About Ian
Hi, and thanks for visiting my website and learning more about what I do!
Hi, and thanks for visiting my website to learn more about what I do!
At the end of the day, I guess I'm just a "singing nerd"! I love singing, listening to others sing, and helping people express themselves through their singing voices with power, presence, and confidence.
I've been singing all my life. I started at age 7 in a High Anglican church choir, where I was exposed to harmony, counterpoint, Requiems, and Latin—wearing robes and a frilly ruff! I earned my Bishops’ Chorister Award just before my voice broke, then moved to the Alto and finally the Tenor sections of the choir. My interest soon shifted from classical choral singing to Soul, RnB, and Gospel (thanks to Whoopi Goldberg and Sister Act!).
As a Gospel singer, I performed with the Liverpool Love & Joy Gospel Choir for many years, touring across the country from small town halls to football stadiums. I fell in love with this expressive and emotive art form and eventually founded the Sanctified Gospel Choir, which won a Gospel Entertainment & Music (GEM) Award in 2005.
I was fortunate to study music at the prestigious Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), founded by Sir Paul McCartney. I graduated with honors in 2003. During my time at LIPA, I had the opportunity to sing and perform with many talented artists and provided backing vocals for several mainstream artists.
Over time, I discovered my passion for singing backing vocals and found joy in directing rather than being in the spotlight. This naturally led me to teaching singing as a side hustle. Initially, I had no idea what I was doing, but then I discovered the Speech Level Singing (SLS) methodology, which transformed my approach to vocal coaching.
Training in the Speech Level Singing (SLS) teaching methodology and studying under world-renowned teachers such as Seth Riggs, Dave Stroud, Wendy Parr, John Henny, Dean Kaelin, Greg Enriquez, Jeffrey Skouson, and Kathy Kennedy coincided with my invitation to lecture in Gospel and A Cappella at my former university, LIPA. Upon completing my initial SLS training, I was also invited to lecture in vocals at LIPA, where I taught for 12 years, offering one-to-one and group singing classes to students in the Music, Acting, and Dance degree and foundation courses.
After achieving Level 3 status within the SLS organisation, I sought to broaden my knowledge of vocal pedagogy, vocal harmonics, and acoustics. Together with other teachers from around the world, we formed Vocology in Practice (ViP) under the guidance of Dave Stroud.
Shortly after helping to found ViP, where I served as Education Director for a year, I obtained my MA in Music from the University of Salford. My studies focused on the Psychology of Performance and "Adophobia" (the Fear of Singing), on which I wrote extensively for my thesis.
I work diligently to stay informed on the latest pedagogical research and developments in vocal health to provide the best for my clients. I’ve also recently started training in Laryngeal Massage to bring this beneficial manual therapy to my clients.
Career highlights include lecturing in singing at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) and helping to establish and teach the singing program for the BA (Hons) in Musical Theatre at the Institute of the Arts Barcelona. I have also trained voices at Rare Studios in Liverpool and arranged and directed the backing choir for the 2012 UK Christmas No.1 song "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" with the Justice Collective, for which I was awarded a Gold Disc.
In addition to my teaching studio, I am the choral director for the Liverpool Community Choir and Over The Water A Cappella Choir, train the lead voices for the Birkenhead Operatic Society, and regularly perform with the Over The Water Show Choir and Soul City Voices, a six piece vocal harmony group.
Over the last decade, my career has led me to teacher training, and I am proud to be one of the directors of Modern Vocal Training (MVT). I absolutely love training new teachers; it is invigorating and ensures I stay current with the latest developments in my field.
