I just presented last week at the 55th annual Voice Foundation Symposium with my former student and now co-researcher Sarah Stapleton and what a thrill it was! It’s so new for me to feel like I belong even just a little bit in a serious academic environment such as this, surrounded by PhD’s, MD’s and voice scientists of every stripe. Sarah and I were presenting on our research coming out of the work in my voice studio and our evolution as co-learners in that process. Everything from unpacking partner practice and illuminating its pitfalls and rewards, to bringing details of our model of teaching and learning in the voice studio to a wider academic audience was on the docket.
This full-circle moment is one of many in this past year, as I contemplate (and live through) a huge career transition, moving away from studio teaching and into more of a leadership capacity as I take on the role of first, “acting” Dean (starting June 8), and then Interim Dean in Laurier’s Faculty of Music (as of July 1, 2026). My research with Sarah has involved the coding of reams of data collected over her four years in my studio, and searching for the key findings. It’s meant poring over Sarah’s (prolific!) practice logs, goal-setting assignments and self-assessments, as well as my own responses to all of these, and noting the changes and growth, the challenges and obstacles, and all the learning from both sides. This has been powerful work. I often find myself in awe of the transformative power of learning, and particularly of co-learning–that is, the learning that I experience as a teacher alongside the work of my students. To see Sarah on this stage was also inspiring: I witnessed a budding scholar emerge as a new and powerful voice for transformative change in music education.
There have been so many instances in this past year where I have been reminded of the power of many: the effect of community in teaching. I’ve been repeatedly reminded that none of us do it alone, that when we hold one another up as musicians and artists (not to mention humans), we are all better for it. Whether it was bringing back many of my former students and beloved colleagues in my “farewell” recital in February, my many visits and correspondence over the past months with former students, my work with the opera students and so much more, I feel more and more convinced that when we break down hierarchies and create learning and performing situations where we situate ourselves as peers (albeit some of us further down the path with deeper life experiences), that we can all benefit. The circle becomes the studio, the studio the circle. We break down silos, build respect and understanding, and nurture human beings with empathy, compassion and depth.