Composer and Baritone
Singing and Speech Lessons and Classes
In addition to being a composer and singer, I am also a voice teacher and speech coach! I focus my teaching on exploration of the many possibilities of what their voice can do, rather than how to conform to a rigid set of conventions. My lessons are a safe space for students to try new things and figure out how they can express their most authentic selves.
I've been teaching since 2022 to many students of various genders and voice types. I got my start in vocal pedagogy at the Longy School of Music with Carol Mastrodomenico. During my transition, I took lessons with Soren Austenfeld and read the work of Liz Jackson Hearns from the Voice Lab Inc. In the winter of 2025, I took a class with Liz Jackson Hearns on teaching gender affirming voice. In the summer of 2025, I've taken Dana Varga's Empowered Pedagogy course and have continued a mentorship with her since.
What I offer
Student knows best
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My philosophy is that my students know their voice and interests better than I do. These lessons are for them, not for me. My job is to provide knowledge, support, and guidance to help them achieve their goals and/or figure out what their goals are.
Anatomy
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In every first lesson, I teach my student about basic vocal anatomy. In my lessons from then on, I teach them exercises helping them find that anatomy in their own body, along with how to manipulate their anatomy to then change the sound of their voice.
Voice classification
- In general, I do not classify my students’ voices with words like soprano, mezzo, tenor, baritone, etc unless they specifically ask me to.
- Some of my students are still figuring out what they can do with their voice.
- Some may be in the middle of transitioning their voice, some may not want to classify their voice.
- Some may be interested in genres where these labels don’t apply.
- The fewer restrictions a student might face with such labels, the more options they have for trying new things and giving their voice time to develop.
Genres and Repertoire
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I have taught students who sing classical, musical theater, pop, rock, folk, and indie.
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I have multiple exercises up my sleeve catered to different styles of singing depending on what my student is interested in.
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I let my students choose their own repertoire unless they ask me for recommendations.
Singing Lessons
I have been singing my entire life and have been teaching for most of my career. Through my experience as a performer and a teacher, I’ve developed a unique approach to teaching my students how to sing, including the highlights below.
It all started when I was considering going on testosterone HRT, knowing that one of its biggest effects is the voice drop. I did a lot of research to prepare for that drop, all while learning about vocal pedagogy during my masters degree. Shortly after I started teaching, I started taking HRT and applying what I've learned in my own research to my voice, which then bled into my teaching. As I went through my transition and became more open and public about it, I gained more trans students, and I passed on what I've learned in my research and my own transition on to them.
Here are some areas of focus;
Personal Affirmation vs. Assimilation
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Some of my students want to assimilate into the gender binary, others do not.
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I have some trans students who identify as a binary gender and want a voice that’s associated with that binary gender.
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I have other trans students who like their voice the way it is, but want to create a different voice for whenever they’re in public for safety reasons.
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I have students who want a voice that doesn’t suggest a binary gender at all.
Finding a voice model
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One assignment I give my students is to find 3 voices in their day-to-day lives or among celebrities or influencers they like.
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After that, we find qualities in each of the 3 example voices that they want to bring into their own voice and figure out the student's voice model from there.
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Loosening up the body
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All of my trans students have some sort of tension in their body. They might have life-long insecurity in their voice, or they try to voice train themselves and end up putting pressure on their voice, or they might have a disability effecting their body tension.
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I address this through multiple different exercises directed at moving certain parts of the body around to loosen them up, which would make a lot of the singing technique taught easier to do.
The PIRA scale
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I use this method as an essential aspect of my teaching.
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The PIRA scale is a method of gender affirming voice training invented by Liz Jackson Hernes when a student of hers shared her observations of the way she teaches.
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The acronym stands for Pitch, Inflection, Resonance, and Articulation.
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Each of these qualities shape how a voice's gender is perceived. My students and I work on each of these 4 qualities separately, and then together as each of these qualities become more habitual.
Gender Affirming Voice Lessons
Speech Lessons
In addition to teaching speech to trans students who want to change their voice into something more affirming for them, I have also taught students who are not trans, but want to improve their speech for their own teaching or public speaking. Here are some things we work on in our lessons;
Vowels
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Vowels are a fundamental part of language and English has SO MANY VOWELS!!!!!
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I’ve found it important to practice speaking each vowel individually.
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Working on vowels alone helps with clearer pronunciation and gain more control over phrasing, articulation, and volume.
Phrasing
- A sentence can be spoken in multiple different ways.
- Pausing mid sentence can change the meaning of it entirely.
- How fast or slow a sentence is spoken can communicate a lot about the person’s emotion and intent behind the sentence.
- Raising the pitch at the end of a sentence marks it as a question, but if the pitch goes up in the middle, it’s a statement.
Projection
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One of the most common requests I get from my students to work on is projection. They want to speak to a crowd, or they may want to go to a loud place where they will need to project their voices.
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We work a lot on breath control and resonance to make a strong loud sound without causing any strain in the process.
Testimonials
"Quinn is an excellent teacher who incorporates many different approaches to vocal pedagogy into their work. I was always learning something new either about the voice or a new technique to elicit better sound from my voice. They are encouraging and easy to work with, and provide good feedback on what could be improved in a respectful and friendly manner.
They are knowledgeable on how transition impacts the voice, and are also sensitive to the needs of trans voices. They provide a pleasant, safe, and nurturing learning environment in which to grow one's voice. I feel much more confident in my singing than when I started, and feel like I have learned a great deal about my voice and myself in the process. I would highly recommend studying with Quinn!"
-Rowan Mattox
Where I teach
Pivate Studio
You can sign up for a 45-minute trial voice lesson at these links below.
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
I teach singing classes at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, incorporating many of my lessons and practices. Check out what I’m teaching here.