Meet Phoebe
Classically trained singer, performing arts graduate, and the whole of Major Studios.
I started singing at seven, in Whangārei, New Zealand, with Joan Kennaway QSM. That meant competitions, five years with the Opera North choir, concerts and fundraisers, and the annual Opera in the Garden — and along the way, a Trinity College London Advanced Certificate in Singing with Distinction.
In 2015 I joined the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir, which took me around New Zealand and through British Columbia, performing as an example choir at choral festivals.
After school I went to the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art, graduating with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in 2020 — three years of musicals, plays and concerts, learning from people working in the industry.
Then two years with New Zealand Playhouse, touring theatre into primary schools across New Zealand and Australia. Two shows a day, in school halls, for audiences of seven-year-olds. It’s the best training in holding a room that I can imagine, and it’s where I learnt that teaching and performing are much the same job.
Now I’m in Melbourne, with four years of teaching behind me and students from 2 to 65.
How I teach
Technique first, but never technique only. Classical training is what keeps a voice healthy for forty years instead of five. So we build that — breath, support, placement, the unglamorous foundations. But nobody comes to lessons to do exercises. You bring the music you actually want to sing, and we apply the technique to that.
Your goals, not mine. Some students want a role. Some want to pass an exam. Some want to sing in the car without wincing. All of those are real goals and none of them is better than the others.
It’s meant to be fun. I’ve watched a lot of people be taught that performing is about being judged. It isn’t. The students who improve fastest are the ones enjoying themselves, and that’s not a coincidence.
What I’m building
Major Studios is a private studio, which means one-to-one attention and lessons shaped around the person in front of me — not a syllabus and a class of twelve.
I’m slowly expanding: drama and musical theatre are established, and I’d like to add other instruments over time. If there’s something you want to work on that isn’t listed, ask.