Meisner in Music: Merging Beautiful Singing with Emotional Acting
Thursday 29th February 2024, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM (London Time)
As vocalists, we’re often taught one set of tools in voice lessons and another in acting classes but left on our own to put the two together. It can feel like we have to choose between beautiful singing and emotional acting, sacrificing the integrity of one to focus on the other.
Sanford Meisner, internationally-acclaimed acting teacher (and concert pianist!), spent over 60 years developing a technique that was simplifying, grounding, step-by-step, and allowed artists to stay present, trust themselves, and find freedom in performance. Meisner-trained actors include Academy Award winners Anthony Hopkins, Kathy Bates, Viola Davis and Sam Rockwell.
Even as the highly-effective technique proved to produce some of theatre and film’s finest performances, after Meisner’s death in 1997, the question still remained: 'How do we take this freeing technique that emphasises spoken text and working off a partner and apply it to music and often performing with no partner?'
20 years later, Meisner in Music began to seek to bridge this gap.
While Founder Jillian Paige originally created Meisner in Music to be an acting class technique specifically for singers, over its years of existence we found that it can help musicians with so much more, including performance anxiety, trust in technique, artistic agency, and presence and embodiment both on stage and in life.
In our workshop with the Voice Study Centre, participants will learn the foundational tool of the Meisner technique, 'repetition', and gain insight into additional aspects of the technique that are particularly useful for singers such as emotional preparation and 'the physical impediment'. Attendees can expect to leave with tools to apply to their own artistry and their students to help them get out of their heads, trust in their voices, and, most importantly, trust in themselves.
Jillian Paige
Jillian Paige is the Founder of Meisner in Music, the premier class to infuse the Meisner Technique with singing. Jillian received her Master’s in Music Theatre from Oklahoma City University, her Bachelor’s in Classical Vocal Performance from Belmont University, and studied Meisner under Terry Martin (a direct pupil of Meisner’s), and Ted Wold.
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
Learn MoreSorry, this is an archived short course...
We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.
Tuesday 5th August 2025
1:00 PM - 12:00 PM
Tuesday 12th August 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 19th August 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 26th August 2025
1:00 PM - 12:00 PM
Tuesday 2nd September 2025
1:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Tuesday 9th September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 16th September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Tuesday 23rd September 2025
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
(London Time)
Certificate in Acting Approaches for Singing Teachers
Louisa Morgan
Are you a singing teacher looking to elevate your students’ performances? Join our very own Louisa Morgan, as she takes a deeper dive into acting approaches that singing teachers can use to integrate powerful acting techniques into singing lessons. This 8 session course is perfect for those who want to help their singers connect deeply with the story behind the song. Gain practical tools and techniques that you can immediately apply in your teaching! Come along live for an interactive experience, or watch on playback at your leisure.
Thursday 4th September 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Unpacking the Mind-Voice Connection in Occupational Voice Users!
Dr Cantor Cutiva
Join Dr. Cantor-Cutiva as she explores the Mind-Voice Connection, a holistic framework that considers how psychological traits, stress levels, and sleep quality interact with vocal health, particularly in occupational voice users. Through a multidisciplinary lens, we will examine how personality dimensions such as extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness influence not only vocal behaviour but also the perception and reporting of vocal fatigue.
Tuesday 9th September 2025
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Choral Pedagogy and the Older Singer: Strategies for Lifelong Singing!
Dr Brenda Smith
There is intrinsic value in lifelong singing. Singing with others is a noble deed that brings immeasurable satisfaction. Singing together involves teamwork and offers myriad rewards. It can enhance personal well-being, develop skill sets, and promote friendship. At any age, singing improves mental agility and calms an agitated mind. It is an activity everyone can include in daily life anywhere and at any time. Singing should have no expiration date. Lifelong singing should not be a lofty ambition, but rather a way of life. Our interactive workshop will involve choral vocal exercises (warmups and cooldowns) as well as skill building strategies for tone quality and range that are age and size appropriate for older singers.