Teaching

Kayla Gautereaux leads the MM in Vocal Pedagogy and MFA in Musical Theater Vocal Pedagogy at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and directs the Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop.

Kayla Gautereaux and a student wearing respiration bands, hands on chest and abdomen, in front of a spectrogram display Photo: Simon Simard for Berklee

I lead two graduate degrees at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. The MM in Vocal Pedagogy is a 36-credit degree for singers who want to learn the science and craft of voice teaching, with pedagogy training in classical, musical theater, and contemporary styles. The MFA in Musical Theater Vocal Pedagogy is a 60-credit terminal degree for teachers who specialize in musical theater, and it includes an original thesis.

How students move through the program

Arriving

Incoming voice students receive a voice screening at the MGH Voice Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, and those with findings receive physician follow-up. The partnership with MGH predates my time here, and I have worked to strengthen it.

Every week

Kayla Gautereaux teaching a group while a singer holds an expanding sphere toy used to show breathing Photo: Simon Simard for Berklee

The whole cohort meets each week in the Vocal Pedagogy Colloquium, which I created and co-teach with Emily Siar. Students bring video of their own teaching for the group to discuss, teach live in front of their classmates, and hear from guest teachers. Both degrees now require it.

The teaching exam

At the end of the spring, students teach a fifteen-minute lesson and then talk through their choices with a panel of two faculty members. Emily Siar and I developed the rubric for this exam, and we talked about it on the Berklee VoiceCast in July 2026.

Research

The research archive homepage, showing a network of research topics

MFA students spend three semesters on an original thesis, from the first question through data collection, analysis, and defense. They work in our voice science lab, which has acoustic analysis in Praat, heart rate and respiration monitoring, and Python data pipelines, and every study goes through institutional review board (IRB) review. Since 2022, alumni of the program have given 35 conference presentations, including 19 at the Voice Foundation, 7 at the Pan American Vocology Association, and 6 at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Their theses are collected in a public research archive.

After graduation

Graduates teach at Oberlin Conservatory, Catholic University of America, Oklahoma State University, UMass Amherst, Brown University, and other schools.

Workshops for working teachers

Kayla Gautereaux at the piano leading a group session Photo: Simon Simard for Berklee

Each summer I direct the Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop (VPPW), four days for collegiate and private voice teachers and vocal and choral music educators working in classical, musical theater, and contemporary styles. You can join in person at Boston Conservatory or online. The program mixes lectures and master classes with mentored teaching in small afternoon cohorts. No audition is required.

Skill up your studio teaching at VPPW

Since 2019 I have also been on the faculty of the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Workshop, run by the Embodied Music Lab, and have helped organize it.

Lessons with our graduate students

I also direct Vocal Academy, which pairs adult singers with the graduate students in our MM and MFA programs. Each semester includes ten one-hour private lessons in classical, musical theater, or contemporary singing, scheduled around your week. It is open to anyone 18 or older, with no audition.

Study with our graduate student teachers

Private studio

Kayla Gautereaux and a student examining an anatomical ear model together Photo: Simon Simard for Berklee

I teach voice lessons and coach voice teachers privately, in person in the Boston area or online.

Visit the studio site