This study seeks to identify the ways in which performer/teachers influence student learning in one-to-one teaching of classical voice. The dual career of performer and teacher remains the predominant pedagogical model for classical voice training at conservatoire level, both in Australia and most other parts of the world. Yet, the nature of this reality and its implications for student learning and institutional culture have received only passing reference in the literature until recently, and classical voice is routinely omitted in international studies on aspects of one-to-one teaching at tertiary level, which tend to focus on instrumental music. Very little research has been conducted into the ways in which singers utilise their specific reservoir of experiences and knowledge while training the performers of the future.
This study explores the contribution and impact of voice performer/teachers on the student learning experience, combining an overview of literature relevant to the subject with in-depth interviews with leading voice pedagogues, student group discussions, and auto-ethnographic material regarding my own musical history and teaching practice, integrated into the thesis submission as video selections (appendix 8). In doing so, it seeks to identify ways in which the performer’s experience informs pedagogical content and approach, and perceptions of both negative and positive effects that the performer/teacher can have on student learning.