Author: Jess Baldwin

Jess has a passion for working with underserved populations who sing and teach musical styles that are generally excluded from academia. After getting her master’s in classical vocal performance and pedagogy, she dedicated herself to studying how the voice works in contemporary, commercial, and popular music styles. She became an assistant faculty member of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah University in 2017 and created Singing in Popular Musics (formerly Commercial Voice Resources) for voice teachers that same year. In addition to running a private studio online and in Columbus, Ohio, she teaches contemporary voice techniques at colleges, theaters, conferences, and workshops. // truecolorsvoiceandaritst.com //

Popular Music Education

Before you create that popular musics voice teacher position…

Please stop creating positions for popular musics voice teachers in your mostly classical voice department if you’re not going to provide the students with the full range of resources and training they really need to be successful in these genres. Will they be required to write and sing their own songs as part of their lessons? Will there be songwriting professors on faculty to help … Continue reading Before you create that popular musics voice teacher position…

Jess BaldwinJune 16, 20211 Comment

Classes & Workshops

March Workshops

Join our contributors for these upcoming workshops! Moving from Appropriation to Appreciation in the White-Owned Voice Studio // Jess Baldwin & Michelle Markwart Deveaux Friday, March 12⋅11:30am – 1:30pm Jessica Baldwin and Michelle Markwart Deveaux have developed a brave space for white voice teachers of popular musics who are ready to take actionable steps toward repertoire justice. Repertoire justice is the act of educating ourselves … Continue reading March Workshops

Jess BaldwinMarch 10, 2021March 9, 2021Leave a comment

Artist Development, Cultural Influences, Expression, Genre Differences, Popular Music Education, Post-Secondary Programs

Teaching CCM Styles, Finding Your Voice, and Appropriating Styles…and Yourself // Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin

Dr. Trineice (creator of Soul Ingredients® and author of So You Want to Sing Gospel) shares some fantastic wisdom with us about the ways academia can helpfully structure programs for singers of CCM genres, how she found her own voice and helps others find theirs, and ways we can be mindful of potential appropriation. Transcript: Jessica Baldwin:Hey everybody. I am Jess Baldwin, and this is … Continue reading Teaching CCM Styles, Finding Your Voice, and Appropriating Styles…and Yourself // Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin

Jess BaldwinNovember 2, 2020February 12, 20212 Comments

Books, Interviews, Pedagogy, Research

Elizabeth Benson’s findings in her new book about CCM Voice Teachers: “Consensus is not a path to legitimacy.”

Elizabeth Ann Benson has recently published her book Training Contemporary Commercial Singers, in which she shares her findings from interviewing 26 voice teachers who work with CCM, popular music, jazz, and musical theatre singers. She is trained in Somatic Voicework™ the LoVetri Method, Lisa Popeil’s Voiceworks® method, and Estill Voice Training™, among others. She is a 2016 graduate of the Intern Program of the National … Continue reading Elizabeth Benson’s findings in her new book about CCM Voice Teachers: “Consensus is not a path to legitimacy.”

Jess BaldwinAugust 4, 2020August 3, 2020Leave a comment