AboutSean Martinfield Expertise I am a professional vocal coach in San Francisco. In addition to answers from a previous web site (Askme.com - where my "tag" was "VocalCoach") I have published over 2000 responses related to vocal training - particularly as it relates to Musical Theatre and Opera. I have 24 years of experience as Personal Trainer to singers and actors in the San Francisco Bay Area. I sang professionally for 20 years and know what it means to live the life of a musician. I can determine your voice category, i.e., Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Alto Belter, etc., and how to broaden and strengthen your range. Need an audition song for a Broadway Musical? I will give you suggestions that are appropriate to your vocal category and to requirements specified in the audition notice. I have also created a vocal methodology, "The Belter`s Method". It will enable those in Musical Theatre to practice more efficiently because it focuses on the demands of professional performers as well as to those auditioning for school and community productions, and as University and Conservatory performing arts majors. If what you want is a better voice and more control over your career moves and choices, contact me. Also, as the Fine Arts Critic for SanFranciscoSentinel.com, it is my privilege to review productions at the San Francisco Opera, Ballet and Symphony, as well as Broadway National Tours booked into San Francisco's Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theatres. I also review works by A.C.T (the American Conservatory Theatre) and Magic Theatre. I cover select films, tributes and retrospects, and various international film festivals – particulary those booked into The City's opulent Castro Theatre – including both the San Francisco International and Silent Film Festivals. For private vocal instruction, I can be contacted through craigslist.com. Look under Musicians, then keyword: Martinfield.
Experience Distinctive celebrity voices and how they are used and promoted by the Entertainment Industry have always fascinated me. Drawing from all eras of film and animation, television, radio, Broadway plays and musicals, opera and a few politicians ? a huge bounty of actors and singers have had a profound effect upon my life, influencing all the choices I made with respect to my education and my dual careers as a professional singer and vocal coach. I am curious about what is promoted and, consequently, the competitive aspects of the Performing Arts.
I am a Theatre Arts Graduate from San Francisco State University. During the years of my attendance, the school enjoyed the reputation for having the best Theatre Department on the West Coast. My academic training equipped me as an actor, enabling me to prepare for professional auditions and to compete successfully. I learned how to take direction and to apply my skills during the rehearsal process. Along the way I learned to identify my assets as a performer, to market my particular abilities and to find the audiences interested in my particular product.
During my freshman year, I also began studying opera. For the next eight years, I trained as a baritone, learning the classical vocal methodology known as "Bel Canto" with well-respected coaches including Mr. James Schwabacher, then head of the San Francisco Opera's Marla Training Program. Because mastering the technique of Bel Canto is absolutely dependent upon its application to Italian opera and, consequently, perfect pronunciation of the language, I studied Italian as well as French and German with private coaches. I have performed the roles of ?Guglielmo" (COSI FAN TUTTE), "Marcello" (LA BOHEME), "Valentin" (FAUST), "Enrico" (LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR), "Dr. Miracle", (THE TALES OF HOFFMANN), "Top" (THE TENDER LAND), " Mr. Gedge, the Vicar" (ALBERT HERRING) and "Dr. Caius" (THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR). During these ten years, I also appeared in many classical recitals singing the standard classical Baritone repertoire. It was Mr. Schwabacher's training that expanded my upper range, turning me into a working tenor. My last appearances as a classical tenor were with conductor and pianist Robin Kay, performing Schubert's DIE SCHÖNE MULLERIN.
I then re-trained my voice, dropped the Bel Canto methodology, and went on to sustain another 10 years doing standard American repertoire including Broadway, Jazz, Blues and Standards. Throughout this period I appeared regularly on the San Francisco cabaret circuit and was a featured soloist with Bay Area bands, orchestras and choruses. I continued producing my own solo concerts, the last being at the New Conservatory Theatre.
As a vocal coach, I work primarily with singers and actors throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. My clientele ranges from absolute beginners to working professionals, from pre-schoolers to retired Senior Citizens. The vast majority of them come to me through recommendation. I know how to identify any singer's vocal category, i.e., soprano, tenor, alto, baritone, etc. I know how to muscle-up every singer's vocal range and to expand it beyond conventional definitions. I have developed a vocal methodology for those who want to know how to belt, THE BELTER'S METHOD. As a singer who spent half of his career doing Bel Canto, I know for certain that classical or Italian methodologies do not work in Standard American music. Bel Canto cannot be "adapted" to meet the needs of contemporary American music, including the demands of the Musical Theatre.
There are two major components to my job. The first is to teach basic musical skills such as reading music, counting, breathing techniques, development and expansion of the vocal range, phonetics and diction ? specifically as it applies to Standard American English. The second is about presentation ? that is, everything involved with the client's audition and/or actual performance. In short, for any person relying upon their vocal endurance and performance skills to earn a living, my job is to enable them to compete for a job and, when hired, to maintain that job.
Over the years my clients have appeared in all of the available Broadway musicals produced in virtually every theater throughout the Bay Area. Some have worked in New York and gone on National Tours. Most recently, my clients have been praised for their work in AIDA and WICKED.
So, if you want to prepare for "American Idol" or the Broadway stage, contact me through http://www.geocities.com/broadwaybelters
Question I am a junior in high school and I have been taking voice lessons/performing in musical theater productions since around 7th grade, aka 5 years. I am a mezzo/alto (at least for now), but I was wondering how developed a female voice really is at this age. I have some friends that have extremely developed voices (both range and technique) and I am always worried that I'm not quite "up to par".
I know I have a good voice, but it is very inconsistant. Somedays it feels perfectly natural to sing and others I have a lot of trouble maintaining an open quality and bright tone, just sustaining my breath, or even keeping myself from screeching. I know that voice teachers are always saying how "everyone's voice is different" and that what works for one person might not work for another, but I feel like I haven't improved as much as I should have. To be honest, I do not practice for voice as much as I should (I'd say I do about 4-5 times a month), but I still find it so discouraging when there are incredible people who have perfect technique, yet have never taken voice lessons.
I've been called back for leads in school plays (e.g. Eponine in Les Mis) and had various solos, but after five years of voice lessons, I'm not sure how much more I will improve. I am absolutely in love with singing, but I'm worried that I'm just not good enough...
Answer Dear S –
Thank you for the question.
I would sure like to hear these friends of yours who have "extremely developed voices". Send me their clippings from the local critics.
You are much too young to be throwing in the towel. In fact, professional "adult-variety" training usually starts right about your age. The little girl you were in 7th grade with her little girl voice has nothing to do with who you are now. And who you are now will be a far cry from who and what you will become on the day you graduate. Check the yearly photos, OK?!
I have no clue as to what your vocal lessons are about nor do I know what you actually do when you "practice" 4 to 5 times a month. All I know is – that ain't it, kid. Not for anything! Same discussion if you wanted to be a dancer. Nevertheless, if you were my client – I would be the first to know you were not doing what I demand from someone who claims to study with me. In short – I wouldn't have been taking your money for five long years. I would have fired you after the first month.
Anyone can sing "Eponine". That's why every high school in every country around the world is doing LES MISÉRABLES. So ordinary. So boring.
It is also true that not every wannabe singer connects with the same vocal coach that their friends employ. I know I didn't! As a young student, I encountered many a professor and private coach who didn't know as much as I did. But I was also a trained musician and an experienced actor before that first private lesson or required university class. I learned how to close my check book and become more discriminating. I also knew which field of music I wanted to pursue and The Business of that field. You must know the same.
You have very little time left to be deciding on your college major and to be earning scholarship consideration in the best school possible. Before you waste any more time on silly dreams related to Broadway musicals, use the rest of this semester and summer vacation to study music theory, dance, and the keyboard. Even for those friends you recognize as being better than you at the moment – everyone of you is going to have to compete against a much larger crowd come those university auditions.
After graduation from that conservatory or university, the competition for an actual role – all of them non-paying until you earn your Equity Card – becomes even more difficult and ruthless.
At this point, you are able to recognize your lack of interest in practicing. Perhaps you are with the wrong teacher – one who has not imparted to you a reliable and stimulating work-out program. As a professional singer and vocal coach I know that it is impossible to succeed – in anything – unless you have a reliable method of study and an extremely disciplined work ethic.
Take a look at my You Tubes:
Lorena Feijóo - A Look at "Giselle" with Seán Martinfield
SAMSON & DELILAH – Meet Seán Martinfield
I am also the fine arts critc for the San Francisco Sentinel. Below are some links to recent articles and reviews:
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – Now at The Curran Theatre
A CONVERSATION WITH MAESTRO HELMUTH RILLING
BLUE BEAR LIVE III – Friday, May 9th at Great American Music Hall
RICHARD C. BARKER – Named Chair of San Francisco Ballet’s Board of Trustees
SAN FRANCISCO CONCERT CHORALE PRESENTS – THE BACH EXPERIENCE
7 SINS – EXTENDED AT THEATRE RHINO THROUGH MAY 17th
ANTIQUE ROADSTERS RACE FROM NOB HILL – THE 2008 SAN FRANCISCO MILLE
LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN – Restored Film Noir Classic at SF International Film Festival
HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL – At the Orpheum, San Francisco
CHERYL BURKE DANCE – Dancing with Gavin and Jennifer
DALE CHIHULY – Lighting-Up At The de Young
At the Asian Art Museum – DRAMA AND DESIRE
LORENA FEIJÓO – A Conversation with Seán Martinfield
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ – On her show at the Legion of Honor
JENNIFER SIEBEL – A Conversation with Seán Martinfield
SWEENEY TODD – PRIME CUTS FROM DIRECTOR TIM BURTON
SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY – 14th Season with Michael Tilson Thomas
ANITA COCKTAIL and LEANNE BORGHESI – A 3-Way Dialogue
GILBERT & GEORGE – A Debut, at the de Young February 16th – May 18th
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA Announces 86th Season – 11 Operas, 78 Performances
