Meet Our Students: Karina Bes
Monday 15th January 2024
Voice Study Centre
Netherlands native Karina Bes is a passionate director, performer and coach in Musical Theatre. She received her PGCert in Voice Pedagogy with Distinction from the Voice Study Centre in 2023.
It was after graduating in Psychology and Criminology (Leiden University; MSc & BLaw) that Karina decided to pursue a career in Musical Theatre. She graduated as a Musical Theatre Performer at De Kunsthumaniora (Antwerp), and shortly after was accepted at the Professional School of the Arts (Utrecht), obtaining an MA in Creative Development (specialising in Musical Theatre). She also graduated in Theatre and Education from the Utrecht School of Performing Arts (BFA in Theatre, with Honours).
Karina is the co-founder of F*K Theater, which has curated successful performances in the Netherlands, New York and Sydney, and also the co-founder of The Internationalists, a worldwide directors’ collective with which she directed Lucky (LPAC) and Wrath (Public Theatre). Besides directing and performing in many successful national and international productions, Karina had been teaching Musical Theatre students for almost 20 years before beginning her PGCert Voice Pedagogy journey. Many of her students have found their way into the professional world of Musical Theatre.
Always dedicated to keeping abreast of the latest developments in voice pedagogy, she saw the Voice Study Centre’s programme as “a great opportunity to research the voice in a more structured way and to spark new interests”, especially as her studies could combine seamlessly with her current role as Director of Performing Arts at the iStage Academy in Shanghai, China.
Karina describes the Voice Pedagogy programme as “a must for all voice teachers out there” and relished the opportunity to delve deeper into her topics of choice such as Musical Theatre and belting through “a great variety of lectures and short courses with such great pioneers in voice research and practice”. She also broadened her horizons with a “newfound spark for voice science and vocal acoustics”.
Her studies have both helped her to become a teacher that is more aware of each single element that shapes the voice and enabled her to try new things in her classes that she otherwise wouldn’t have been able to try. Though her eagerness to keep learning, researching and developing will continue to drive her on further still, and she’s considering future PhD study to go alongside her inspirational Musical Theatre work as director and teacher.
Find out more about what Karina is up to at http://karinabes.com/
Karina Bes
Karina Bes is a passionate director, performer and coach in Musical Theatre. She is currently working as the Director of Performing Arts at the iStage Academy, Shanghai.
Recent Posts
After The Session
After The Session: Neurodivergence and Critical Disability Theory with Dr David Cane
Voice Study Centre
Monday 9th November 2026A recap of our session with Dr David Cane, Senior Lecturer on the Voice Study Centre MA in Voice Pedagogy, on disability and neurodivergence within the voice teaching studio. When we talk about disability and neurodivergence in voice teaching, the first thing that comes to mind is often a single question: what do I do if a disabled or neurodivergent student walks into my studio? In this session, Dr David Cane invited us to think much bigger. The teacher might be disabled or neurodivergent. So might a choir director or a colleague. The songs we teach may depict or use disability as a metaphor. Even the foundational texts of voice pedagogy carry assumptions about bodies and voices. This was a densely theoretical tour, and David was open about that. His argument was that the most important work is not a checklist of practical tips, but a rethink of what we believe teaching is for. Here are the main threads.
Read More...
After The Session
After The Session: The Vocal Health Challenges for Actors and Singers with Leda Scearce
Voice Study Centre
Wednesday 4th November 2026A recap of our two-part course with Leda Scearce, singing voice specialist and speech-language pathologist at Duke Voice Care Center in North Carolina. Over two afternoons, Leda Scearce took our community on a deep dive into the voice as a high-performance instrument. A former professional opera singer who taught at several universities before retraining as a speech-language pathologist, Leda now works with singers and other performers who have voice injuries. Her message across both days was clear: singers and actors are vocal athletes, and voice teachers are on the front lines of their vocal health. Here are the highlights from both sessions. Please note that this is a summary of a teaching session, not medical advice. If you or a student have a voice concern, see a qualified voice specialist.
Read More...
After The Session
After The Session: Feldenkrais Method® - its application in speech and song! with Marina Gilman
Voice Study Centre
Monday 2nd November 2026A recap of our session with Marina Gilman, Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, singing teacher, performer and licensed speech pathologist specialising in voice. How do we change vocal habits we don't know we have? That was the question at the heart of our latest session with Marina Gilman, and her answer was equal parts science, storytelling and gentle movement. Rather than lecturing from the front, Marina had the whole room (and everyone watching online) moving, sensing and humming along from their chairs. If you joined us, here is a reminder of what we explored. If you missed it, here is a taste of why this method has so many voice teachers talking.
Read More...