Professor Valerie Sorel has devoted nearly four decades to the education, mentorship, and artistic development of singers. Although she enjoyed a successful lyrical performing career, teaching was always her greatest passion. That passion ultimately led her to dedicate her professional life to helping singers realize their artistic potential.
In 2006, following a comprehensive evaluation and interview process, she was accepted onto the Metropolitan Opera’s roster of approved teachers for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Throughout her career, colleagues across the international vocal community—including conductors, stage directors, coaches, artist managers, laryngologists, and other voice-health professionals—have entrusted singers to Professor Sorel for technical rehabilitation, artistic refinement, career preparation, and long-term professional development.
Professor Sorel’s students have gone on to build successful international careers, performing at prestigious opera houses, concert halls, and festivals such as the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna Staatsoper, Opéra Bastille, the Sydney Opera House, the Copenhagen Opera House, Santa Fe Opera, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Salzburg Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Oxford International Song Festival, and many others. They have also been recognized by prestigious competitions including BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the George London Foundation Competition, the Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition, the International Stanisław Moniuszko Vocal Competition, the George Enescu International Voice Competition, among many other distinguished international competitions.
Her approach has been shaped by three complementary fields of formal education: pure science, with an emphasis on physics and mathematics; fine arts, with a concentration in vocal performance; and animal behavior. These academic foundations fostered a lifelong curiosity and a constant desire to explore the evolving science of how singers think, learn, and function. Drawing upon biomechanics, motor learning, acoustics, human behavior, performance physiology, and vocal science, she has developed an individualized approach that bridges scientific understanding with artistic expression in service of healthy, expressive, and sustainable singing.
She is honored to be a member of the voice faculty at The Hartt School, where she continues to contribute her experience to the education, mentorship, and artistic development of the next generation of singing artists.
Professor Sorel believes that every singer already carries music within them. Her work is devoted to helping each artist unlock the freedom to express it.