Testimonials

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 "I asked my friend Deborah if she would be willing to coach my TUD students on French pronunciation through their repertoire.  As our college had to close in March, due to the Covid virus, I wanted to keep my students motivated and occupied during this time.

My students and myself benefited hugely from the classes which Deborah delivered online with great skill and with absolute attention to detail.  It has been great for us to work with a professional singer, who has an in-depth knowledge of French repertoire and, more importantly, who is a superb educator.

Dr Robert Alderson

h.c (Russian State Federation)

Adjunct Professor of Music (Krasnodar Conservatory of Music)

ARCM LGSM (Performance & Teaching)

Dip.Ed Secondary Education (Manchester)

UK

 I thoroughly enjoyed working with Deborah for French coaching.  The lessons provided real goals to work towards in the midst of the pandemic.  The classes on Zoom featured up to 10 people and she managed to make it feel like a 1:1 lesson.  This attention to detail left no stone unturned in my preparation to record my UCAS Master's video auditions.

Deborah has changed my approach to learning French repertoire and made it so that I no longer find it to be a daunting task.  Thank you!

Luke Horner, B.Mus

Dublin, Ireland

I have been preparing repertoire to begin my Masters (M.Mus Voice) at the Royal Northern College of Music, which requires me to have a good understanding of numerous languages.  I always saw French as a particularly difficult language to sing in, especially because I grew up in India and had no idea or access to the French language prior to my lessons with Deborah.  However, within a few short months, thanks to all the great efforts taken by Deborah, I can comprehend and speak French with quite a lot of fluency already.

Deborah's ability to put things simply and insistence on detail have allowed me to not only understand the rules of singing French, but also given me invaluable technical knowledge on how to effectively use sounds and vowels to create beautiful phrasing in general.  The relentless patience and care that Deborah has given me has been extremely encouraging, she has even taken the time to find pieces for me to learn and work on, apart from our lessons, for she feels that they will serve me in my preparation.  Most importantly, she does all this with a lovely smile.

I feel most privileged to be receiving such a high standard of learning, which feels nothing less than world class.  The information that Deborah has passed down to me will be something I will be able to use in the entirely of my singing career.

Kanchana Jaishankar

India

During the summer, I participated in French lessons with Deborah Lea.  I am a student at University College Dublin (UCD), but I was able to share classes with different students from Technological University Dublin (TUD) and even Germany and India.

It was an invaluable experience having lessons with her, not only because of her expert knowledge of French, but also as she too is a singer, so she understands how to deal with any problems with vowel shapes and pronunciations that singers may encounter, compared to regular spoken French.

She suggests repertoire to look at, then goes through it forensically, with great attention to detail, so you can learn all the rules in various contexts as you go along.  She makes it a really fun learning environment, giving clear and precise help and tests too, to make sure you can follow.

Thanks to her, I feel much more confident with my French singing now and would encourage anyone who wants to improve or master their language skills to avail of her amazing expertise.

Max O'Neill

Dublin, Ireland

I had the chance to work with the wonderful Deborah Lea last July, during my summer break, as I had the task of preparing a couple of French arias for my audition at Staatsoper Hannover for the Principal Ensemble, where I currently work as a Young Artist.

It was an incredible few hours of coaching with Deborah, as she scrutinised every passing phrase, step by step, in a very detailed fashion.

Being a fluent French speaker and a professionally-trained singer herself, she is easily able to point out the differences between sung and spoken French.  And she is always happy to demonstrate phrases by exhibiting the correct phonetics, stress points and different ways of expressing a phrase.

All of this and more makes it a really fruitful coaching session with this inspiring coach.

Darwin Leonard Prakash, B.A, M.Mus

Germany

I was first introduced to Deborah Lea at a concert in Manchester, where she was singing the Brahms songs for mezzo and viola.  Little did I know, that summer in 2019, how much of an influence Deborah would have on my education.  During the lockdown of 202, Robert Alderson suggested that we do online classes on the French language with Deborah.  This was a very beneficial way to pass time in an otherwise bleak and disheartening period for a lot of us.

Deborah gave her time so generously and freely and always approached the classes in such a caring and diligent manner.  The classes were given using online technologies like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, with up to 10 people participating each week.  No student was pressured if they weren't grasping language concepts, as we all came from different backgrounds with varying levels of French language.  She worked with us both speaking and singing French repertoire for many months on a weekly basis and I, on a personal level, improved immensely.  I am no longer daunted by French repertoire and instead look forward to learning new "chansons"

As a part-time student in the TUD Conservatoire of Music and Drama, preparing to enter my final year of the B.Mus degree, Deborah's classes have given me great confidence and a firm footing going forward for my future.  It is without doubt that I would highly recommend Deborah to any young student or maturing performer.

Stephen Walker

Dublin, Ireland

Working on languages is a key part in the success of any singer.  During the last few months, I had the opportunity to study French with Deborah and it has been a real privilege.  She is a wonderful teacher, who encourages learning and is so caring and dedicated to her students.

Spoken French is very different to singing in French.  Deborah is actually a singer herself, so she understands how to effectively teach and help singers with their French.  I was exposed to a wide range of French repertoire and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Deborah really helped me improve my French and has given me confidence in singing French.

I am currently studying in Trinity College, Dublin and these online classes in French have helped me hugely.  I would encourage any singer out there who wants to improve their sung French to take a course with Deborah.  She is tremendously talented and an incredible teacher.

Anna Barry

Dublin, Ireland

As someone with no previous background in the French language, Deborah's coaching has proved to be an invaluable experience for me, which I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Whilst working online via Zoom classes in the midst of the pandemic, Deborah provided me with a solid foundation in French through a series of lessons, which were both fun and engaging and encapsulated all of the fundamentals essential for a working knowledge of the language, which I can now utilise in approaching new pieces for my singing repertoire.  Deborah's standard of teaching is second to none and , as I have applied to study as a Masters student at the Conservatiore of Music and Drama in TU Dublin, having a solid foundation in French is an invaluable asset and addition to my skill set, which will undoubtedly benefit me as I continue on my path to a career as a professional singer.

David Mulhall, B.A

Dublin, Ireland

One of the highlights of the lockdown period in New Delhi were the French classes for my student-singers held by Deborah Lea.  This was organised by my esteemed colleague and friend Robert Alderson, along with Kanchana Jaishankar, who was studying with Robert for 6 months in Manchester.  We are grateful to both of them for co-ordinating these classes.

I attended one of the sessions too and was delighted to observe Deborah's handling of nuances with such ease and patience, making it easier for the singer to tackle this difficult language and also easier to comprehend for the listener!

The feedback from some of the students will express the necessity to continue this online experience with teacher participation as observers.

Ashwati Parameshwar:  "She is patient and good-natured and willing and eager to help anyone.  Learning from her has been a pleasure."

Meera Arora:  "A great learning experience.  She is erudite and her understanding of the nuances of the French language has helped immensely.  I'm grateful for the master class."

Aasthat Mohapatra:  "Studying French with Deborah has been an insightful experience as a singer.  She beautifully dissects each and every element of the song for us.  She helped us all to delve into the world of Fauré's melodies, equipped with adequate linguistic tools to interpret them for the audience."

With the wish for many more sessions in future and many many thanks for Deborah's kindness and interest to reach out to Indian singers.

Situ Singh Buehler

Vocal Coach and Concert Singer

New Delhi, India

S Before Deborah's coaching, French had been a language I always struggled with.  I found French pronunciation rules confusing and the placement of the language when singing always felt wrong and restrictive on the voice.

Deborah's French coaching sessions have been nothing short of amazing over lockdown and have been an invaluable help with my French language and singing.

Deborah's experience as both an opera singer and fluent French speaker resulted in a teacher who was able to teach the language and put it into vocal practice.  The weekly lessons used French poetry and vocal scores to explain and demonstrate the language rules, as well as delving into the crucial technical knowledge of where the vowels and consonants needed to be placed in order to sing French correctly.  These lessons were both enjoyable as well as insightful and were delivered in a relaxed and engaging manner.  Deborah even went beyond the weekly group lessons to provide me with one-to-one tuition on specific music that I've since used for auditions with NI Opera, RCS, RAM and Guildhall.

Deborah's unceasing patience, along with her fountain of knowledge and experience results in a teaching and coaching standard which is second to none and a French coach like no other!

She's the best!

Connor Campbell, B.Mus

Northern Ireland, UK

I have had the pleasure of working with Deborah Lea on French diction for a mix of both operatic and song repertoire, through lessons which she generously gave over summer to me and my co-students, as well as during a production with North Wales Opera.

Working with Deborah was a fantastic experience and, as well as correcting our diction on specific repertoire, she also equipped us with really good rules to French singing diction.  This is invaluable for me, because it means that I can approach new French repertoire with confidence that I know how to go about pronouncing it.

Despite having a reasonably high standard of spoken French myself, through school and work at the Festival Interceltique in Lorient, I still learned a huge amount, both in terms of mistakes in my French, as well as in the subtleties of sung French, as opposed to spoken French.

Deborah was fantastic to work with, encouraging an atmosphere of positivity and meticulous attention to detail during our classes on Zoom, which led to a very productive and enjoyable learning experience.  We were all extremely lucky to get such fantastic tuition and I hope to be able to learn more from her in the future.

Fionn Ó hAlmhain

Chairperson of TU Dublin Operatic Society

Dublin, Ireland