soprano ~ teacher ~ author
Martha Elliott has been teaching at Princeton University since 1985. She also has a private voice studio in her home. (Please click here for information.) At Princeton, she has taught private studio lessons, master classes, and courses in German Lieder, Baroque Chamber Music and 20th Century Musical Theater, as well as coaching recital, opera, chamber music and musical theatre repertoire. Her former Princeton students have gone on to graduate study in voice and choral conducting at The Manhattan School of Music, The New England Conservatory, The Royal Academy and Royal College of Music in London. They have performed as soloists with the New York City Opera National Touring Company, the Czech Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall, the American Opera Festival in Rome, and hold choral conducting positions at Harvard, Boston University School of Music and elsewhere. She has taught workshops and masterclasses for NATS at their National Convention in Nashville, at their Winter Workshop in Atlanta in 2010, at local chapters up and down the East Coast, and at the ICVT in Brisbane, Australia in July 2013. She has also taught masterclasses for New Jersey Opera Theatre, Princeton Pro Musica and at Smith College and Brown University where she was a special guest of their Contemplative Studies Initiative, teaching about singing and mindfulness.
"I love helping my more advanced students prepare for performances, be it a concert, or stage production. The challenge of picking and learning repertoire, from a wide variety of periods and styles, and polishing it with finishing touches is always rewarding. I believe acting is a fundamental part of a singer's craft. It is not only crucial in making interpretive decisions, but it can also help solve vocal difficulties, ultimately freeing the singer to communicate more easily and fully, be it in an opera aria, a Schubert song or a jazz standard.
I also love teaching beginners and seeing the first glimpses of awareness as students recognize and become familiar with the subtle internal physical sensations of breathing and vocalizing. The calm focus that develops from a mindful attention to the breath and body can be invaluable to students beyond the realm of singing. A student of meditation since 1980. I try to bring what I have learned from Zen and Vipassana to my own singing and teaching. I have seen both my undergraduate and adult students benefit immeasurably from this kind of approach."
“See that cloud, I just might jump right up and take a bite, but for awhile I will stand completely still, then I’ll have to laugh and sing and dance .” ~ Lilli in Carnival