Cynthian Knight

QUICK FACTS

Language: English
Musical Styles: Classical, Contemporary, Pop, Musical Theatre, Folk/Country, Jazz, Celtic
Instruments: Voice; Song languages taught: French, Italian, German, Spanish, Latin, Russian, Scottish Gaelic
Specialized Skill Levels: All Levels

Adult Students Welcome!

As a voice teacher, Cynthian Knight guides students to explore their unique voice by creating a holistic, safe and nurturing environment where their physical, mental, and emotional well-being are supported. She believes that the basis of finding one’s own voice is by first establishing a secure foundation of healthy vocal technique, addressing posture and alignment, breath support, resonance, muscle awareness, and more. It is important for each student to feel confident in understanding how their voice and body function in order to produce their best and most natural sound. These technical concepts can then be applied through a variety of vocal styles (and languages) including classical, musical theatre, pop, jazz, and traditional folk. All partnered with detailed language, text, drama, and character study. Students are encouraged to explore all areas of their musical interests and lessons are tailored to their individual goals. Ms. Knight’s pedagogy studies have also provided tools to help correct and heal students ’unhealthy vocal habits through the use of specific breath and vocal exercises.

Ms. Knight has had the opportunity to work with students of all ages and skill levels. She had the pleasure of serving on voice faculty at Hillsdale College and Spring Arbor University, has maintained a thriving private voice studio, as well as taught group music classes at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and two Waldorf schools. Students of her studio have found success being cast in lead roles in musicals and operas, performed solos in major works with orchestra, been accepted into audition only choruses and music programs, have performed full solo and duet recitals, and have gone on to fulfilling careers as performers, music educators, and worship music leaders.

Ms. Knight teaches directly from her considerable performance and training experience. She made her professional operatic debut as Flora Bervoix in La Traviata with Toledo Opera and her European debut with Opera du Pèrigord in the title role of Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers. She has also performed with the Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Roanoke, as a Festival Artist with the Wintergreen Music Festival, as Mercédès in Carmen with the Bay View Music Festival, as Dorabella in Così fan tutte with the Primo Passo Ensemble, with Metro Opera of Detroit, and the Comic Opera Guild of Ann Arbor. Ms. Knight has been named a finalist in the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition, the Franco-American Vocal Academy’s Grand Concours de Chant, and the Virginia State National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Competition.

During her graduate studies at the University of Michigan she performed several main stage roles including the Lady with the Hat Box in Postcard from Morocco, Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring, and Olga in Eugene Onegin under the baton of Martin Katz. In addition to opera roles, Ms. Knight appears regularly in concert and recitals. She has been a featured soloist in Bach’s Magnificat, St. John Passion, Cantatas BWV 29 and 147, Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat, Mozart’s Requiem, Duruflé’s Requiem, and Rene Clausen’s A New Creation. She has premiered new works in concert and workshop by composers Laura Karpman, Recep Gul, and Suby Raman.

Ms. Knight received a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance from Virginia Tech and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan. Her primary voice teachers have been Freda Herseth and Nancy McDuffie. Ms. Knight has continued to train beyond her degrees with programs such as Westminster Choir College’s CoOPERAtive, the McClosky Voice Seminar, and in a variety of National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) events including a Somatic Voice Workshop with Jeanie LoVetri. In addition to classical singing, Ms. Knight performs in a variety of styles, most recently exploring Scottish Gaelic song and language, and currently studies with the renowned Gaelic singer Kathleen MacInnes.