My high school daughter thoroughly enjoys her training with Katya. She has been with her for over two years. She absolutely loves her coaching and is thriving in her vocal passions because of Katya! read more

I heart Katya. I first met Katya last October, and have been taking on-and-off lessons with her (with weekly lessons during spring/audition season of this year). Katya is a legit opera singer who effectively teaches singers of all levels (beginners to advanced), ages and musical types (e.g. opera, musical theater, pop). When I first came to Katya, I never had private singing lessons before and did not know what a head voice sound like--I only had a chest voice that I often pushed. Katya changed that and my range has increased by almost an octave; I went from an alto to a soprano. She works patiently with her students, customizing her lessons to what they need most. Also, she records every lesson and at the end of the lesson, she saves it onto students' USB so they can listen to it and practice at home. There are many other pluses to being her student. She will notify students of opportunities to perform--she'd sometimes set up student recitals or invite students to sing at various events. If you have another voice teacher (for example, because you're an actor and voice is part of your curriculum), she'll work with what you've learned in that class so that your ideas about voice aren't conflicted. I'm a bit bummed that I haven't had as many chances to work with her in the past few months due to the nature of our schedules, but if you can get a first session with her, snatch it! read more

And five years later, continuing to study with Katya, I would not change any of my previous reviews. If you are interested in learning or improving your vocal performance skills, she has the knowledge to guide you toward your goals, with the necessary work any student needs to put on. Part of the art of this is not only the technical but is also the performance side - a good vocalist must assume the role of an actor telling a story, here through a song, and it is as important as the technical side. Katya is superb in developing this for each student and she has a sensitive antenna for developing your skills in this area - I think those are the ingredients of a well-rounded singer. read more

I am an adult beginning voice student. My goal was to entertain and sing for the seniors in retirement homes and assisted living facilities as a volunteer. So I started singing and learning a little over a year ago. I started my voice lessons with Katya about 5 months ago. At that time, I felt that my voice was flat and thin and it was not good enough to sing before an audience. I wanted to have a fuller and more colorful voice. Katya immediately understood my needs. She helped me draw parallels between my speaking voice and my singing voice, and worked with me on techniques to improve the quality of my tones. After only 2 lessons, I was already noticing richer and more resonant tones in my singing. I performed for the first time for the seniors at Lytton Gardens after 10 lessons with Katya. That performance came much sooner than I had hoped for, and I have been singing at least twice a month for the seniors since then. What a fun and rewarding experience it has been singing for the seniors! I am grateful to Katya for helping me achieve my goal sooner than I had anticipated. On the technical side of singing, as I continue my lessons with Kaya, I have been particularly impressed with her emphasis on: 1. Proper vowel/consonant production and proper diction 2. Breathing techniques and breath flow management 3. Proper posture/alignment and integration of the entire body 4. Meticulous attention to details 5. Intuitive capacity to address problems. Katya helped me understand and improve on various components that have an impact on the delivery of a song. She is fully present to every nuance during my lessons. She would spot issues immediately and come up with different ways to help me overcome the problems before they become bad habits or serious issues. Lest you should think that a lesson with Katya is a 'total drag', she has the ability to inject humor into most situations and bring a smile to my face. On the artistic side, Katya has helped me understand what it means to be a true singer/performer. I had thought that all it takes to become a singer is a good voice, and boy was I wrong! Thanks to Katya's coaching, I am experiencing the importance and value in integrating my whole being into a performance. In gradually learning to integrate facial and body expressions with the technical, mental and emotional aspects of singing, I am becoming much more at ease with my singing. I am finding that my tone production is improving and I am feeling a much closer connection with my audiences. I also want to thank Katya for helping me 'break out of the mold', and helping me develop my full potential as a singer. I had envisioned myself to be a 'serious singer' and only wanted to do specific types of songs. Katya encouraged me to sing "Surrey with the Fringe On Top" from "Oklahoma" for the seniors. It is a song I would have never picked because it does not 'fit the mold'. She helped me with the artistic expressions in addition to the technical requirements in singing the song. I performed it for the seniors at Lytton Gardens a few weeks ago and it was very apparent that the audience loved it. I am loving it too, as I will be doing more of these funny, up-tempo songs for my audiences. In summary, I am very grateful to have Katya as my voice teacher. I know that I am on the right path and I am on my way. If you are as passionate about singing as I am, I highly recommend that you enlist Katya to help you with your singing. I am confident that Katya will help you make improvements regardless of your level. Let's be thankful for the gift of our voice and rejoice in our singing! read more

I began singing about 6 years ago at a later point in my life and have been studying with Katya for around 4 years . I can't say enough about the excellent coaching I have received from her. She has a knack for hearing and spotting vocal issues at all phases of development. Since being with Katya, I have gone from karaoke singer to winning several local singing contests to a Western US NATs regional championship. I am now in my third production with Opera San Jose. I still have a long way to go to be the singer I want to be and I feel that I continue to improve weekly with Katya's help. She has not only been a great teacher but also a great supporter having come to many performances of mine (including once to a karaoke bar!). Whether you are a beginner or an advanced singer, Katya can definitely bring you to the next level. I highly recommend her. read more

When I first started with Katya, I had had experience singing, yet not completely under formal instruction. Katya was great from the beginning, improving my voice and range. In addition, she helped me understand through lessons on posture and breathing techniques how posture affects the vocal quality, which has always been a weakness in my singing. She is one of the few teachers who I have met who focus on these aspects as well, and it is such a useful concept to take into account. I have only been learning from Katya for a few months, but I always enjoy going to class and taking one step forward towards fine tuning my voice. I recently performed at a school function, and I knew I could not have done it without Katya's help! Even my relatives who have heard me sing before said that something has clearly changed in my voice and my attitude in singing, and I owe that to Katya. I truly appreciate everything she's done for me! I would definitely recommend her as a great voice teacher. read more

I started taking lessons with Katya around four ago. At the time, I had come from a two year singing hiatus and had developed a lot of bad habits. Katya is a very sensitive and encouraging teacher who spent a lot of time making sure that I had as many resources as possible to get my singing voice back in shape. I really appreciate her detailed attention and her willingness to connect me to her vast network of other helpful coaches, accompanists, teachers and choirs. I also appreciate how Katya is constantly working on herself and lets her students witness her own growth, whether it is immediately applying something she learned in a workshop or letting her students come to her own coaching sessions. As a voice teacher myself, I am constantly learning and improving thanks to Katya's thoughtful and incisive attention. read more

I have been Katya's student since January 2007. I came from a background of Cantonese Opera, but I always wanted to develop my voice for Western opera, musical theater, and art song. Katya is an amazing teacher who guides and leads by example in all aspects of singing and performing. She critiques without being discouraging, and she always has great insights for interpreting music. I'm very happy with the growth that I've made, and I'm so happy that I found Katya! read more

I took trial lessons with several voice teachers in the area before deciding to work with Katya. I had specific vocal technique issues I wanted to address, that I had been unable to resolve previously. What really stood out was Katya's thorough follow-up with an assessment of where I was, possible approaches and solutions going forward, and lots of detailed info on additional local resources and people that could be helpful to me in the pursuit of my singing and performing goals. Since then, Katya has helped me make great strides in developing a functional approach to breath support, singing with the appropriate weight for my voice type, and eliminating tongue tension. As a result, I've been more competitive at auditions and have been getting cast in more roles by more companies. read more

Katya was my daughter's voice teacher for three years and is currently my son's voice teacher. There is no doubt in my mind that Katya is a talented and caring instructor, and my children improved greatly as a result of her teaching. Through her teaching of voice and breathing exercises, Katya was able to hone each of my children's musical technique and bring out each child's unique artistic qualities. Additionally, she made the lessons fun and useful, so both children always loved learning from her. As a parent, I appreciated how much hard work and effort she put into each child's musical training, and how much each child grew while they learned from her. read more