Sarah Lysiak is the Director of Education for Central Florida Vocal Arts and has been a voice teacher for over 13 years. She shares what students should look for in a voice teacher, how teaching voice has made her a better performer, and what the future looks like for Education at Central Florida Vocal Arts.
Sarah shares that her Director of Education position includes: creative programming, logistical coordination, administrative tasks, and covers anything from Arts 1:1 (a grant-funded vocal program offering free lessons to students with financial need), group classes with The Boys and Girls Club and Pace Center For Girls, college audition prep workshops, and additional education program initiatives. She also assists with studio operations, oversees the execution of Summer Institute and attends conferences such as FMEA. She has a passion for programming that reaches students that wouldn’t be reached otherwise.
Lysiak found her way into vocal performance through encouragement from teachers. She states:
“I grew up singing. I have been involved in music since elementary school. I had a really encouraging elementary music teacher, and I started auditioning for featured choirs in the state of Indiana, where I grew up. That grew into me participating in choir and doing musical theater in middle school which transformed into high school…I started working with a voice teacher in high school who said, “I see potential in your voice to do opera and classical music.” I didn’t know anything about it. I just liked the idea that I had talent to do something cool, something interesting that was unfamiliar. And so, I continued focusing my energy on that. When I started applying for colleges, I didn’t really see any other path but music.”
Lysiak’s path led her to two degrees in vocal performance, a Bachelor’s from University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a Master’s from University of Houston where she performed 5 roles in 2 years.
After graduation, she sought to make money and looked to teaching as a way to monetize her abilities and apply some of the skills she built while earning her degrees. She started teaching at a high school in Fall of 2012 and immediately realized it was the right fit for her.
“It was the right fit for my personality: Being a more gregarious person, being a person that can be assertive, and can also be very comforting and very compassionate with students…I kinda just fell in love with it, and found myself networking a lot with voice teachers and choir directors in the Houston area… So really I found my way into doing education by way of me trying to cultivate and monetize the skills I built.”
Lysiak has a rich and abundant performance history with an impressive resumé of roles including Alice in Falstaff, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, and Mimì in La Bohéme.
Additionally, she became involved with Houston Grand Opera in 2014, holding a highly coveted position in the chorus as a Soprano. She was with the company up until her move to Florida in 2021 and performed alongside legends such as Lawrence Brownlee, Susan Graham, and Jamie Barton.
Lysiak shares that she was overjoyed to work alongside these icons: “to me [these] were like celebrities; as much as somebody would think of Britney Spears or Ariana Grande. It was a huge experience for me, and we were treated incredibly well…and that was probably the hardest thing when I left Houston to come to Florida, having to leave behind that job as well as my college teaching job.”
However, Lysiak was thrilled at the prospect of hopping into a full-time teaching position which allows her to apply her skills without bouncing around living the ‘vagabond’ lifestyle that so many opera singers in America live. These days, she identifies as a teacher first, a performer second, devoting more energy to the study of pedagogy and vocal learning. However, Sarah doesn’t plan to hang her hat up as a performer either. “I am interested in how the voice works and how best to serve vocal health but, absolutely, I’m always gonna be a performer, and I’m always gonna be working to better myself through continued study.”
Lysiak shares that when she moved to Florida, “Theresa (Central Florida Vocal Arts Founder and Executive Director) saw something in me and said, this girl has nothing but private voice teaching experience. However, I think she has the right personality to be effective in this other role.”
Even so, Lysiak stands steadfast in her performance career, elevating her teaching abilities.
“The amount of work ethic and having to be intentional in practice and with details as a performer has influenced how I impart that same knowledge to my students…it’s about embracing the entire process. I always say, learning how to sing doesn’t necessarily lead to instant results. It’s about the journey.”
Furthermore, she shares “being a teacher has made me a better singer. It’s made me a more aware and a more thoughtful singer, and I’ve been very thankful with how those two things have benefited one another.” In addition, her experience in the industry has offered her clarity on the industry itself and a sense of responsibility with regards to being honest with her students about expectations and the reality of auditioning for roles.
So, what makes an effective voice teacher? What should students look for in a potential voice teacher? And what are some voice teacher green flags?
According to Lysiak, communication and orienting lessons around a student’s goals and technical needs. Her advice? Pay attention to the questions they’re asking you. Take note of whether “they’re asking you about your goals. they’re asking you about your dreams, they’re asking you very specific questions about the things you want to improve upon, whether that’s from a technical perspective or from an emotional one.”
She subscribes to a student-centric approach and suggests students shy away from teachers that center themselves and their accomplishments over the student’s aspirations. Her student-centric approach includes imparting a sense of responsibility for achieving said student’s goals and instilling a sense of ownership over their own artistry while asking frequent questions about sensations while trying new techniques.
For students hoping to pursue music as a career or as a degree, she recommends researching the teacher’s previous students to see if their technique and trajectory are in alignment with their own. She also warns, “do not assume that somebody that’s had a big career equals somebody that’s a strong vocal pedagogue. That’s a mistake that I know that I’ve made as well. So let’s all learn from that, and advocate for ourselves throughout that process, especially if you’re going to pursue voice past high school in a more career path mindset.”
And for future educators? Lysiak has some advice for aspiring voice teachers, too.
“I think if you’re going to be an effective voice teacher…you have to be pedagogically sound, which means that you cannot just be a parrot of everything that your voice teacher told you when you were in grad school or undergrad or high school, you can absolutely take information from those people and use those things to influence your own teaching style but you have to be somebody that’s committed to doing further research. You also have to be somebody that knows how to strike the right balance of delivery of information depending on the student. You have to be a chameleon. So, being very flexible but also having principles, knowing that every student’s going to learn differently.”
What’s on the horizon for the Central Florida Vocal Arts education program?
Summer Institute and Spring Recitals!
Lysiak is eager to direct Summer Institute this year at Renaissance Theatre Company (June 10-22.) This will be her third year in the role of Summer Institute Director, having shared the role with former Co-Director of Education, Danielle Smith, for the past two years.
Organizing a Summer program is no easy feat. “We start from the ground up, as far as concept goes and choosing repertoire for the show.”
The holistic, weeklong performance intensive offers every student a chance to shine through an immersive and interactive rehearsal experience that promises to meet students where they’re at and spotlight each students’ unique gifts.
Lysiak is also currently running one of the most successful, grant-funded voice lesson programs in the country through Central Florida Vocal Arts. Since taking on the role as Director of Education, the program has grown exponentially and started annual recitals. This year, the recital boasts record participation with 43 of the students gathering to sing on May 11th.
“Arts 1:1 is a voice lesson program that serves Title I schools and qualifying students with Title I status. It’s a program that’s trying to bridge the gap in arts accessibility. It creates an opportunity to get more personalized instruction for students that wouldn’t have it otherwise. Arts 1:1 is providing free voice lessons for students. And yes, of course, the goal is growth as musicians and growth as vocalists but also growth as human beings. It’s about being a better human being and being artistically involved in expressing yourself through [the vocal] medium.”
Who is eligible? All Middle and High School students at Title I schools and Middle and High School students at non-Title I schools, but with Title I status (receiving free/reduced lunch).
She encourages interested parties to email her at [email protected] if interested and to talk to the other choir directors at schools that have participated this year (Oak Ridge, Wekiva, Evans, Lake Buena Vista, East River, Dr. Phillips and Cypress Creek High School). She’s hoping to connect via a Zoom information session this summer, so teachers can learn more about the Arts 1:1 program and hit the ground running at the beginning of the school year. Lysiak shares that CFVA is hoping to expand the program beyond Orange and Osceola Counties into Volusia, Lake, and Seminole as well.
Visit CentralFloridaVocalArts.Org to learn more about Summer Institute and Central Florida Vocal Arts’ other programming.
SUMMER INSTITUTE I
June 10-15, 2024 for ages 7-12
9:00-2:00 PM Monday-Thursday
9:00-6:00 PM Friday | 1:00 PM-6:00 PM Saturday
CentralFloridaVocalArts.Org/Enroll