Meghann Welsh
About
Meghann Welsh is a classically trained soprano whose creative work spans opera, country and blues, free improvisation, musical theater, and contemporary and baroque chamber music. She has shared the stage and worked with Happy Traum and Jim Kweskin, jazz luminary Karl Berger, grammy winners Kamau Kenyata and Susan Narucki, composition visionary Lou Harrison, and many talented Bay Area and San Diego musicians and artists. As the singer of the award-winning old time group, G Burns Jug Band, she toured the country and shared festivals with the likes of Dom Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and bluegrass great Del McCoury.
Meghann had the honor of performing Boulez's Improvisation sur Mallarmé with the Palimpsest Ensemble under the baton of Steven Schick, the role of Micäela in Bizet's Carmen under the direction of Nicole Paiement and Brian Staufenbiel, Elmire in Kirk Meacham's Tartuffe, Socrate in Erik Satie's Socrate, and the soprano soloist in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass among others. She has worked with many talented new music composers to premier cutting edge vocal works in San Francisco and San Diego. In addition to her interest in new music and opera, Meghann has a deep love of Early Music which she fostered while working under the auspices of harpsichordist JungHae Kim and members of the Alexander String Quartet. She has dabbled in theater as a composer, performer, and actor: in 2014 she was hired by The La Jolla Playhouse to create and perform music for Suzette Who Set To Sea, an original production in which she also acted.
While working towards her doctorate in music at UC San Diego, Meghann taught voice lessons to undergraduate voice majors and minors and served as an associate instructor, designing and teaching the first serious course on karaoke – a class that critically explored identity and social rituals through voice and music. In addition, she has taught musicianship, group voice lessons, and music history as a teaching assistant at San Francisco Sate University and UC San Diego.
Meghann earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of California, Santa Cruz (2002), her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from San Francisco State University (2009), and her Ph.D. in Music with an emphasis in Integrative Studies and Vocal Performance from the University of California, San Diego (ABD). Meghann is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).
Voice lessons begin with a vocal warm up and technique work before moving into repertoire and performance coaching. Technical exercises tailored to your voice’s needs and progress will be assigned to help you grow efficiently and healthfully. Alongside developing healthy and sustainable singing habits, you will gain the tools to analyze and adjust your voice during your own practice. My approach is to provide you with plenty of hands-on guidance while you develop a thorough understanding of your unique instrument.
- Build the foundation of good singing by learning correct posture, breath support, and tension-free voice production.
- Become familiar with the anatomy and physiology of the vocal mechanism.
- Develop more advanced technical skills including unification of registers, placement & resonance, agility, and more.
- Strengthen musicianship skills such as note reading, rhythm, phrasing, harmony, and dynamics.
- Exercise the skills necessary to perform as a soloist such as song interpretation, diction, projection, and stage presence.
- Learn to diagnose and correct vocal faults by recognizing bad habits and designing solutions.
Every singer needs individualized instruction and, unfortunately, there is no easy formula to train a voice or fix vocal problems. Because there is no single pedagogical approach to help a student become a consummate singer, I use a variety of teaching methods. Foremost, my teaching is influenced by traditional Bel Canto methods and body alignment and somatic practices such as The Alexander Technique. In addition, I strongly believe it is important to familiarize the student with the anatomy and physiology of the voice and its relationship to other systems of the body that are essential to good singing: our whole body is our instrument, not just our larynx alone!
EDUCATION
Ph.D. University of California at San Diego [ABD]
Integrative Studies - Anthony Davis, advisor
M.M. San Francisco State University [2009]
Vocal Performance - Dr. Alissa Deeter, advisor
B.M. University of California at Santa Cruz [2002]
Vocal Performance - Dr. Brian Staufenbiel, advisor
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Longy School of Music of Bard College
• Visiting Faculty, Voice: [2017-2018]
University of California, San Diego [2009 - Present]
• Associate Instructor, Music 15: Karaoke: Exposing a Voice / Posing an Identity [Summer and Fall, 2014]
• Instructor, Music 32V: Vocal Instruction, Individual lessons [2009-2011]
• Music 127 (A,B,C): History of Jazz; TA [2011-2012]
• Music 126: Blues; TA [2011]
• Music 101C: Music Theory and Practice; TA [2011]
• Music 15: Popular Music - Great Women of Song; TA [2010]
• Music 11: Folk Music - Klezmer; TA [2010]
• Music 8: American Music - Jazz; TA [2009]
San Francisco State University [2007-2009]
• Instructor, Music 313: Vocal Instruction, Individual lessons [2007-2009]
• Instructor, Music 309: Singing for Self Expression [2008]
• Music 120: Basic Music - Voice; TA [2008-2009]
GUEST LECTURES
University of California, San Diego [2010]
"Women of Experimental and Contemporary Song"
Mus 15 - Great Women of Song
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS
• TA Excellence Award for Superior Teaching Performance, UCSD [2013]
• Full residency and stipend, UCSD [2009-2015]
• Dissertation Year Fellowship [2015]