“Attention to the individual… Selfless teacher”

“In working with Emily Smokovich, as her voice student, this past year I have experienced the most vocal growth I feel I’ve ever accomplished over any course of time with an instructor. I feel that stepping into a voice lesson on a Monday morning could very easily be one of the most stressful and anxiety inducing experiences a performer could endure. You must be able to make yourself entirely vulnerable with your instructor, or progress can’t be made. Emily has always established a very comfortable working environment that was very focused on mindful practice and being able to adjust to how your voice is feeling at any given time. There has never been a lesson, from day one, that I felt self conscious or concerned about what sound I would produce during our time together. She also was able to teach in a specific way that she knew I would understand. Other students and I would always share new exercises and warm ups we had learned from her and it would never cease to amaze me how each person seemed to have specific things they did with Emily that worked especially well for them. It is this attention to the individual that I think was Emily’s greatest attributes as a teacher. 

As a musical theatre major at the University of Michigan, there are usually two Graduate Student Instructors that each teach half of the Freshman class. It didn’t take long to realize that Emily really went the extra mile in making studying voice a well-rounded experience for all of us. For example, she would screen Golden-Age musicals for us to watch with a focus on their execution of the things we study in lessons and studios. This was extremely valuable, because it was a direct application of the study of voice to our particular field. She is truly a selfless teacher in every way. Whether it was her incredible flexibility to reschedule lessons or her going out of her way to organize two concerts (one each semester) for my Freshman classmates and I to have an opportunity to perform, she truly gave all of herself to us. I am so grateful for my time studying voice with this stellar teacher!”

Justin-Hosa Showell
University of Michigan Musical Theatre Major, Class of 2019
Currently in the Hamilton Tour