Your Quiz Results Are IN!
Your Savvy Singer Success Formula is the:
Primed Professional
You were born to be a STAR!
You can’t imagine yourself anywhere else but on the stage whether it be on Broadway or at the Metropolitan Opera.
You live, eat, breathe, dream everything performing and will do whatever it takes to be on stage.
You are putting yourself out there every chance you get, taking every audition you can find.
You are outgoing enough to put yourself out there but love alone time to read, relax, or work on your craft.
You know the skills you need in order to get there and you are willing to get the training you need to be the ultimate triple threat.
You frequently shout out to anyone will listen, “I’m the greatest star!”
(In the great words of Fanny Brice via Barbra Streisand, “Hello Gorgeous!” ?)
That being said….
You have a team of coaches and teachers but sometimes the expense of private lessons and classes gets a little overwhelming.
You like being supported and guided in your lessons but you never want to lose what makes you truly unique as an artist.
You are a great singer and you’ve got the acting chops of Meryl Streep but you struggle with your musicianship (and piano) skills and know that if those skills were stronger, you could push your performance to the next level.
You want to stand out and be seen and you’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen!
Sound familiar?
“Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you’re doing. If you’re not going to be confident, you might as well not do it.”
– Aretha Franklin –
Hi! Let me introduce myself!
I’m Dr. Regina Zona, a master teacher of voice, piano, and dramatic interpretation and owner of Singer Savvy Academy by the Zona Studio LLC.
To get the bragging out of the way….I am a former award-winning opera singer, a current award-winning cabaret singer, and a recording artist with 2 albums (with 1 more on the way), one of which is on the Naxos American Classics Label.
I started to play piano at the age of 8 and for the longest time, I had dreams of becoming a concert pianist. But when I was a junior in high school, I was cast as Maria in West Side Story and that was it! The stage got me – hook, line, and sinker! And ever since, I have been blessed to sing on opera and concert stages around the world and in some of the most prestigious clubs in New York City.
But most importantly, I am a wife, a mommy to three adorable puppies, (Max, Jack (he’s the cutie in the picture) and Chester), and I drink way too much coffee. The truth is that I don’t think I actually like the taste of coffee all that much, but I love sitting in a Starbucks on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, sipping my latte and watching the ever-fascinating New York City crowds. I am also obsessed with Bob Fosse, and I frequently break out in musical theatre song lyrics!
Oh yeah! And I teach too!
I have been teaching voice and piano for over three decades, in a thriving private studio as well as in tenure-track positions at several universities around the country. I am also an in-demand dramatic coach for singers in opera and musical theatre and a stage director.
Whew!
At Singer Savvy Academy, I serve singers and voice teachers who want to master the musicianship skills that support their singing and the singing of their students. Basically offering “everything but the voice lessons,” there are courses in piano skills, sight-singing, music theory, role preparation, audition techniques, and more geared toward transforming singers into well-rounded musicians, performers, and artists.
So what is the Primed Professional’s Success Formula?
The TRIPLE THREAT is a myth.
If you are a musical theatre performer, you’ve been taught that to be competitive you must be a great singer, a great dancer, and a great actor. If you are an opera singer, you have to be a great singer, a great actor, and have a great command of languages.
Yes, those things are important.
But the common denominator here is that you are a MUSICIAN. You communicate through text and MUSIC.
That means that you need to be a well-rounded musician in order to be competitive and to say something through your music!
You need to be a QUADRUPLE THREAT!
As a Primed Professional, you need to be ready for anything at a moment’s notice.
What happens if you get a call from your agent who tells you they need a last-minute replacement for the soloist in an upcoming concert at Carnegie Hall – TOMORROW. You’ve never sung the work, but they know you are the right voice for it. Could you learn it in time? Even if your coach was out of town and couldn’t work with you?
What happens if you get a call from a casting director who heard you in an audition last year and they are hearing auditions for a new musical and think you would be perfect for the lead role. They email you a copy of the lead’s main song and ask you to come in TOMORROW with it memorized to be considered. Could you do it never having heard the music before?
Do you want to know how to always have something to offer as a Performer?
One of the best tools a Primed Professional needs is PIANO SKILLS
If you went to college for Voice or Musical Theatre, most likely you were forced to take a piano class. And you probably agonized over those proficiency exams where you had to play scales and chords and sight read.
As torturous as those classes seemed, they were super important! Knowing how to play the piano gives you so much foundation in musicianship skills and coordination that will do nothing but make you more competitive and reliable.
But that doesn’t mean you need to be a concert pianist!
A Primed Professional needs to have enough piano skills to support their singing.
SPECIFIC skills that will allow them to be ready for any situation that comes up in their career.
The musical pillars that hold up the Primed Professional can be found in:
The F.O.R.M. Method
Fundamentals
This is your foundation – learning the technique of playing and reading. This includes major and minor scales, triads, inversions, and seventh chords, key signatures, popular chord progressions, and developing coordination between the hands.
Original Material
Next you need to know how to create new material when you have been given very little guidance like accompanying vocalizes, playing from a lead sheet, playing a 12-bar blues, and figuring out what to do with your left hand.
Reducing Accompaniments
The next step is to know what to play and what NOT to play when looking at a complex accompaniment. You need to know how to analyze a vocal score so you can simplify accompaniments in various styles.
Mastery
Finally you gain the independence in your playing by learning the importance and technique of sight reading and proper practice techniques.
Imagine if…
You, as a Primed Performer, could learn music on your own QUICKLY to be ready for any audition or performance.
You, as a Primed Performer, wouldn’t have to pay coaches and pianists to teach you your music or make rehearsal recordings for you, because you could do it yourself.
You, as a Primed Performer, could accompany yourself singing and add that talent to your resume as a “Additional Skills.”
🎉”Everybody Rejoice!!”🎉
(no Wicked Witches died in the making of this scenario!)
Are you excited? Here is the next step!
Register for my FREE Masterclass
“Discover the Secret to a sustainable career as a Singer or Voice Teacher”
👉Stand out and get noticed in this career
👉Be ready for any opportunity
👉Support yourself musically
This class will give you ACTION STEPS on how to get the skills you need to STICK AROUND in this career.
Wanna know the secret? 🤫
If you want to have a truly sustainable career as a singer, then you need to have piano skills!🎹
If you are a singer, being able to play the piano effectively for yourself…
⭐Strengthens your musicianship so that you can learn music quickly
⭐Gives you the tools to speak intelligently to your musical collaborators about what you need as a performer
⭐Makes you more marketable.
Inside the class, I’m sharing:
➡️ How to actually use the F.O.R.M. Method to play the piano effectively for yourself and for your students
➡️ The 3 misconceptions people (and singers specifically) have when thinking about learning to play the piano
➡️ Why you DON’T need a degree in music and years of piano lessons to be able to play the piano for yourself or for others
➡️ How to work with me more closely to achieve more independence and mastery at the piano!
P.S.
Be on the lookout for some fab emails from yours truly to help inspire you to become that Primed Professional that you are!
Check your spam folder and make sure to put me on your “safe senders” list.
I promise I will never spam you.
I will only offer up the most helpful tips and inspiring motivation – and maybe a few quotes and dog pics!
