Dr. Alyssa Becker serves on the voice faculty at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she teaches applied voice, vocal pedagogy, and maintains a private voice studio. She is also the artistic director the Drake University Voice Intensive, a high school vocal training program she co-founded. Dr. Becker combines performance, research, and teaching, with a focus on preparing singers to navigate a wide range of vocal styles.
As a pedagogue, Dr. Becker focuses on cross-training research, helping students develop the versatility to perform confidently across a range of musical styles. Most recently, she presented “Control of Vibrato in Female Musical Theatre Crossover Singers” at national conferences with The Voice Foundation and the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.
As a performer, Dr. Becker has appeared in operas with Minnesota Opera as well as university and community ensembles across the United States. Her students have been accepted into leading collegiate programs, including Berklee College of Music, The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, The University of North Texas, and Belmont University, and have earned recognition in regional and national competitions including the National Association of Teachers of Singing and Music Teachers National Association.
Dr. Becker holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Drake University. For more information visit www.alyssabeckermezzo.com.
Upcoming Short Courses
Tuesday 17th March 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
The Use of Vibrato in Belt and Legit Styles of Singing in Professional Female Musical Theatre Performers
Dr. Alyssa Becker
Shaped by the popular music of its time, musical theatre blends storytelling with an ever-evolving range of vocal styles—from classical legit singing to jazz, hip-hop, and powerhouse belting. Despite its importance, much of what we understand about vibrato comes from laboratory-based studies that strip singing of its musical, stylistic, and performance context. Join Dr Alyssa Becker as she connects current research with real-world pedagogy, revealing how elite musical theatre performers strategically use vibrato to shape style and storytelling, and showing how these insights can be applied in the voice studio to train stylistic flexibility and control!