Karen Hogle Brown, soprano SAG/AFTRA/AGMA
MASTERCLASSES
The voice is a wonderful instrument that every human has the right to use and explore. There are many ways to engage in singing in the community, and I have worked with several civic and church organizations such as the LA Opera Education and Community Outreach programs, The Music Center of LA’s Active Arts, The Los Angeles Master Chorale’s Voices Within program, master classes with adult, college, and high school choirs, and directing choirs for Church of our Saviour, San Gabriel, and San Marino Community Church. Currently, I am on voice faculty at Occidental College.
I am comfortable leading almost any style of music, with any level or age of singer, and have worked with groups of 8 up to 2000 at one time. I am happy to augment the valuable work of any choral director with a master class, lecture, or even a question/answer session with the perspective of a working professional singer, and a teaching artist for over 20 years. Let me know how I can energize your group, section, or studio, and how I can help put a fresh new perspective on the incredible work you are already doing.
PRIVATE TEACHING
I also am committed to helping individuals reach their vocal goals though my private vocal studio, as well as at previous posts at Pomona College and Cal Poly Pomona. I have dedicated my life to learning as much as I can about the human voice for both my own performances and to pass on to my students. I am always excited to meet a student interested in furthering their musical education and pursuing voice lessons, and I take the relationship and responsibility of teacher/student very seriously. I want to help you reach your goals and find ‘your voice’, not someone else’s. We will discuss your goals at length and create repertoire and techniques to help you achieve them. I teach many styles of singing, including classical, music theatre and jazz, but I firmly believe that all styles need a firm grounding in some classical technique, including structure, support, vocal alignment, and expression. Together we will work on these and other goals to strengthen your basic technique, and how it can benefit the kind of music you like to perform. We will decide together on repertoire to help you grow as a vocal technician, musician, and lead you towards your desired interests. I also plan occasional master classes and small recitals with other students to practice performance skills and to share our gifts in a safe, supported environment - great strength and experience can be gained from viewing other singers and experimenting with new material in a non-threatening setting.
I also recognize that the voice is a muscle that works best when exercised frequently and is in good shape. We will discuss ways of making practicing a part of your daily life so that it is as efficient as possible, and needn’t be a chore. It is part of your responsibility when taking on voice lessons to know that regular practice is essential to forward progress.
Please let me know if there is any way I can make your singing dreams a reality. Click HERE to contact me about availability and rates, and click HERE for my full teaching resume.



I spoke with both Ruth Eliel and Janice Pober, two grantmakers at the conference who love to sing but, like many people, feel embarrassed at their less-than-perfect pitch. They nonetheless bravely participated in the “It’s a Sing Thing” vocal music workshop and described it as a transcendent experience. Practicing and being coached along by the amazing vocalist Karen Hogle-Brown, Janice and Ruth soon felt their fears melt away as they breathed and crooned in rhythm with everyone else in the room."
Irvine Arts Program Director, Josephine Ramirez,
on Karen's workshop "It's a Sing Thing," part of the arts programming included in the Council on Foundations' 2012 Annual Conference