Know Your Neighbor: Shelly Cohen, Voice Coach, Mount Kisco
When it came time for Shelly Cohen to reassess her career path last year, she decided to return to what she loves most.
After college and graduate school, Cohen, a soprano, performed as an opera singer with companies in the Atlanta area and in musical theater throughout the country.
About three years ago, with the days of hectic schedules in her past, Cohen worked as registrar at the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Mount Kisco but lost that job last summer when her position was eliminated. Like so many others in the difficult job market, it was time for Cohen to reinvent herself.
“What do I know best and what would I love to do every day,” Cohen recalled asking herself.
Since November, the 10-year Mount Kisco resident has been a voice coach, mainly for people who are singers but also for those who aren’t professional musicians but want to learn how to use their voice more effectively.
Her students have ranged from a shy 12-year-old middle school boy who loves singing and under Cohen’s tutelage was able to get a part in his school’s musical to the 64-year-old man who has played piano all his life but wanted to improve his singing voice for his own enjoyment when he sits down at the instrument.
Cohen said her knowledge of technique and voice helps her students use their entire body and their breath to realize their full potential.
“Most people don’t project correctly,” Cohen said. “Most people speak right on their vocal chords, they don’t speak on their breath.”
It might seem natural that someone who studied music in college and voice in their post graduate work would have thought about teaching at some point but for years Cohen had a successful on-stage career. The Monticello, N.Y. native was a music major at SUNY Buffalo then went on to Georgia State to earn her master’s in voice performance.
Cohen’s decision to do her post graduate work in Atlanta turned out to be an excellent career move. It exposed her to a wide range of talent, contacts and roles. She hooked up with the Atlanta Opera Studio while still completing work on her master’s, which led to her performing in children’s opera while still in school. Later on, Cohen would be asked to join the opera company’s main stage where she was cast as Barbarina in “The Marriage of Figaro,” one of her favorite roles. Cohen also played Cis in “Albert Herring” with the company.
Although having no previous background or interest in opera, Cohen said her voice seemed to naturally lend itself to performing it. She also took on roles for the Savoyard Light Opera, the Galloway Opera and the Kenesaw Opera, all in Georgia.
She realized, however, that her if she stayed in the Atlanta area that her roles would be limited.
“There are only so many companies that you can sing with, there are only so many opportunities, so you have to go to New York,” said Cohen who lives with her husband, Eric, and her black Lab, Garcia.
Cohen first went on an open call for a role at a theater in Jupiter, Fla., which she snagged, then moved into a small Manhattan apartment when arriving in New York. From there, she would go on a steady stream of auditions and kept busy with various roles, including opposite some well-known talent. She appeared in a Music Fair Productions national tour of “Camelot” with Robert Goulet and productions of “Guys and Dolls,” whose cast included Vic Damone, “South Pacific” with Debby Boone and “Mame” with Loretta Swit, all at Westbury Music Fair.
“All the time I was performing professionally I never had to have another job,” she said.
Cohen said while she’s probably more comfortable singing opera, her time in musical theater proved to be most enjoyable.
“My voice is happiest in opera but I have to say all my time in musical theater, it was just fun,” Cohen said.
Today, Cohen, who is also a Reike practitioner for animals, works with her students to have them realize their potential, whether it’s an aspiring teenager who might consider show business or an adult who simply wants to improve their speaking voice or their singing when driving alone in the car.
For more information about lessons, Shelly Cohen can be reached at 914-215-0036 or via email at learn2sing@inbox.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/