Recommended Voice Teacher Information
Private voice lessons are a GREAT way for you to significantly improve your voice. Although you learn a lot in your daily choir classes, there is obviously even more that can be gained in a one-on-one setting in contrast to a choir of 30 up to even 50 voices in some of our ensembles. The teachers below have a wealth of experience and have had great success with their voice students. Please see Mr. Durbin or Ms. Best if you have any questions about voice lessons and feel free to contact the teachers listed below directly to get started!
MICHELLE KONOW (On-site)
theariabird@aol.com
MARY ELLIOTT (On-site)
mary.elliott@yahoo.com
JEN FITCH
sing4me11@comcast.net
SONJA MIHELCIC
napervillemusicacademy@gmail.com
Voice Teacher Bios
Dr. Jen Fitch
Dr. Jennifer Barnickel-Fitch, Soprano, received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan under the guidance of Lorna Haywood. She has won awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Counsel as well as Milwaukee Bel Canto Chorus and the Ann Arbor Musical Society. She is a member of The National Association of Teachers of Singing. She is currently a vocal instructor for district 204, part of the voice faculty at College of DuPage, and a vocal instructor with the School of Performing Arts in Naperville.
Along with her love of teaching, she continues to perform. She is a frequent recitalist and her oratorio works include, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C, Schubert’s Mass in G, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Mass in C, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Rutter’s Magnificat, Verdi’s Requiem and most recently, Brahms’ Requiem. She has been a member of Chicago Symphony Chorus and Lyric Opera Chorus and has covered the title role of Verdi’s Aida and Leonora in Il Trovatore for da Corneto Opera, as well as being broadcast on WFMT in Chicago.
Michelle Konow
Michelle Konow, Soprano, has taught private voice in the Chicago land area for over 25 years. Michelle spent 16 seasons at the Lyric Opera of Chicago where she sang with international opera greats under the direction of Bruno Bartoletti and Sir Andrew Davis. Michelle is a highly sought after voice clinician and coach for several nationally acclaimed show choirs. In addition to teaching private voice, Michelle music directs musical theatre and opera, with most recently music directing Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium at ColorBox Theatre. Michelle has studied classical voice and theatre at Brigham Young University, Indiana University and The Music Conservatory at Chicago College of Performing Arts: Roosevelt University.
Michelle’s vocal methodology is based on two tenants: developing the artist’s natural voice supported by a healthy vocal technique that enables continuous growth and expansion in both repertoire and genres – ranging from pop to classical. Year-after-year, Michelle places vocal students in the top music theatre, pop and classical music conservatories all over the nation. Additionally, many of her students have gone on to sing with regional and nationally acclaimed venues such as: American Idol, The Voice, Walt Disney World US, Walt Disney World Japan, Lyric Opera of Chicago and several Celebrity Cruise lines – just to name a few.
Dr. Sonja Mihelcic
Dr. Sonja Mihelcic has been a teacher for the past 27 years, and has been teaching WVHS voice students for 15. She is a voice teacher with great expertise in the areas of technique and style, and achieves fast and audible results with each student. She tailors her teaching style to the specific demands and goals of each student relying on the latest developments in vocal science and pedagogy
In addition to helping her students succeed in their school music programs, she also helps them being accepted and receiving scholarships from some of the most prestigious schools in the country, Dr. Mihelcic also helped a number of professional pop, country, classical, rock, folk, and musical theater singers to maximize their vocal potential, and confidently embark upon their professional music careers. Dr. Mihelcic also teaches piano and focuses on developing solid technique, musicianship, and sense of musical style. Dr. Mihelcic prepares her voice and piano students for choir and musical auditions, IL State exams in voice and piano, IMA competition, and other curricular and extracurricular activities.
Dr. Mihelcic had a 15-year international singing career as a principal soloist, performing on the concert and operatic stages in the USA, Japan, Germany, Slovakia, Mexico, and Serbia. She performed, among others, with the Dallas Opera, Forth Worth Opera, Wichita Symphony, East Slovak National Theater, Belgrade Opera, and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Mihelcic is a member of various professional organizations, and currently serves as the Chair for Vocal AIM exams for Illinois State Music Teacher Association. She is on the board of Illinois State Music Teacher Association, and the Naperville Chapter MTA. In the past she served on the board of Chicago Chapter NATS, and she is a frequent judge at vocal and piano competitions.
Dr. Mihelcic is the owner of Naperville Music Academy, a music school in the Fox Valley Mall area, and you can contact her at: 630.585.6000 or napervillemusicacademy@gmail.com.
MICHELLE KONOW (On-site)
theariabird@aol.com
MARY ELLIOTT (On-site)
mary.elliott@yahoo.com
JEN FITCH
sing4me11@comcast.net
SONJA MIHELCIC
napervillemusicacademy@gmail.com
Voice Teacher Bios
Dr. Jen Fitch
Dr. Jennifer Barnickel-Fitch, Soprano, received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan under the guidance of Lorna Haywood. She has won awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Counsel as well as Milwaukee Bel Canto Chorus and the Ann Arbor Musical Society. She is a member of The National Association of Teachers of Singing. She is currently a vocal instructor for district 204, part of the voice faculty at College of DuPage, and a vocal instructor with the School of Performing Arts in Naperville.
Along with her love of teaching, she continues to perform. She is a frequent recitalist and her oratorio works include, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C, Schubert’s Mass in G, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Mass in C, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Rutter’s Magnificat, Verdi’s Requiem and most recently, Brahms’ Requiem. She has been a member of Chicago Symphony Chorus and Lyric Opera Chorus and has covered the title role of Verdi’s Aida and Leonora in Il Trovatore for da Corneto Opera, as well as being broadcast on WFMT in Chicago.
Michelle Konow
Michelle Konow, Soprano, has taught private voice in the Chicago land area for over 25 years. Michelle spent 16 seasons at the Lyric Opera of Chicago where she sang with international opera greats under the direction of Bruno Bartoletti and Sir Andrew Davis. Michelle is a highly sought after voice clinician and coach for several nationally acclaimed show choirs. In addition to teaching private voice, Michelle music directs musical theatre and opera, with most recently music directing Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium at ColorBox Theatre. Michelle has studied classical voice and theatre at Brigham Young University, Indiana University and The Music Conservatory at Chicago College of Performing Arts: Roosevelt University.
Michelle’s vocal methodology is based on two tenants: developing the artist’s natural voice supported by a healthy vocal technique that enables continuous growth and expansion in both repertoire and genres – ranging from pop to classical. Year-after-year, Michelle places vocal students in the top music theatre, pop and classical music conservatories all over the nation. Additionally, many of her students have gone on to sing with regional and nationally acclaimed venues such as: American Idol, The Voice, Walt Disney World US, Walt Disney World Japan, Lyric Opera of Chicago and several Celebrity Cruise lines – just to name a few.
Dr. Sonja Mihelcic
Dr. Sonja Mihelcic has been a teacher for the past 27 years, and has been teaching WVHS voice students for 15. She is a voice teacher with great expertise in the areas of technique and style, and achieves fast and audible results with each student. She tailors her teaching style to the specific demands and goals of each student relying on the latest developments in vocal science and pedagogy
In addition to helping her students succeed in their school music programs, she also helps them being accepted and receiving scholarships from some of the most prestigious schools in the country, Dr. Mihelcic also helped a number of professional pop, country, classical, rock, folk, and musical theater singers to maximize their vocal potential, and confidently embark upon their professional music careers. Dr. Mihelcic also teaches piano and focuses on developing solid technique, musicianship, and sense of musical style. Dr. Mihelcic prepares her voice and piano students for choir and musical auditions, IL State exams in voice and piano, IMA competition, and other curricular and extracurricular activities.
Dr. Mihelcic had a 15-year international singing career as a principal soloist, performing on the concert and operatic stages in the USA, Japan, Germany, Slovakia, Mexico, and Serbia. She performed, among others, with the Dallas Opera, Forth Worth Opera, Wichita Symphony, East Slovak National Theater, Belgrade Opera, and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Mihelcic is a member of various professional organizations, and currently serves as the Chair for Vocal AIM exams for Illinois State Music Teacher Association. She is on the board of Illinois State Music Teacher Association, and the Naperville Chapter MTA. In the past she served on the board of Chicago Chapter NATS, and she is a frequent judge at vocal and piano competitions.
Dr. Mihelcic is the owner of Naperville Music Academy, a music school in the Fox Valley Mall area, and you can contact her at: 630.585.6000 or napervillemusicacademy@gmail.com.
