women in Jazz Organization, a group dedicated to promoting women and non-binary people in the jazz field.
Education
BFA in Piano, York University
M.Mus in Jazz Piano and Voice, Manhattan School of Music
RCM Grade 9 Classical Piano
Level III Certified in Somatic Voicework – the LoVetri Method(TM)
Post Graduate training in Choral Conducting, Early Childhood Music, Classical Choral Conducting and Composition.
ABRIDGED LIST OF TEACHING/CONDUCTING POSITIONS
Fordham University
Brooklyn Youth Chorus
New York Summer Music Festival at SUNY Oneonta
Ronald McDonald House
New York Pops Education
Diller Quaile School of Music
City College of New York
Feel the Music Organization
Rutgers University Queen’s Chorale
GUEST CLINICIAN/ADJUDICATOR
National Jazz Festival – Vocal Jazz Coordinator
Massey University (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Edmonds Community College (Edmonds, WA)
Marshall University (Huntington, WV)
Humber College (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
American Academy of Dramatic Arts (New York, NY)
York University (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Naples Florida School District
Alberta Choralfest Adjudicator
ABRIDGED LIST OF CLASSES, WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS
- Vocal technique seminar – 2,4 or 6 hours
Brenda Earle Stokes is a Level 3 Certified teacher in Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method. In addition, she has extensive post certificate training and has served on the faculty at various vocal seminars.
Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method is a body-based method of vocal training that draws from many disciplines. It is based upon voice science and medicine as well as traditional classical vocal training, complementary modalities such as yoga, movement, dance, acting, and speech training, and various bodywork approaches. The aim of Somatic Voicework™ the LoVetri Method is to unselfconsciously draw the mind of the singer into the physical process of making sound.
Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method allows the voice and body to be partners with the mind. It allows the instrument to handle a variety of tasks with greater ease and less effort.
In addition to all of the above, Somatic Voicework™ is unique in that all of the vocal exercises are focused on function. It is based upon what the voice is doing, not just how the voice sounds.
- Career Development for the Contemporary Musician – 2 hour seminar
Range of topics covered include
- Identifying your skills and goals
- Cultivating a working skill set
- Starting your business
- Setting up a business plan
- Diversifying your business
- Marketing your skills
- Maintaining your artistic life
- Setting and accomplishing long and short term goals
- Composition– 2 hour seminar
- starting points, developing points
- finding your voice as a composer
- Improvisation for the Jazz Vocalist – 2 or 3 hour seminar
- Developing vocabulary based in jazz harmony and rhythmic analysis
- Starting points from transcription of vocal and instrumental solos
- How to structure independent learning and practice
- Masterclass for instrumentalists – 2 or 3 hour masterclass
- Brenda will work with existing ensembles to develop repertoire, arrangements and group performance techniques
- Masterclass for vocalists – 2 or 3 hour masterclass
- Vocalists will perform solos and Brenda will work with each vocalist individually on topics that will benefit the entire group.
- Vocal accompaniment for Rhythm Section players – 2 hour seminar
- Singer-friendly voicings and accompaniments
- How to interface with a vocalist to make him/her sound their best
- Intros and outros
- Private lessons in voice, piano or songwriting
- Rhythm Section workout – 2 or 3 hour workshop
- How to assemble groove for the genres most affecting jazz musicians
- Roles and responsibilities of each group member
- How to deepen relationships between instruments
10. Workshops with choirs, large and small ensembles.
QUOTES
“Thanks again for your Masterclass at U of T, Brenda. Your positive and forthcoming attitude resonated with the students; I heard lots of great comments from afterwards.”
-Chase Sanborn, University of Toronto (Canada)
“Thank you very much for coming in last week to Mohawk College to perform and interact with our students. I think that they greatly appreciated all the insight and ideas that you had to share with them and I am sure that they gained a lot from the experience. I have had several students already come up to me and express how nice it was to have someone go through important decisions that they will need to make in their lives, and how you having gone through those yourself helped you to be as successful as you are.”
-Jamshed Turel, Mohawk College (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
“Brenda is incredible! She inspires confidence and a positive nature in myself and my voice. I have been singing and performing since I was 10 years old and it is always great to keep up a regular vocal practice. Training for your craft should never end and Brenda helps me keep it simple and focused. The fact that Brenda still keeps up her own vocal training is a huge advantage. She can relate to me(you) as I(you) study with her.
My range, tone, and confidence continue to increase because of my studies with Brenda. Beginner or Professional, Brenda can inspire!” – Timothy Alex, 11-time Broadway performer
