Filbert Street Studio

Lessons Offered

Where are Lessons Offered

About Me

Who Am I?

I am a fabulous teacher. Really! A couple of my students have written about me in the comments section.

As a member of NATS (National Organization of Teachers of Singing), I hold my teaching skills to a high standard. No matter what kind music you like to sing, I can help you become more comfortable and have lots of fun! Maybe you want to experiment with pop, jazz or rock? Maybe you like current Broadway hits? Come visit me. Lets play with your favorites, and enjoy! My primary focus is classical, which is the foundation for all healthy singing.

Beginning Theory and Composition? I can get you started. Need to shore up your sight reading & sight singing? I can give you the tools you need.

I just directed a comic opera, The Old Maid & the Thief at my university. It's in English, so have no fear. Search YouTube. I can't put the link here, per the rules.

I teach in San Francisco, and in Daly City, CA.

I love singing. It fills my life with transcendent joy as nothing else. I thrive on performing. It feeds my soul to offer my gifts to my audience. I know that for a few hours I have transported them from their daily lives to another world just by using my voice and commitment to the text, and that brings me such pleasure. The natural progression from these first two is the call to share my experience as a teacher of voice, and performing techniques, as well as beginning composition and popular songwriting.

What I Have Done & What I Am Doing?

I cannot remember a time in my life when I did not sing and perform. At the core of my being I am singer. Being a singer informs every aspect of my life. If a day goes by without singing I just don't feel right!

I began performing professionally as a teenager in Los Angeles, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area for college. After receiving my Bachelor of Arts degree from Sonoma State University. I majored in music performance, and excelled in that institution's highly regarded opera workshop program, led Peggy Donovan Jeffry and modeled on the principles of Boris Goldovesky.

I moved to San Francisco to work with my coach and new teacher, and soon began entering and winning major local, national and international competitions and being cast in principal roles in local and regional opera companies, and solo vocal parts in oratorio works.

I was a finalist twice each for the San Francisco Opera Center Auditions and the Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera. I was finalist twice in the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions, and won first runner-up. I won a national audition for an apprenticeship in the prestigious Glimmerglass/New York City Opera Young American Artists program. While there I performed Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata" (directed by the delightful Sir Jonathan Miller), Adina in in Donizetti's "The Elixar of Love",and the Female Fan in William Schumann's "Casey at the Bat." The following summer I was awarded a fellowship at the highly competitive Music Academy of the West where I sang Alice Ford in Verdi's "Falstaff" and studied voice with Marilyn Horne. The next summer I went to Austria to study with Professor Joseph Wallnig, head of the vocal music division of the famed Universitat Mozarteum.

Among my roles are all the great Mozart and bel canto heroines, and repertoire of Puccini, Verdi, Strauss and Stravinsky and Britten.

In addition, I am a lyricist-songwriter, and a member of the America Academy of Composers, Artists and Publishers (ASCAP). I've been a member of the Recording Arts Academy and have sung for films and popular recording artists, and has some voice-over work.



What Do I Do?
For Singers:
Every voice is different because every body is different. Unlike instrumentalists who pack away their tools at the end of the day, we carry our voices with us. This is an important distinction. How we feel physically and emotionally effects our singing. Our age, our musical experience (or lack of),our educational background, our family and social situations- the great mixture of things which makes us the special people we are. Therefore as a teacher, I teach each student individually, taking into account all these variables.

When a new student comes to see me for the first time, I ask a lot of questions and I listen carefully. Why are you here? What are your goals? Sometimes there is no clear answer to these, and that's okay! Singing is all about process. In fact, it is a lifelong process. Sure, you may have an audition of concert to prepare for, but the fabulous thing about singing is that no matter what our experience, be it beginner or seasoned professional, we are constantly learning and evolving. Isn't that fantastic​?

Come join me. We will have fun, and learn together how you can best enjoy and succeed in you singing.

I encourage students to record their lessons, keep a small pocket notebook for taking notes, and create a binder with copies of your music that you bring to lessons. For opera-classical students, I will recommend a specific lyric diction book.

For Theory, Composition and Music History:
I enjoy beginning students. I've had moms bring their weary young piano students to me because they were losing their love of music over the strict demands of the piano studio. I take what a student is learning from piano, and show them how to connect the dots so they see the BIGGER picture. We have fun, and those kids become more active learners with their piano teachers.

My Musical Education Background

MOSI/Mozateum, Austria - Voice Performance - 1991
Music Academy of the West - Voice Performance - 1990 (Fellowship)
San Francisco Conservatory of Music - Voice Performance - 1982-84
Sonoma State University - Music - 1979-1982 BA music, minor in Humanistic PSychology

Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, California, Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Music, with honors from the school of Arts and Sciences.

Lesson Rates

My rates are competitive. Please email me at jarcchrisATgmailDOTcom for further information.

Ages / Skill Levels Taught

I teach all ages and levels.

My Certifications and Awards

My trophy case is full. For more information, please click on "About Me" and scroll about halfway down for details.

My Musical Influences

Classic rock to Stravinsky! Pretty much everything except polka music. My greatest love is...Mozart.

Service Area

Lorraine H
San Carlos, CA

I came into these singing lessons with zero singing experience, and it's been really positive. Christine helped me to feel comfortable right away. She's been engaged with what I've wanted to learn, and put thought into customizing instruction for me. We talk about listening for harmonies in different types of popular music, how to train my ear to hear, suggestions of different recordings to listen to, and even a bit of music theory. I have some historical music experience (violin), and she's found ways to connect the singing instruction to what I already know. I'm now (attempting) to learn a folk song she's suggested, and found myself surprised to be able to learn and observe quite a bit through the process-- and begin to pull it off-- I think. :) I see several reviews here from trained singers, but wanted to chime in that Christine has been great for a very untrained student as well!