Laurece West Studios
Singing, Electric Bass, & Piano Lessons; Voice Coaching; Creativity & Career Coaching; Songwriting & Production
Workshops
"Thanks for the workshop last night. I enjoyed the material. I also noticed driving home how relaxed and happy I felt! As noted, moving the sound through the larynx opens the heart. I want more of this in my body."
Oliver Crichton,
"Off the Deep End!"
Performance Troupe Member,
and Musician,
Durham, NC.
"Wyatt and I were both really impressed with your ability to keep things flowing with all the participants...in these sorts of situations it's often easy to allow distraction to occur, and we thought you were able to keep the attention focused and clear...I think you're a really balanced teacher--having just the right amount of softness and compassion, yet maintaining a real grounded energy in your leadership style...glad you are doing your thing in the world, and hope to see you again..."
Ashley Howe, Vocal Instrumentalist - Collaborating with folks who focus on listening/presence as intentional exercise, Hillsborough, NC
"Kudos from Cathy: working on my singing under laurece's skilled direction has proven to really improve my singing. I love it!"
Cathy Keilar, Performer, Drummer, Children's party entertainer, Owner - Music Explorium, Durham, NC. www.musicexplorium.com.
Music and Recording Production
"This is working out much better than I expected. The information you give me is making a big difference. It's changing everything. I want to thank you for all you have done so far; your instruction has had an immediate, positive impact and effect on my experience as a musician. I feel that we are just now scratching the surface of what is possible through performance and I am really psyched to keep working on. You're very good."
Tom Robertson,
Guitarist, Singer, Performer,
Backing track studio producer,
Cary, NC
Voice Coaching
"Working with Laurece is powerful, practical, and spiritual! I noticed that I was losing my voice, in a week-long teacher training I was giving, when I remembered what Laurece taught me and applied it quickly...everything worked out fine and I had a happy voice! I often think about techniques she taught me and I keep using them."
Toni Bergins,
Creator of Journey Dance,
www.JourneyDance.com
Performance
"hi Laurece!
the rekkid is in the can, as they say!
hopefully the masters will come out great. Thank you for your wonderful instruction, I DO believe it helped me become more prepared for this record more than any other we have made."
valient himself
VALIENT THORR
BOOKING: valientthorr@gmail.com
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http://www.volcoment.com
"I just finished the musical "Curtains" up here at UNH, and my voice is sounding better than ever. I am working on getting some recordings, and I would love to show you my progress. I still use everything you taught me, and my confidence has grown so much that I've really been able to apply it and integrate it with everything I'm learning up here. I hope all is well!"
Kellie Welch, Musical Theater Major, University of New Hamphire
Hi Laurece! It’s Kellie Welch emailing you from the Big Apple! I am here doing a six week musical theatre conservatory at CAP 21, and I am having the time of my life. I just had to email you to let you know that I had a voice lesson today, and the coach wouldn't stop praising the training I have had in the past. So a really, really big THANK YOU! I feel like I've come so far and I still keep everything you've given me, from technique to confidence, at the forefront of my mind. I hope all is well with you in your new location, and if you are ever back in western Mass (or
"I am greatly enjoying working with you. I am continually amazed at how the principals you teach about singing end up having vast and far reaching implications for everyday life in terms of behaviors, attitudes, and how one approaches the world. The principles I've been learning from you about life in general are things that I've desperately needed to hear because they are setting me free from the chains of past emotional wounds. I feel that these areas of freedom that are being unlocked by your teachings are exactly what God wants to bring me into at this season in my life which is immensely encouraging! Thanks for being such a great teacher!"
Jeremy Potts,
"Thank you Laurece. I guess I've invested north of a thousand dollars into my voice with you. Just minutes ago I used my newly purchased blackberry to record my singing one of my favorites. I can't believe how I sound. I shudder to think about what I'll sing like by the end of the year. And this is even with the respiratory challenges of late. I am so thankful to have come into contact with you. And I wanna affirm how great a teacher you are."
Braxton Shelley, Black Sacred Music Scholar, Music Minister, Gospel Singer and Organist,
"I don’t necessarily see myself ever doing professional singing. It’s not really my goal. My goal is actually singing for balance because it makes me feel good. One of the things I like about our morning lessons is that it starts out my day and puts me in a good place and a good mood and I feel happier the rest of the day."
Sarah Macy, Creative Artist,
"From my perspective, it was easy to see Hannah's progress in the quality and maturity of her voice during the year that she studied with you."
Bruce Nayowith, M.D.,
Great
"I like going to voice lessons with Laurece because I know I'll get the flexibility and gentleness I need. I feel encouraged to let it all out and to keep practicing, practicing, practicing! The space is open for me to grow as a singer AND performer. She is a must-try if you want any encouragement to sing, perform...be!"
Francine Ciccarelli,
The Francine Ciccarelli Quartet,
Western Massachusetts
"I am so appreciative and amazed at all I have received from my voice lessons with you. We’ve had ten lessons so far and I have received so much information about myself that goes far beyond learning to sing.
Who would have guessed that learning to sing would bring me to a place where I would grow not only technically as a singer, but also spiritually.
The discipline of taking time for myself at the beginning of each lesson has been a teaching of self care I’ve never given myself on a regular basis.
The movement and improvisational work has helped me get in touch with and move through feelings I’ve usually pushed down to manage without realizing the cost to my voice, my life experience and my relationships.
It’s astonishing that in the final lesson before singing in a wedding, we spent so little time in vocalization and practice of the actual song and yet the lesson had such a huge impact on the result. For the first time I experienced being consciously aware of my feelings and had “sure fire” techniques so I was able effect the actual quality of my performance and could truly sing my best from my heart. Thank you so much."
Toni Stevens, CBP, Par. BP
BodyTalk Access Trainer
“I think of you and your gifts to me often, and I have wanted so very much to write a letter to you thanking you for your time and consideration, for your sincerity and interest, for your kindness and the way that it touched my life. To give something of worth and weight to the words "thank you," to show where you made the difference. You continue to make a difference each time I think of you. It was a sanctuary to me...I know that I was a student and that I paid for your time, but you went to such lengths it always seemed to me to make me feel as though I counted, that my existence in the world mattered and had meaning. Your interaction with me was a gift. You were unconditional with me. When I think of you, I believe that maybe people can be and can treat each other as though there is a G-d, as though there is hope, as though there is Love, and not fail because of it but be the stronger for it.”
Alison Work, Stockbridge, MA