ABOUT THE STUDIO.
ABOUT ANNA LEIGH VOCAL STUDIOS
Award winning Anna Leigh Vocal Studios, was established in 2010 by singer songwriter Anna Leigh. Based within the Linskill Centre in North Shields, as well as remotely online, the studio has helped hundreds of students develop their singing skills and safeguard their voices using specialist IVA techniques.
Anna Leigh is constantly developing her skills as a teacher and singer by attending teacher training courses run by the IVA and completing yearly proficiency evaluations to continue this training, ensuring she is always up to date with the latest vocal developments. Here are some of the teachers Anna Leigh has worked with, including five of the top ten vocal masters in the world: Greg Enriquez from Las Vegas, Spencer Welch from Canada, Stephanie Borm-Krueger from Germany, Guy Babusek from California and Heather Baker from here in the UK.
Anna Leigh Vocal studios works with all types of singers, from beginners, to professionals, some of whom are signed to record labels. Anna Leigh has also taught privately in many different types of schools, where she works with disabled children and adults.
Anna Leigh Vocal Studios works closely with Broadwater recording studios in Gateshead, where students create professional recordings. This visit usually happens twice a year and is great for students to get experience in recording: some students have even gone on to having their songs played on the radio!
Anna Leigh has also helped many students with their songwriting skills and has helped organise performances at open mic nights around the North East, to give students the opportunity to gain confidence when performing. She also arranges two concerts a year for students to showcase their talents.
ABOUT ANNA LEIGH
Anna Leigh has been singing from a young age and has made singing and performing her professional career. Whilst studying for her degree at Sunderland University, Anna Leigh discovered her love for teaching and helping students to reach their potential.
As well as running the studio, Anna Leigh is also a songwriter & lead singer of the band ‘Denature’ formerly known as ‘Anna Leigh and the Kings’. She has released a debut album ‘Story Book’, an EP ‘Lullaby’ and the latest EP ‘Loss’ alongside four professional music videos. Denature’s latest music video was directed by RTS Award winner Chris Lavelle & has achieved critical acclaim online, even going on to win the UBEAT TV award for Best Video.
Anna Leigh was honoured to be asked to perform at the 2012 London Olympics. She has also acted as a judge for a number of North East singing competitions, performed at numerous festivals and events across the UK and in December 2012, won the ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year’ award for her efforts in developing the Vocal Studios.
Anna Leigh has volunteered at the Freeman hospital in Newcastle, where she was asked to come in and observe scopes on patients vocal chords in the voice therapy department and has worked with disabled adults on numerous occasions. The wide range of experience she has in performing, (including a degree in acting), means she is not only able to help students with their vocal ability, but with their performance technique and confidence too.
ABOUT EMMA WARD
Having worked at the studio before, Emma is excited and happy to be returning to work alongside Anna Leigh. Emma completed up to Level One IVA qualification and has a love for musical theatre having been performing for the past 10 years. Emma was nominated for 2 NODA awards for her performances as The Bakers Wife in Into The Woods and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Other credits include; Kate Monster in Avenue Q, LV in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and most recently, Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family.
Emma taught at the studio for 2 years before pursuing new adventures and has also worked professionally as a children's entertainer and character performer at events across the North East. It's good to be home!
THE IVA TECHNIQUE
The IVA technique is based on 17th and 18th Century principles of singing developed by the Old Italian School of Singing. Our goal is to train voices to sing in a free and natural manner, smoothly, from the bottom of the range to the top with no breaks or sudden changes in quality. Training in this technique gives the singer access to all dynamics, with tonal clarity and flexibility. Also, training in this technique helps improve a singer’s range, endurance, stamina, breath control, resonance, vocal strength and vocal quality across all styles of music without fatigue or damage to the voice. We accomplish these results by training the singer to find a balance between airflow and intrinsic muscular resistance, all within a resting laryngeal posture. You can read more about the IVA Technique on our FAQ's page, or click the button below to visit the IVA Website.
DENATURE
Denature started in 2012 when Anna Leigh and Richard began working with renowned elctronic producer, Mark Lowry. They won the opportunity to work with Mark after appying through Generator. They realised they wanted to create more cinematic music that could be used across Film, TV and computer gaming platforms. This led to a record deal with RIISE Music and Sync Pantha in 2013.
Denature, which now includes Chris Robertson and Justin Januszewski, have released two EP's to huge critical acclaim, working with numeous producers and creating music videos with National Television award winning director Chris Lavelle. Their video for 'Time' won them 'Best Music Video' at the UBeat TV Awards in 2015.
Check out a couple of Denature's music videos and view the band's gallery below.