Welcome.

If you are in a situation where you can't find a local voice teacher but you do have high speed web access and you wish to improve your singing voice, you have come to the right place.

But why should you consider me as a potential voice teacher?

I have Decades Of Experience working with all types of Singers from Pop to Rock, from Broadway to Opera. In my 40 years teaching in my New York City studio I trained hundreds of professionals to sing. I have worked  with people from 10 to 80. I have proven to the so called tone deaf that their condition is all in the mind. I have shown pop and rock performers how to sing without damage and fatigue. I have shown the shy how to focus and free themselves from self doubt. I have shown Broadway performers how to survive eight shows a week.

As a member of the Actor's Equity Association, the union for professional performers, I have performed leading roles in musicals including "Irma La Deuce", "My Fair Lady", "Oliver", "South Pacific", "Carousel", "The king and I"  and "1776". I also performed in straight plays including "Dark of the Moon", "The Rain Maker", "No Place to be Somebody" and  "Mc Beth'. My operatic roles included 'Ford in "Falstaff", Count Almaviva in "The Marriage of Figaro", Tarquinius in "The Rape of Lucretia" and Papagano in 'The Magic Flute". Early on I realized, however, that I really didn't like being told that I had to be here and there. Touring was not my cup of tea. I had a young wife and two children and the gipsy life just wouldn't work. I had already began helping other performers with their vocal problems and soon realized that I had found my true calling. One thing led to another and for the next 35 years I worked with performers from Broadway, Opera, Jazz and the Pop world. 

As a vice teacher, Much of my work involved working with actors and dancers who had come to realize that they couldn't survive in the theatre world without being able to sing.   Stephanie Pope came to me as a young dancer.  Being an Alvin Alley student dancer, she understood hard work. She has since gone on to a fine Broadway and film career. Our work together enabled  Greta Martin to enjoy a nice career including 3 Broadway Shows.  Another hard working student, Cynda Williams, a wonderful legit soprano as well as pop singer, started a movie career playing the female lead as a jazz singer in Spike Lee's first movie, "Mo Better Blues". I helped actor, Daren Kelly develop a powerful baritone voice  which enabled him to land his first Broadway musical role in "Woman of the Year". Susan Mansur made her Broadway debut in "The Best Little Whore House in Texas"  Fleur Phillips, an extraordinarily hard worker, mastered a dozen different voices as understudy to the lead in the short lived Broadway production of  "Little Voice". Mirla Christi made a living for years in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon. David Wasson has done the same with "Man of La Mancha". Like wise, Bill James spent 10 years on Broadway and in national companies of Camelot. Many others, like Fred Major, Melanie Lerner, Marcial Gonzales, and Bill Wendt have had fine careers touring in national companies.

I also have done a great deal of vocal restoration. Many young talented performers have gotten into vocal trouble because they were living on raw talent.  I spent 5 years working with Elaine Concilla-Orbach  helping her restore her voice. After a brutal summer stock tour staring as Molly in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown:", her co-star, Bill Wendt, a student of mine, sent her to me. Her doctor told here that her vocal chords "look like grapes". After five years of hard work she returned to Broadway to understudy and replace Chita Rivera in the original version of the musical, "Chicago". 

Along with vocal health issues, I've helped many performers maintain their vocal health when they were asked to perform in an unhealthy manner.  Marci Harrell,  a fine lyric coloratura soprano played Mimi in the Broadway production of "Rent" for several years. This show destroyed many young talents. (One girl shredded her vocal chords belting.) Her music director wanted her to "glottal" her attacks and her voice was beginning to show the ware. We got her through the show until she left to do the supper difficult role of Cunegonde in Candide. A role many opera singers shy away from.  I have also worked with a  pop and rock singers, again helping them to survive the vocal strain their musical styles require. Michael Hill, (Click for Michael Hill's Blues Mob web site.) is a great example of one who understands the necessity of maintaining his vocal health and has gone on to record 5 great CDs and tour the world. 

                                " Special thanks to Richard Hilty, Vox  Coach Extraordinaire,
                                    for invaluable vocal science"  quote by Michael Hill
                                    from the CD jacket "New York State of Blues" 
                                                        Michael Hill's Blues Mob

I have also worked with many individuals over the years who weren't interested in being professionals but who wanted to enjoy singing.  One example is Arthur Kirson, who came to me as close to tone deaf as any one could be.  Arthur was a high school teacher. He wanted a second life as a cabaret singer. Arthur worked and learned that his tone deaf problems were mostly mental.  A classic case of someone trying so hard he missed completely. Eventually Arthur developed his voice and actually lived his dream becoming  a well known cabaret performer, singing in most of the cabaret venues in Manhattan as well as many other venues throughout the rest of the country.


How did these performers achieve their goals?

They learned to understand their voice. Simply put, they learned how to put together the head voice, the chest voice, and breath support. Above all, they have learned it takes time to build and develop a good, healthy singing voice.

                                "Hi Richard,  I just want to let you know that I am now
                                 practicing with your  DVD. For the first time I could do my
                                 singing practice for the day without feeling any pain or
                                 strain in my throat...thanks once again for the DVD."
                                           Mirjam Huwiler

I understand that learning to sing can be a very personal experience.
I understand that many times singing can actually be a fearful experience because of negative past experiences.

I have a lot of patience.
I love what I do.
I would love to share my years of experience with you.

How do we do this through the internet?

Along with your first lesson you will receive my DVD which will give you an over view and a simple set of beginning exercises. This DVD will show you the basics of breathing, and explain head and chest voice concepts with simple exercises. We then will discuss these basics and  build a program of vocal exercises which are tailored to your specific needs. We develop these exercises during our online sessions, just as I do in my Loveland Colorado studio.  My job as teacher is to show you the way, your job is to put in daily practice.  The reason the DVD is only a starting point is simple. No two people are the same.  Some have too much chest voice. others have to much head voice. The DVD exercises are designed for the "average" voice.  However, most of us are not average.

You may wonder why I'm interested in teaching via the internet. The town I retired to, Loveland, Colorado is rather small.  That's why I love it here, up against the Rocky mountains, and only 25 minutes from Rocky Mountain National Park. I have quite a few local students who are doing wonderful work, but the pool of those who are willing to do the work here is rather limited. With that in mind, I began playing around with the idea of "one on one" lessons over the internet. I was interested in finding people who really had a desire to sing but weren't in situations where they could find an experienced vocal teacher. I have since worked with several individuals including a young would-be opera singer in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada, a gentleman in an out of the way town in the deep south who wanted to improve his own voice for his choral singing and a woman in Alaska who is working to lead her choir in a Greek Orthodox church. It's fun and I enjoy working with people who are truly interested in developing their vocal abilities.

With that in mind, why not give me a call at 970 667-7593 or email me at richardhilty@yahoo.com. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.