This week's guest is David Sisco.

This is part one of a two-part interview with David Sisco, a New York-based voice teacher, who regularly lectures nationally and internationally on all things relating to singing voice pedagogy. David describes himself as a multi-hyphenate artist whose life work centres around exploring music, drama, writing, and teaching, finding great inspiration and commonalities in each. During this interview, David speaks candidly about his own personal and professional journey, which led him to an enduring career in the performing arts. He discusses how he developed his teaching skills, and that he calls himself an equal opportunity borrower because his teaching approaches have come from a variety of different sources. David firmly believes that we, as voice teachers, must become life-long learners and we need to invest in ourselves, so we can invest in our students. Furthermore, David states that it is important to honour knowledge and that as a voice community, we must continue to learn and grow together.

During our conversation, David talked about his teaching philosophy and how can we hold safer spaces for our students where they can allow themselves to become more vulnerable and to tell their stories, with honesty and without judgement. David affirms that we should be encouraging our students to become more curious and explore the possibilities of their voices and allow for playfulness.

Finally, David speaks openly about his beliefs regarding the status quo of voice programs within higher education, where students are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for a university degree. He discusses the importance of providing context in student learning and that we must help our students understand the industry in which they are pursuing a professional career.

Remember this is part one of a two-part interview with the brilliant David Sisco and part two will follow next week.

David's Links: 

• Website
• Performing in Contemporary Musicals
• Mastering College Musical Theatre Auditions
• David's YouTube
• Gualtieri & Sisco's YouTube
• Soundcloud

In this episode
08:15 — David’s Earliest Memory of Singing
16:22 — Effects of Self-Sabotage
18:30 — Mental Emotional Connection in Singing
19:31 — The Importance of Sharing Your Voice With Students.
21:12 — David’s Happiest Time as a Performer
23:15 — Looking After Yourself Before Others
25:04 — David’s Teaching Career
28:14 — Benefits of a Student-Centered Type of Learning
30:16 — “If You Are a Teacher, You Are Life Long Learner”
33:16 — The Science of Teaching vs. Intuition.
36:31 — The Science of Teaching
40:53 — Creating a Safe Space for Students
42:12 — Are Educational Institutions Equipping Students With the Skills They Need to Be Employable?
45:21 — “Performing a Contemporary Musicals” Book by David Sisco and Laura Josepher

For more go to https://drmarisaleenaismith.com/82

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