Portland Area Voice Teachers

Amanda Habner

Voice and piano teacher Amanda Habner has been teaching for over a decade. She began teaching piano at age 15 and discovered her love for teaching. Amanda knew that her true passion was singing, so she pursued a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, which she received spring of 2014. She followed that degree with a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy (the study of teaching) from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ.A native of Washington State, Amanda decided to return to the west coast upon finishing her studies to begin eagerly teaching music.

Amanda loves to work with all ages and levels. Her teaching philosophy includes building trust between the teacher and student, honing musical and technical aspects of piano and singing, stressing the health of the student, use of appropriate repertoire and learning techniques, emboldening students to perform, create personal opportunities, and becoming self learners, and finally having fun.

Jeff Kuhns

Jeff is a multi-instrumentalist. He teaches guitar, piano, voice, and bassoon. Jeff has 15+ years of teaching experience. He studied classical guitar, classical piano, opera, and botany at Central Michigan University. Jeff played principal bassoon in the Eastern Michigan University honors band as well as with the Oakland Youth Orchestra. He has recorded two albums professionally and regularly composes new music. 

Jeff considers his teaching style to be relaxed, dynamic, and adaptive. He caters each lesson to the individual student's interests, ability, and learning style. Jeff believes learning and playing music should be an enjoyable experience if not among your favorite activities. Jeff accepts any student from beginner to advanced with interests in any genre. Jeff will challenge you as much as you would like to be challenged.

Malderine Birmingham

Malderine loves teaching all styles of music to all ages and types of people.  Everyone learns differently and she finds creative ways to make sure the student not only understands the concepts of music but has fun learning it.  Playing music and singing are fun and practicing should be fun as well!  She believes that music helps us grow as individuals and that sometimes all we need is a little encouragement to blossom into our full potential.  She teaches piano, voice and guitar.

Malderine is a multi-instrumentalist singer, composer and songwriter.  She studied piano and voice at Wright State University and has continued studying with various professors and professionals in the music industry ever since.  She has composed, recorded and produced 7 albums and directed numerous music videos. She has performed in orchestras, choirs, bands and a musical. She also regularly performs live in music venues in the Hillsboro/Portland area.

Madeline Schmidt

Madeline is a multi-faceted musician who has spent the last 12 years developing her skills in both the art of singing and playing piano. She pursued higher education at Westminster Choir College where she trained for two years as a Music Education major. After transferring to a smaller program in New York on scholarship, she was awarded a B.A. in Music focused in Vocal Performance. After attaining her degree from The College of Saint Rose, she moved to Portland with the hope of pursuing work with the Portland Symphony Choir and Portland Opera. 

Throughout her schooling, Madeline honed in on her craft and developed skills in music theory, diction, collaborative piano and choral conducting. She considers herself especially equipped in all matters pertaining to educational philosophy and vocal pedagogy. Madeline has performed in masterclasses, given a number of recitals and has an extensive background in choral singing. While her training is in classical music, Madeline is willing and able to teach healthy technique to students hoping to perform any genre of music. 

Madeline's philosophy is that the most touching musical experiences are those that bring deep joy to the performer. In order to lose one's self in music, the student must feel personally connected to the piece; for this reason, self-selection plays a significant role. Madeline is passionate about establishing an open dialogue with her students so that she can better equip them with the skills they seek to attain and teach the repertoire they wish to perform. Madeline is also thrilled to challenge students with more complex pieces as they progress. Ultimately, making music is an emotive process. Madeline is, first and foremost, concerned with creating a safe environment for her students where they feel accepted and completely free to be themselves. 

David Pollack

David Pollack has been playing guitar and singing professionally for 15 years and teaching for the past five. He grew up in New York City and studied guitar and voice privately while in Middle and High School. He's written his own songs, released records and toured across the country and Canada.

Within the last five years David has specialized in teaching toddlers, children and teens although he does work with adults, too. Since moving to Portland, OR David has taught everything from Mommy and Me Classes for Toddlers to Rock Camps such as Sound Roots and after School Music Programs via SUN School classes in Portland. 

When teaching privately David travels to you to make things easy! Music is a great way to give kids and adults confidence, a way of socializing with their peers and an outlet to express themselves!