TEACHING
“An Active Voice teacher, Richard Zeller maintains a private voice studio in Portland, Oregon, and also teaches online lessons to his students throughout the world.”
TEACHING
With over 1500 performances in the Opera and Concert fields, Zeller has been recognized by the public and his peers as a performer with a beautiful dramatic voice and presence, a solid vocal technique, and outstanding musicianship.
His experience working with many of the world’s most respected conductors and solo artists has given him a broad spectrum of how to interpret and communicate vocal music at the highest level and his vocal abilities, musicianship and professionalism have been lauded throughout the classical business.
Richard Zeller brings a unique perspective to his teaching from his understanding of vocal pedagogy and vocal technique. He studied voice with Andrew White and opera acting with Italo Tajo at CCM and voice with Armen Boyajian in New York. His work at the Metropolitan Opera included coaching with James Levine, Nico Castel, Joan Dornemann, Craig Rutenberg, John Fisher, Walter Taussig, Richard Woitach, Kathy Kelly, and many others.
Throughout his career, he has worked with many well-respected conductors, coaches, and directors across the world which has given him an understanding of vocal and dramatic technique in opera and vocal music and how to teach it to others.
Zeller’s students have been accepted at many prestigious undergraduate, graduate programs and conservatories and high-level Young Artist programs. These include Juilliard Opera Center, Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Yale Opera Program, Boston Conservatory, Oberlin, Manhattan School of Music, Peabody, UCLA, USC, Northwestern, San Francisco Conservatory, Bayerische Staatsoper, Internationales Opernstudio der Oper Köln, and many others.
In his private teaching studio, he has given voice lessons and voice coaching to high school students, undergrad and graduate students, emerging professionals, and working pros. In addition to performing, many of his students have gone on to become voice teachers, vocologists, educators, and to hold positions in arts administration. One of his students is presently singing a lead role in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and many others are singing lead roles and chorus in major Opera houses and Orchestras in the U.S. and in Europe.
Zeller’s students have won, been finalists, or have placed in important contests which include the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions MONC (Regional, Semi Finalists, Grand Finalists and Winners), NATS and NATSAA (1st place winner in NATSAA classical and 2 National Semi-Finalists in NATSAA Music Theater), and have been awarded prizes in numerous other prestigious contests including the National Federated Music Clubs, Nation Opera Association, Classical Singer, and many others.
While known for his classical technique, Zeller also teaches differing styles of vocal production since today’s singers need to be as versatile as possible in order to build and sustain a career. These many styles include Classical (Opera and Concert), Music Theater, Pop, CCM (Contemporary and Commercial Music), Contemporary Christian, Blues, Jazz, and Rock.
Zeller has played and sung in a broad spectrum of musical styles and performances; in addition to his classical career, he spent 11 years early in his life singing contemporary music in over 500 concerts throughout the U.S. with his family while performing for the world-wide relief organization World Vision. He sang numerous Music Theater roles in high school, college, graduate school and professionally, and played the string bass in orchestras and jazz groups. He has also appeared with noted Pops conductors like Erich Kunzel and Keith Lockhart in numerous concerts singing Music Theater.
Within academia, Zeller has been the Director of Opera and Associate Professor of Voice at Biola University’s Conservatory of Music in La Mirada, CA, Adjunct professor at Portland State University and the University of Oregon, Voice teacher for Portland Opera’s Young Artist program, and Artist in Residence at both Oregon State and George Fox Universities.
Richard Zeller’s own education includes a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal performance from George Fox College and a Master of Music degree in Vocal performance from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). He studied for half of his Doctoral degree in Voice at CCM and then transferred to and completed the Artist Diploma in Opera. After finishing at CCM, Zeller was accepted to the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program; from there he began his professional career and made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1989.
Richard Zeller is known in his teaching for his understanding of the top voice and how to access it successfully, both in the female and male voices. He is also skilled at communicating the techniques of storytelling while singing. His experiences in his international performing career in both the opera and concert fields, his abilities as a successful teacher in academia and private studio, and his experiences in singing and teaching in many different genres can help give students perspective in using their voices as they discover their calling in pursuit of their career.
