“Absolute expert… equally kindhearted”
“The Musical Theatre majors at the University of Michigan are assigned Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) for voice lessons their Freshmen year. I believe a good voice teacher is of utmost importance for a singer, for without one they are prone to short and long term vocal damage and problems. Thus, I was pretty worried about studying with a GSI, as I was unfamiliar with a typical GSI's level of expertise. My Freshman GSI, Emily Smokovich, not only surpassed my expectations of a GSI, but is so incredible that I can honestly say she is one of the best voice teachers I have ever had.
Emily is an absolute expert in vocal technique. During lessons, she would pick up on the slightest flaw in my placement or posture and correct it right away. Sometimes I would chuckle in disbelief at how a minor adjustment from Emily would immediately improve my sound and ease at producing that sound. At the beginning of the year, I experienced a slight pain in my throat when I sang. After just a semester of Emily instructing me to loosen my jaw, relax my tongue and raise the soft palate, the pain became much less severe, and by the end of the year the pain was practically gone. And, as a result, my sound became much, much more resonant and full. Emily and I worked almost entirely on legit singing throughout the year, and I cannot believe how much my head voice has improved because of her. I would even go so far as to say my head voice is stronger than my belt, something I never would have said before working with Emily.
Emily is also such a hardworking teacher and so devoted to her students. Though she was not required to do so, Emily made sure her voice studio had a group studio class every week, which was extremely beneficial for everyone. She found many pieces of repertoire for me and the other thirteen students in my studio, another way she did more than what was expected of her. But the most amazing way Emily went above and beyond her duties as a GSI was preparing me for summer theatre (summer stock) auditions. As Freshmen, we did not receive much help from the Department when it came time to prepare for summer stock auditions. I expressed my interest in auditioning for summer stock to Emily, and she responded by being nothing but supportive and helpful throughout the entire preparation process. She helped me organize my songbook and choose my songs (which was a gigantic undertaking, as I had to pick songs that could cover a wide array of show genres) and even took time out of her weekend to meet with me and do a mock audition before my first actual summer stock audition. I could not be more grateful to Emily for going out of her way to prepare me for these auditions.
Emily Smokovich is such an amazing teacher and mentor, but also an incredible person. She is always so pleasant and patient, even though she is so busy with her voice students and as a student herself. She is also extremely understanding and nurturing; one day, I came into my voice lesson feeling completely overwhelmed and upset from something that had just happened, and instead of ignoring my feelings or being annoyed at my lack of focus, Emily insisted we discuss what I was feeling, which was exactly what I needed that day. She is equally as kindhearted as she is gifted at teaching, and I feel so lucky to have had my Freshman voice lessons with her. Voice teachers simply don't get better than Emily Smokovich!”
Isabel Stein
University of Michigan Musical Theatre Major, Class of 2019
