Today we have a special Spotlight – Lawson Vocal Studio. We are working with the Toronto vocal and performance studio (LVS), who are hosting a national contest for emerging artists. The contest, called “Becoming” is based upon the idea that all artists are constantly evolving and learning. The contest is entirely online and features artists ages 10-17 and 18 and above. Submissions will be open until August 4, with the final showcases and standout artist announcements happening August 19th & 20th
“Becoming” is the brainchild of Lorraine Lawson and Kate Davies (Former A&R The Launch and Universal Music).
Lorraine Lawson is the founder of LVS with over 25 years of working with artists and vocal coaching. She pivoted to making a community centred around a folks’ shared love of performance. Mary-Lu Zahalan is a decorated performance artist with credits in television, theatre, and Juno nominated.
Lorraine, what made you decide to open the LVS, and as an instructor for many years what were some of the highs and lows you experienced throughout that growth process?
I wanted to own a coaching studio dedicated to the developing, emerging and established Singer to receive outstanding coaching in all areas of their career.
Canadian artists are often at an disadvantage due to the lack of star system in this Country. LVS continues to grow and expand our brand to fill in the gaps building a strong sense of artist community at the heart of our studio.
Mary-Lu, what made you decide to be a performance coach?
I am a graduate of Sheridan College Musical Theatre program. I recognized the need to support Young singers to be successful in all genres of music not just Musical Theatre but commercial performance as well.
Having done music, theatre, and television, how do you feel performing is different for each medium? How do you translate that knowledge to someone who is just starting out?
There are different approaches to each and every medium. There is one commonality across every genre, which is an authentic desire to emotionally connect with the audience
Your new workbook “The Power of Performance” is being well received. It currently has a 5-Star rating on Amazon. How did you both meet and become friends and colleagues?
Mary-Lu asked me to coach with her at Sheridan Collage about 20 years ago. This has led to years of doing many shares workshops and masterclasses together. This subsequently led us co writing our performance book.
Being instructors for as long as you have, was it challenging to translate that knowledge from an in-person teaching method to text?
It was crucially important for our students to have a tangible workbook to expand their person growth as performers.
How did you do it in sections, or was it a more organic collaboration?
We worked on this over 3 years with a concentrated effort last year.
Being that you are teaching performance art which is highly emotional and at times abstract/subjective, is it difficult to translate that into a reason and logic-based knowledge set?
It is always important to balance objective and subjective Story telling as a performer and of course balancing the subjective nature of the business with the deeply emotional nature of the performer. We commit to empowerIng the Singers we work with to build their skills necessary to project an authentic confidence in everything they do.
The ‘Becoming’ contest closes Aug 4th, which is going to be an amazing highlight for artists. Both younger artists who are still growing into themselves and their craft. as well as to showcase older talent and will demonstrate that art is a mix of both talent and hard work. What are some of the best performances, or rather, performances that have always stayed with you over the years?
There are so many to mention but I am always blown away by artists who can resonate with their audience In a memorable way.
The philosophy of LVS is to Inspire our clients to dig deeply into what make them memorable and how they can make their audience feel important by developing the vocal and performance necessary to become the artists they are meant to be.
This special feature Spotlight – Lawson Vocal Studio. ‘Becoming’ is coming to a close soon and what a great way to show of your skills as an artist. For more information on the contest please visit the website. Our team has seen hundreds of artists and its always amazing to see new talent coming up in the industry.
https://www.lawsonvocalstudios.com/becoming
Contact us today for your own Spotlight Interview!