Joey Holland-Garcia Takes Us on a Journey Through Teaching, Self-Care, and Always Learning

Episode 10 of The Vocal Cue, with your host Hayden Browning, talks to Texas Tech University School of Music Assistant Professor of Practice in Voice, Musical Theatre & Commercial Music, Dr. José (Joey) Holland-Garcia. 

Joey's passion and love of teaching, especially in commercial and musical theater music, has established his reputation for excellence in instruction. His students have advanced and won awards through the Student Auditions for the National Association of Teachers of Singing and his private students have been accepted at some of the most notable musical theater programs around the country. In addition, his training and certification in massage therapy has informed his teaching and understanding of the vocal mechanism to aid in building body awareness.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the VocalCue. I'm your host, Hayden Browning. And today we have here Jo Dr. Joey Holland Garcia. You got it. Tell me about the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Yeah, so it's a huge organization. It's actually international, although it says national, they do have international components as well. But that organization is really for people who are uh involved in teaching singing, whether it be kind of like at a community level or at a university level, and and also people who might just be interested in kind of that process. So it could even be people that are like sing uh speech language pathologists who might work with singers. The organization, um, one of the big things that they do is they support students by providing competitions that they can compete in in terms of like the different styles of singing they might be doing. So uh it started very classically based, where it was going to be more like opera and art song. But as the things have kind of evolved and changed in the music world, and I think uh seeing the value in all of that with student instruction and singing, they've also embraced more uh commercial styles of music, so musical theater and commercial music in general is just a big term for like pop music, so anything that you you know you'd stream or hear on the radio.

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Wow, so maybe even K-pop? Yeah, I mean it could really be anything, honestly. Wow, that's that's crazy. Yeah, and that's that's kind of how you outreach with the community around Texas Tech as well, not only Texas Tech. Yeah, you can go anywhere, it's in international.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Right, yeah, it's like it's there's definitely a lot of engagement in terms of you know how you can meet people and networking, because um, you know, it is a network of people all over the world. So yeah, really allows you to kind of be able to see different things in different places and have a community. Wow, that's so cool. Be part of an organization. Speaking of internationally, tell me about your study abroad. Yeah, okay. Um, so a lot of that happened in my graduate school. So I went to the University of Michigan um where I received my master's and doctorate. And part of that was uh a lot of the professors that are teaching there, much like professors here, you know, very active still in um whatever areas they are teaching in. There were composers uh that were on faculty that wound up also being winning an award in Rome. Uh they they won the Rome Prize for Music, and they needed uh people to singers to actually uh premiere their works. So I wound up auditioning for this composer and got selected to be able to go and sing abroad, and yeah, it's a lot of fun. Yeah, a lot of fun. Well, what would you rate that as your top three experiences? Yeah, it would definitely be up there because I think that was the first time that I might that I was out of the country. Um, and to go to Italy and to Rome. I don't know if you've ever been to Rome. But no, but I sure I sure do want to. Yeah, it should definitely be on your bucket list of things to do. It's a beautiful city. What I love about it is just you kind of have that mixture of old and new, you know, all of the wonderful history that is just still in existence there in Rome, but also, you know, all of the the current and modern that that comes along with how we live today. So it's just a really beautiful mix of the two.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Um that's a huge opera area for sure.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Yeah, absolutely. Um I think that was all part of you know the the experience of being able to kind of um see where a lot of this, especially Italian music opera, um coming about and kind of being like right where all of that was happening, you know. That's incredible. A long time ago.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Well, I mean, who who knows? Maybe you might get to go back.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Yeah, yeah, hopefully. Yeah, I haven't I have not traveled internationally since then. I know and I would love to again.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Well, I think you should, especially like maybe it'd be a cool opportunity for some of your students to go and experience something similar to that.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Right. And I know that one of so one of the unique things about my position is that I'm actually uh working between two schools within the College of Visual and Performing Arts. So I am a School of Music faculty member, but my teaching is all in the School of Theater and Dance, which is very unique. That is very interesting. Yeah, so I really bridge kind of between those two uh col schools. And um, one of the things that is really great about that is that I can kind of sit on both sides and kind of have experiences from both areas, and uh the School of Music actually does have a program that they have in Italy uh for voice, so maybe that might be an opportunity, and again, students to to participate in that as well. Opportunities arise. Yeah, absolutely. What are some of the ways that you go about teaching your students? That is a wonderful question. So I for me, my teaching philosophy I think really boils down to wanting to meet people where they are, you know. So what I do uh because of the nature of voice and working with the voice, it's all individual instruction. So it's one-on-one. Students see me uh for at weekly for one hour. It's really focusing on finding where they're at currently and setting up a plan for them of goals that they want to meet by the time, you know, either the end of the semester and certainly kind of looking ahead toward the future of when they graduate. So a lot of it is just individual planning, and along with that, you know, learning certain technical skills, but then also learning certain amount of repertoire so that they have a great exposure to different types of music that they're gonna be singing throughout their career. Wow. So it's very personal. Yes, absolutely. And I really like the one-on-one instruction. I think, you know, uh the other part of it too is I think yes, it's important to teach content, but I think uh the bigger part of that is that we're also, you know, learning to be good human beings, you know, and what does that look like? I think that's a a huge part of my teaching of like, you know, yes, I want you to be a great singer, but I also want you to be able to understand, like, how can we be a good person out of this as well? Like, what kinds of things and skills, right, do we learn to help us be good people as we're going through our education? You know, what does that look like? What kinds of things do we need to do to be professionals? You know, all of that I think is a big part of education, and we can't kind of I can't agree with you more.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

I can't agree with you more. I my dad told me two things. It's one, be a good person, two, find something that you love to do for the rest of your life. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

And from the little that we were talking about before, it sounds like you're on that path, which is really great. I appreciate it. It's super exciting, I really appreciate it. And this is a part of it too, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Like, I mean, this is something I love. Here doing it, yeah. Exactly. I get to speak with incredible people such as yourself, and I get to talk about things that they love, and that just makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. Right. Definitely. Um, you said that you were a tenor. I am. That's that's a great vocal range.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Uh yes, I I like to think so. So I mean, of like the male vocal ranges, it's the higher end of things, you know. I think it would be equivalent to like, you know, when a female voices, sopranos, like the tenors and sopranos always seem to have like the fancy, flashy music. So I think that's kind of great. But I also like you know, try to embrace all parts of my voice as well, you know. So um being able to sing high is one thing. I think I guess everybody wants to sing high. I don't know. Do you sing at all? I do.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

I do play guitar and no way. I love to sing. Well, it's great. I think I have a high voice for a good guy. Yeah. Um, did you were you like in choir or anything when you're in school? Nothing. I used to, you know, take showers. I'm a shower singer.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Yeah, that's a best place to sing. I love it. Yeah, and why why is it the best place to sing?

SPEAKER_01 8:39

It's just the this the sound dynamics.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Yeah, the acoustic environment. Oh my gosh, it doesn't get better than that. That and bathrooms.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

That bathrooms and in like parking garages. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

Yeah. And you see so many videos about people like singing in those pa places too. Oh, stair uh stairwells as well. Yes, stairwells. It's another great place. I love that. Yeah. So you taught yourself guitar? Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

I've only been playing for about a year. My brother, he's been playing for five or six. He's younger than me, but I like to tell my brother, like, I learn a lot from my younger brother. So he's not really my younger brother. Sure. Yeah. He's my best friend.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

You know. Oh, that's very sweet. That's really sweet. Did you learn from like YouTube videos or I I like to think I like blues.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Okay. So soul is really what I'm I'm into. I love just, you know, not I try not to stretch because I know where my boundaries are and I know what hurts my voice. But uh one of my favorite musicians is Jeff Buckley. And uh he just has that beautiful, like high melodic, like Hindle-styled voice. And I love that. So I try to, you know, work on my range. My my lower range is I can't sing country. I can't I can't sing country. But I can sing, you know, Jeff Buckley, and I'm a huge fan of Queen.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Yeah. Yeah. Great. That's awesome. I'm always amazed by like people who like pick up on those things on their own. Um so you must have a pretty good ear, then.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

I I like to think so. I like to think I have an ear. I'm definitely with guitar, you know, I get to explore more of my ear because the notes and then the chords, and then I just I really enjoy guitar because it's it's such a hard instrument. It's not easy. Yeah. It's right there with piano, I think. Right. And then drums are extremely difficult as well. Yeah. Rhythm. Rhythm. Yeah. Rhythm.

SPEAKER_02 10:31

Yeah. Well, that's great. Well, if you ever want any like advice, or just be like, hey, can you listen to this? I'm right here in the building. I will be able to do that. You're always welcome to stop by. I always tell students, you know, like that's what office hours are for, you know, just to kind of be able to come in and say hello, grab a piece of candy, ask a question, you know, or just to check in with things like that. I I think that's really important too. You know, we don't we're not just serving our specific students, we really are here for for everybody. So that sounds like a great interest. But yeah, if you're ever interested, I I love it. Come by. I think that's really exciting.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Whenever I come out with songs, I'll be like, hey, what do you think about this?

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Yeah, so you write your own stuff. I do.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

That's great. I that that is really incredible. I just sit there and I like to struggle, you know. Like if it sounds bad, I go, I don't see I don't say, well, that was just bad. I say, what maybe that part isn't good there. You know, like maybe that's made for a different song, or maybe that can be used differently in a different aspect just to change how it how it's constructed in order to fit. You know, it's like a big puzzle. I think that's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

Yeah, for sure. Well, maybe you'll write your own score when you do your film as well. I'd love to. Who knows, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Well, audio is 60% of movies. Yeah, absolutely. So, like, that's that's huge. Audio and then like singing. I'm a big Celine Dion fan. Shh. But I love Celine Dion.

SPEAKER_02 11:59

That that actually makes me really happy to hear you say I love her. She's an incredible vocalist. Oh my gosh. Yeah, you cannot end underestimate that. She still sounds great.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Yeah, yeah. She has such good range and control, and her vibrato is just absolutely beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

It's an insane voice. And what she does to maintain her voice is incredible to me. You know, like she does not talk outside of performances or like interviews, like it's all saved for the purpose of being able to do like that's just incredible, you know, to you know, love your craft so much and respect it so much that you know you really are in it all the way. It's the discipline, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Absolutely. That's so strong for an artist or a singer or whatever it may be, a musician of of uh any sort of kind to be sitting there and constantly thinking about hey, this is what I got going on, and that's what I have to be prepared for. Absolutely. That's awesome. Yep. Well, um, do you ever get to the points with your students where you feel like you're collaborating and not necessarily just teaching them?

SPEAKER_02 13:05

You know? Yeah, sure. I mean, I think the kind of by the nature of the whole thing that we do and the process of like developing your voice, you know, I can't do anything for them, right? It is all a collaboration. I can't make them sound anyway. Um, it is their instruments, their voice. I can't do anything to manipulate it. You know, I can help guide them. That's really uh, I guess, kind of getting back to that idea of teaching is like, you know, I really see myself as a guide of like, okay, I have ideas of how this works, and I understand, you know, that we all have the same anatomy and vocal mechanism, but how you experience it, how you relate to it, that is very personal, that is very individual. So, you know, really helping them to understand their voice and get them to where they want to be.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

So you really focus on hey, not everyone is gonna have the same s voice.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Right. Well, that's what makes you unique, right, and special. That's why the people that are out there making millions of dollars as performing artists do it because they're not all just like a manufactured voice, they don't all have the same sound.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah, that's so that's so amazing that you think about that like as a teacher and a collaborator, you think about hey, this is the person in front of me, and this is what they have to to like control. Yeah, this is what they have to use. Absolutely. You think about it in their shoes, which is really, really good as a teacher, because that's where some teachers just kind of miss the mark a little bit, I think.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Well, and I think that's really the beauty of individualized instruction is that I can do that, right? Like in a classroom environment, it's a little bit harder to really see each individual student, especially if you're in a class where it's like two or three hundred people. I mean, you're just kind of a number at that point, you know, unfortunately. Um, so I'm really, you know, just in a great position where I can have that focus because it is one-on-one, you know, and really recognize the person. Uh and again, like I said, meet them where they are, you know. Uh because everybody starts at different levels. Yeah. That's such a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Meet them where they are. Because it it's not like you're expecting something out of them. No. You're you're you're wanting them to expect something out of themselves through the action of what you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Yeah, absolutely. It's it's helping them to kind of well literally find their voice, but then also take ownership of that, right? Like, because at the end of the day, like I said before, they're they're the ones that are the only ones that can can make anything from it. You know, I can't sing for them, uh, I have great faith in them and and believe for them, but I can't ultimately at the end of the day do it for them.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Well how long have you been singing for?

SPEAKER_02 15:55

A long time. Since I was a you know, uh music was a big part of my family. I grew up singing in church and just singing kind of like at home. I came from a military family, and so we were very close knit, and we really grew up watching a lot of the early Disney movies. So I guess kind of um that became uh a thing that was really special to us, so we would always kind of sing through those things and just the the songs that we heard. So yeah, it really kind of started um just as a kid singing in my family. Yeah, that's so that's so nice. Did do any of your other siblings sing or yes, they do sing, uh, not at the same level that I do. Um, my younger sister at a certain point had um started uh studying music and then just decided that wasn't the the best path for her, but now she is a special ed teacher. She is incredible. God bless her. Yeah, it's amazing. Um you know, I think there's such a need to, again, kind of like recognizing the individual, the person, right? And I think she just has such a big heart to want to help and to really nurture students of all different abilities, and um, it's so important to to recognize you know everyone's value.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Wow, yeah. Well you do that too, yeah. Yeah, in a different way. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's one thing that's so beautiful about life is when you come down to it, for the most part, we're just a bunch of people that want to help other people. Hopefully. Hopefully, yes, hopefully. I agree. Um, have any or have any of your students reached out after graduation?

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Yeah, I actually um talked to quite a few of my students. I have, you know, I think again, it's really important to get to know the person that you're working with as a person. Again, because of that one-on-one, I think that there's just a different dynamic, you know, uh of a relationship that you build that is really special because you also tend to spend, you know, unlike maybe some of the other things you do within your academic career, with vocal instruction, you tend to spend the entire time that you're studying um in your program with that same voice teacher. So if you come in in a freshman first semester, you're with them till your last semester of your senior year. Wow. Right? Yeah, so it's a very unique real relationship. You don't always get those kinds of things, and again, it's one-on-one. So you you know, you're learning just about their lives and things that they go through and supporting them through different parts of their academic career, you know. One of the big things that we have as part of a capstone project is that seniors have to uh present a recital, um, which is a one-hour performance that they really cultivate and curate and then ultimately perform. And it's it's just a huge, it's a huge thing, you know, it's a huge endeavor, a lot to kind of invest in. Um, and it's really meant as a celebration. But I think within all of that, you know, I think that's also kind of the nature of finding kind of that closeness and and collaboration.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

I think that's incredible that they have that long span of time in order to get to know you and you get to know them. I mean, you really get to understand not only them as a person, but what their voice can actually.

SPEAKER_02 19:17

Yeah, right. Yeah, and it and seeing it grow and change over time is really incredible. I think that's really important because we never stop learning, right? Like, and I and I love being able to see where students are, um, you know, from when they they leave to to where they are currently and and seeing how they grow. So I've had several students in the past that I just keep in touch with and just kind of recognize, and you know, it may not always be like texting or a phone call, but just following up with them through social media, which is great, you know, to be able to see that um I have several students who have done really well just in the different types of music that they're involved in professionally.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

So what are your top favorite five genres of music to sing in? Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Well, I love musical theater, which is one of the reasons why I'm here um to teach musical theater voice. Um I I really do love and appreciate classical music as well. Um it's super hard and challenging, which I think is part of why I love it so much. Actually, speaking of, I I'm this is kind of blowing my mind. Have you listened to the new Beyoncé album?

SPEAKER_01 20:32

No, I heard it was really it is very good. Have you listened to the new Beyonce album?

SPEAKER_02 20:35

I know she's probably talking behind the camera, but um what uh one of my colleagues actually mentioned to me yesterday, he was like, Oh my gosh, did you listen to the new the new album? One of the songs she's doing Cado Mio Ben, which is a very um in terms of voice, like that's one of the early pieces that we teach in classical singing, usually is like the 24 Italian art songs and arias. Um, and that's actually one of the pieces. And so to hear her perform it, you know, uh in on a country pop album is pretty incredible, you know. Like there's this blend and fusion.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

So that's really interesting to think about. I mean, it's kind of setting an example.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Yeah, so um uh top five. Yeah, so I really appreciate opera, um classical music, musical theater. I really like singer-songwriter. Uh do you know who Sarah Borellis is? Have you heard that name? Yes, sounds very familiar. I don't know if you're yeah, you're like back here in the camera. It's like, yes, yes, I know. Um, but yeah, singer songwriter. Um, I really like things that are much more like acoustic bass because you know, as a singer and as someone who teaches singing, I I just really value like when you can hear the voice without too much else going on. Like to me, that it just speaks to me in a different way. Way. Not that something that is like really well produced doesn't, but I just think you know to to hear great singers just kind of it does something. The raw, the right, whatever it, whatever it might be. Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, I like lots of different things. I love country. Um I love music.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Yeah, yeah. Definitely. Um, well, what's the favorite what's your favorite production for uh like a sing a scene uh set that you've had to do?

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Uh that's a great question. Well, I will say, I don't know if you know that we're um in the midst of putting on Xanadu's. We're in the rehearsal process right now. Xanadu is our spring production for um the School of Theater and Dance. So I think right now I'm really invested in that and loving the music. That's actually much more like kind of 70s vibe. Uh the cool thing is that it's a jukebox musical, so it was actually taken from the electric light uh orchestra. Uh their music that was then like put into uh making the the idea or at least the music behind the musical Xanadu.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

It sounds like you you've changed from a great program to bringing your own version of a great program over to Texas Tech.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Yeah, I mean that that's the hope, right? Is that we can kind of um just look at what the need is here, right? I it and it's I think the exciting thing is that it's always gonna be changing because students are always changing. So I think the more that we can kind of evolve with that, I think that's when you're gonna have the best of all possible worlds.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Wow. Well, thank you for choosing Texas Tet.

SPEAKER_02 23:43

Yeah, I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Um how's your time working under Martin Katz? Um, very interesting.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

He's a um he's a great he is a great collaborator. Yeah. Very intense. Um, but he can also be a really wonderful advocate in the music world and certainly in terms of collaborative pianist. He's very well known. He's worked with pretty much anyone who is anyone in the classical vocal world. So he brings a lot of knowledge, and I think because he's worked at a such such a high level, he really um just demands that of everyone that he's working with, regardless if you're an undergraduate student or a graduate student, or you know, working at a professional level already. So I think you know that was probably the best thing about working with him was just kind of being able to learn from all of that experience and the history and knowledge that he brings to what he does in working with singers because he he just has so much to offer. And I think probably more than Martin Katz was my voice teacher. So I think something that's really unique in um choosing to to do uh vocal music as a major is that because you know that that's gonna be really the driving force of like you know, building your instrument and developing that, um, you I you really make your decision on where you want to go based along uh like I was saying, that relationship with that person. Um because so they're such an integral part of your training. And of course, you want to go to a good program where you have you know ability to do different a variety of different things, but really the teacher, you know, that you find that you can make a connection with, and you're like, this is the person that I know is gonna get me to that next place. And for me, that was really Shirley Varrett, who was an incredible person, world-renowned, sang all over the world, as well as saying with you know the top uh in the top opera houses in the world, as well as with all of the top, you know, opera singers, Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, um Montserrat Caballer, so many wonderful people. And she's really one of the reasons why I teach the way that I do, and she really I felt like not felt, I believe, you know, really helped me to evolve as a singer as well and taught me what it was to sing. I'm really grateful for her. She's she's a legend, and I got to be very close with her. Um, she wound up kind of failing in health as I was finishing my doctorate, but um I was very fortunate to create a bond with her and um really be able to support her during that time. So I I feel very blessed in in that relationship. But she taught me a lot about, you know, this kind of the same idea of like, you know, yes, it's important to know the content of what you do and what your art is, but more importantly, like what are we gonna to give, right? As human beings, like ultimately that's like the best part of it.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Thought process when going into doing something that you love is what can you provide for others?

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

Um what's the studio owning business like?

SPEAKER_02 27:16

That is uh like anything else, uh, that where you're doing something independently, where you know you're own your own boss and you're responsible for making your own income. Uh it's a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work. I have always taught independently. Uh, even when I was an undergrad, I kind of like started, you know, uh having a private studio. And um throughout throughout my time, I've always maintained some kind of actually right now I don't have much of a private studio, which is really kind of sad. I really enjoy that aspect of it. It's so much different uh than you know the the everyday teaching here because you know we have specific goals that they need to meet. Obviously, they're gonna get a grade for what they're doing. We want to make sure, you know, all of these expectations are being met. Um so there's just a little bit, maybe a little bit more freedom in that, and sometimes that allows for a little bit more uh to come out in the process because there's not such a heavy demand for certain things.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

It's interesting to think about that you do all of this, but it's all for the effort of just watching other people grow.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

And i is that is that rewarding?

SPEAKER_02 28:32

Absolutely. Yeah, it really is. I think for me, like the thing that is most exciting is when you see a student get it and get it for the first time, or even get it consistently, like it is such a great feeling. Like to me, that is just like it makes my heart happy, you know, like makes me smile. Um because it's such a good feeling internally to know, like, wow, I unlocked that, or that's a new sound, or I've never been able to do that before, you know. It it's just an exciting thing, just to see a person grow in front of you, you know, and it can happen just like that. No, it doesn't happen all the time like that, but when it does, it's it's just it really is a magical experience, you know. It's like something clicks. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And it's so fulfilling, you know, and to be a part of that, I think that's that collaborative process, right? To know that like you helped guide somebody in that way, but they found it as well on their own.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

If there is one thing you can go back and relive, what would it be? One thing and go back and say relive because it's not like you can change it. Right. But you can go back and go through it again and experience it all over again.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

I don't know. There have been so many great moments. I don't know if I could choose just one.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Um well you can you can take that.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

Actually, you know, and this is not music related, but my father recently passed away. So I think thank you. Thank you. So I think, you know, I think probably it would be reliving a moment with him, you know? That's so sweet. Yeah. Because I think you never know, right? When what what tomorrow's gonna look like, what the future is gonna look like. And I think it's often oftentimes we can be so caught up in our own lives and so busy with all of our own things, and and rightly so. There's nothing wrong with that, right? But I think um sometimes we get so caught up in that that we forget to kind of notice the things that are really important, you know, and for me that's relationships. Um, we've talked about that a lot, whether that's relationships with students, whether that's relationships with family, friends. So I think small moments. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

That's one thing I really love is the small moments really just invest your time in them, really live in them because you never know how long you're gonna get to experience.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

Exactly. And you and you can't go back, right? Like um you asked if I I would like to relive that, yeah, because now I can't go back, right? Now I can't get back the things that you know maybe there was time that I could have spent doing these things. And I don't regret any of that, but I realize now, hindsight, right, that if I had maybe taken more time just to like call or just to like visit more often, like what what difference would that have made? You know? So yeah, just think that's really important. Our humanity is such a good piece.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Yeah, so important. Um speaking of wisdom, what piece of advice have you learned and now live by?

SPEAKER_02 31:44

So many I I mean I'm constantly learning, you know. Um I think probably the thing that some big biggies for me are I've learned to say no. That's huge, right? It's so hard to do. And I'm usually a yes person. But I think the big thing about learning to say no is that you learn to love and respect yourself within that. You know? Because I think it again, it's really it's so easy. I I I'm a very generous generous person. I and I constantly want to give myself away, you know, like again, to my students. Like I'm so invested in them, to you know, the relationships that I have. But I think at a certain point, if you give too much of yourself, then you know, you don't have opportunity to fill yourself up.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Right. And you definitely need that.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

Yeah, it's so important, you know, you have to take care of yourself. So I guess, you know, another part of that, um, a therapist, uh, one of the things that they would say to me is like, you know, uh, you have to when like when you're on an airplane and they're like, you know, if you're in the c in the case of an emergency, make sure you know you put your oxygen mask on first before, you know, assisting anybody else. And it's the same kind of thing as like understanding how important self-care is. Because if you can't take care of yourself, it's so much harder to take care of others, right? So I think that's huge too. It's like, you know, oh wow, yes, I need to invest in myself. I need to stop and say, you know, it's really important that I check in with myself and be like, am I am I doing the things that I need to do for myself in this moment? Am I eating? Am I sleeping? You know, it can even be basic. Am I like giving myself time to just recharge, you know, or fulfill myself. Am I playing my music? Am I doing whatever it might be? Right? That's so important to be able to then like really do the thing that you want to do, you know. And I think oftentimes we're just so pushing forward that we forget that part.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

That's such good information because sometimes people all they want to do is help people. Right. They they forget that they don't look in the mirror and they realize they need to help themselves before they can help that other person.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

Right. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and and you know, it's good to help people, you know, but you can only do that for so long while running on empty. Also while sacrificing yourself at the same point. Right. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Yeah. Wow, that's such great, good, great information. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

It's not it's not any of my own. I stole that from other people, which is that's probably the greatest advice, right? Like is beg, borrow, steal. You know, that's that's what you should do. It's like, you know, that those nuggets of things that really stick with you, you know, carry them on. So glad that I could share that.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

I'm glad that you could share that because I mean as as humans, we are, you know, we're collecting information from other people and we're just digesting that and we're helping other people by uh sending that information. That's all communication really is. Yeah, that's teaching, really.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

Yeah, isn't it? I guess so. Like we're taking our own experiences, the information that we have, and then sharing it with other people. That's that's yeah. Teaching looks like so many different things.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

So much different in my head right now.

SPEAKER_02 35:02

I mean, I'm teaching you right now, right? Like, and we're just having a conversation. I think that's the great thing about teaching, is it can look so many different ways. Yeah, it doesn't have to be in a classroom.

SPEAKER_01 35:13

What about teaching students do you love most?

SPEAKER_02 35:18

Yeah, I think it just keeps coming back from me the idea of relationship, right? Like building something with them, that collaboration piece of like, okay, we are in it together, we have ideas of where we want to go, and then seeing how far we can get with it. So, you know, I I I just love the process of teaching. For me, it's like a puzzle, you know, and figuring out what where all of those pieces are, and then like how do we start to kind of fill in the picture. And sometimes we you get to see all of the picture in place, and other times, you know, it's it's gonna be in process a bit.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

Which, you know, I think that's part of the fun is is learning. It's it's finding the where the puzzle pieces fit. I think that's really good. It sounds like you're really well in tune with how to do that.

SPEAKER_02 36:15

I try to be. I think you know the biggest part um of it all is listening, you know, and the great part of that, that's my job, right? My job is to listen to what is in front of me, to be able to hear and see and notice, and then how can I take that information to help the person that's in front of me, right? But listening is so important. I I don't like to just jump in and start to like okay, we're gonna like fix everything, but really to just to kind of sit with it, listen, and and and see where that needs to go, you know? So I I have this knot in my upper right part of my back.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

Yeah, I didn't happen to know anyone who could help me out with that would be.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um it's so funny that that you said that. It this just happened to be so massage therapy. I actually started doing or went to school for massage therapy between when I finished my undergraduate degree and started my first teaching job um at high school. And it was because my best friend, she was like, Do you want to do massage therapies? I'm like, sure, let's do it, add it to the repertoire. Yeah, but you know, it's actually served me really well. It allowed me to have uh the ability to work my own schedule in grad school. Um and it really has informed me as a singer as well, and in even working with students, um, and even colleagues, right? Because our instrument or what you know in the performing arts, what we do with our bodies is so connected to our art, right? So um, yeah, I I I think it's just a really important piece of you know understanding ourselves, uh, certainly in the idea of understanding our anatomy and our voice and how we use that, because we want to look out for areas of constriction because that can kind of get in the way of creating the things that we want to be able to do.

SPEAKER_01 38:17

The loose and fluidness and just the I guess that's really what delicacy comes from is is that that openness is is allowing something to come out just right.

SPEAKER_02 38:28

Right, yeah. It has to be free. Yeah, there has to be movement, and um if there's constriction, it reduces that ability to have that free movement.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

Wow. I didn't think those those two things could be so coincided. But that that provided a lot of insight.

SPEAKER_00 38:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:48

Um, how do you go about picking your private students?

SPEAKER_02 38:50

A lot of it is just word of mouth. So where I've been before, you know, kind of getting established, and this is something that I hope to, you know, start here, um, is just kind of build more of a reputation. I'm new, like I said, I started last semester, so I'm still kind of getting to know Lubbach, getting to kind of get out there and be involved in the community. So I'd like to engage more like with uh local high schools. Um, certainly Nats, you talked about the National Association of Teachers of Singing, so that's also a big part of that, too, of uh being a part of that network, um, and kind of gaining recognition from there. So with private students, it's kind of people knowing you and being like, oh, this is a person that can kind of help you on your journey. Um, I think also being known for specific things, like uh working with musical theater singers and working with commercial music, I think is really important distinction because not all I think voice teachers necessarily might feel comfortable working in those specific areas. Um, a lot of, like I said, our training tends to be much more classically oriented, um, and that's just something that I feel more comfortable. I did I did uh training as well for commercial music and on and in relation to voice, so I think that's something that really helps with all of those things.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

Wow. So you um I know I mentioned this before we started, but you do real estate on top of everything.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Yeah, um, so when I first moved here, I've I have now kind of put my my license in escrow. So I'm licensed in Pennsylvania. Um, and unfortunately, there's no reciprocity with Texas in terms of licensure. So I would have to go through all of the schooling again to become a real estate agent here. I'm not sure if I would if I want to do that. I love actually doing real estate. It's a lot of fun. How is it fun? Um, you know what I love about it? I love going into people's homes. I don't know. Like, you know, H TV people live and stuff. Well, and just kind of like seeing, yes, some of that, but also just kind of like, you know, the architecture and like seeing what people like do to their homes, you know, I think I think it's just really cool. And then also seeing how like individuals react, you know, when you're showing somebody a home, of like kind of noticing, like, oh, okay, that's something that's important to them, or wow, the feeling that they get when they walked into this space. So I don't know. I think it's that whole thing of like listening, noticing, observation that's that's really important to me, relationships, education comes into it as well. Um so yeah, I I think that it just has all of the components that make me excited as a human being of things that I want that I that I want to do with my life. I actually keep a list of things that I want to be when I grow up, still, and I will add to it all the time. There's so many things that I want to do. Um I would like to do uh maybe even real estate law. I that's something that I thought about, possibly. That does sound interesting. Yeah, it does sound interesting. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

That kind of little list of things I want to do.

SPEAKER_02 42:05

I think I will always do something that kind of has that education component. I think I'm just naturally a person who likes to teach and who really kind of I I get fed by that. So I think that's always usually going to be a component of things. I've also thought about being like I've wanted to be a personal shopper. That sounds really funny. I love fashion.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

Oh, you mean like pick it up for people?

SPEAKER_02 42:27

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like to like shop for people. I just think it's kind of fun like to play dress up or like dress somebody up. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

I think that's really cool because me myself, I you know, I I I'm not very good when it comes to going shopping. I'm an online shopper.

SPEAKER_02 42:42

Yeah, see, I cannot I like to touch things, I like to see things. And I know you can still do that if like you order it, but I don't know. I like to be like in it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:51

To me, I think that might be a little frustrating. What are some ways that you and your collaborators have innovated your shows?

SPEAKER_02 42:58

Uh in terms of collaboration, I think one of the most important things for me, and one something that I would like to do here, is to to have more student kind of collaborative performances where it's not so much about me performing on my own, students performing on their own. But I think some of the best projects that I have done in the past have been where really combining those two. And I think it's just really important that you know there's so much that you can learn from an experience of working not only like with somebody who is at a professional level, but also like learning from your students too. You know, there's so much that I don't know. Um, there's so much music that I can't listen to. Like my students are teaching me all the time, you know, about things that I'm not familiar with, and I love that, you know. There's not enough time in the day to really to listen to everything. So I think you know, uh having more of those opportunities where to collaborate, um, where you know, students and faculty are working more side by side rather than kind of. kind of doing their own thing. And I know that happens a lot across campus, but I that's something that I would really like to be able to do more here. So I I I would love to be able to do like a cabaret with students. Even if there's opportunities to to collaborate with students as they present their student recitals as their seniors. That was something that I enjoyed doing with students before. And I thought they got it, they also got a kick out of it like, oh my God, we're like performing with our professor, you know, on their like special recital, you know? I love that. So yeah, I think it's just a really special moment. And just again I think it kind of it says something about that relationship that you've built, you know, um and what you've developed. So what do you think about to keep you trekking down the right path?

SPEAKER_00 44:42

Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 44:43

Wow that that I I don't know that's that's that is a very powerful question. I think the thing that I really latch on to is a lot of the same things that we've talked about kind of this philosophy of like making sure to take care of oneself so that you can take care of others. You know? Yeah. I think that's what really helps to to keep me focused. Because I care so much about what I do about the work that I do about uh you know teaching students that I know that it's that if I don't if I am not my best self I can't really give you know my best self to them uh to whoever it might be. So I think that's a thing that really helps to to kind of keep me a little bit more grounded of like you know okay I'm gonna feed myself I'm gonna take care of myself so that I can do all the things that I want to do. That's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

That's a perfect way of thinking about it. Because I mean at the end of the day this is your your life you know and you want to continue to do the things that that make you happy absolutely you still have to take care of the things that you need to take care of. And sometimes that can be you know you can forget about those things.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

Yeah definitely how do you your students connect with the community around Texas Tech campus and outside of the area yeah so I'm starting to find that out um again being new I'm kind of still taking the lay of the land trying to kind of figure out what has you know historically happened, what are things that are going on now. But one of the things that I've seen in terms of what they do with involvement in the community is that they tend to be very involved with the community theater and I've had several students who have done musicals um in the various community theaters in and around Lubbock. And another thing that I've learned uh from the program is that they actually do have part of their program that does some of that outreach where they go into uh schools and uh support the arts in in different areas.

SPEAKER_01 46:56

So last but not least I'd like you to talk about um the upcoming show yeah that you have and then sure uh I'll say the good uh goodbye.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

Sounds good. Yeah so I we I mentioned it a little bit but Xanadu um that will be opening on the 16th I believe is student preview. So if you haven't gotten your ticket yet you definitely should are you gonna see Xanadu? Please tell me you're gonna see Xanadu. I'll do it I'll do it it has like all like I mean okay so I don't know if you're into 70s music. Love 70s great perfect so it's a it's a lot of that I mean I just think it it is a fun time. You know it's kind of it's kind of camp there's definitely comedy it's a little bit rom-com it's a little bit there's definitely serious moments there's roller skating I mean like what more could you dancing singing yeah it's epic right um but I I think the thing that it it is really exciting is that you know what art should provide is an escape right from the things that we all of the things that we've been talking about right now. And it's it's a way that you can kind of feed yourself right like of just allow yourself to have that self-care moment of like I'm gonna do this for myself so that I can feel something whatever it might be and experience it in the context of what that show is. Right? Yeah yeah like that you can experience that happiness that you can experience that anger or you know whatever it might be that that's coming from the stage and uh our students are doing such a great job you know this is the first production that I've worked on here again being new I'm gonna keep saying that I'm new um we we appreciate you being here yeah thank you yeah so you know it's been it's the first time that um I have vocal directed here and that's been a big learning experience as well knowing what the students know and don't know and you know that relationship of like how do we teach all of these things so but they are doing an incredible job and I think what I appreciate so much is that every day that we go into rehearsal you know they are trying to to do something a little bit more right each time and I think that they know like you know they're working toward this goal of eventually we're gonna be doing this in front of an audience and wanting to bring their best selves to that. Wow you know so I I I'm really excited about having this all come together and seeing it uh you know with all of the staging right now we're just in the process of where there's no tech there's no sets yet uh it's just the students and um you know kind of all of the things that they've begin been given at this point which is the music and uh the dialogue but you know getting to kind of see it build up uh to this moment so each layer kind of being added in um it just makes it more and more exciting so to see that full thing when opening night hits I think it's gonna be really pretty amazing so you definitely should come and see the 16th yeah 16th student preview and then it goes all the way through I think it's the 21st is Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 50:10

I have to look at what the what those dates are but yeah thank you so much you coming yeah it was a lot of fun to talk to I really appreciate it we'd love to have you again thank you of course well this has been the vocal queue uh keep on a lookout on the 16th to the 21st of this month for Xanadu I'm your host and uh thanks to uh Dr.

SPEAKER_02 50:31

Joey Fallen Garcia for coming today yeah appreciate it thank you thank you yeah very nice to meet you as well