Dana Kephart is a New England-based mezzo-soprano, praised for her "beautifully fluid and expressive voice." She holds a Master of Music degree in Early Music Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College, where she studied under Laurie Monahan. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice and Music Education from the Hartt School, where she studied under Joanna Levy and John Feierabend. She is certified to teach PreK-12 Music by the state of Connecticut, and holds a Teaching Artist Certification from Longy.
Dana’s performances in recent years include appearances with The Princeton Festival opera chorus, The Boston Camerata, the Amherst Early Music Festival opera, the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra, and Hartford Opera Theater, as well as many concerts and productions at Longy and the Hartt School. Dana was also named a finalist in the Art Song Division of the American Prize voice competition in 2013.
Dana's teaching experience includes private students in general music and voice, and classroom general music and chorus for students in Kindergarten through high school. Her overarching goal in teaching is to help her students grow as whole musicians, with an emphasis on healthy development of the singing voice.
My teaching philosophy revolves around individualized instruction, collaboration between teacher and student, and student independence. Overall, I want my students to understand their voices and how they work, to be able to assess themselves, and to be able to make vocal choices and improvements on their own as a result of our work together.
I work with each student to tailor technical exercises to him/her and choose repertoire that is both technically useful and enjoyable. I also ask my students to evaluate how they make positive changes in their singing, what the changes feel or sound like, etc—so that they know how to re-create them later and turn them into a good, habitual technique.
I also believe in honest communication with students; I make a routine of giving specific positive feedback as well as specific constructive feedback.