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"Ms. Birnbaum’'s breathing technique completely changed the way I approach singing. With every coaching she instills more and more confidence while searching for free use of the voice."

"I absolutely love working with Deb! Her expertise in breath technique, her impeccable ears, and her natural gift as a teacher have all helped me unlock new bits of knowledge about my instrument each time I’ve worked with her. I truly believe she’s one of the most effective teachers I’ve had the pleasure to work with."

"Deb is an absolutely fantastic teacher, and I can’t say enough about the incredible efficacy of her teaching! It seems she has ‘x-ray’ vision; she has an ability to listen to someone sing and somehow diagnose exactly what is happening internally with the air. Deb is the foremost expert on this matter. I attribute a great deal of my own growth to Deb’s expertise, and I couldn’t be more grateful!"

"Deb’s work impacts singers’ overall technique and musicianship through a better understanding of breath support. Specific technical benefits include maintaining legato, sustaining longer phrases, solving intonation issues and increased agility."

"Deb’s temperament is uniquely suited for this kind of work; not only is she extremely knowledgeable, but she is also incredibly warm and personable. Her knowledge base allows singers to trust her, but it’s her warmth and affability that allows singers to open up and really take in the knowledge she shares. Deb’s ability to talk about these basic concepts and skills in a way that complements a wide range of teaching is a truly wonderful rare thing. Deb’s been working with singers at Wolf Trap since 2010, and if I could, I’d keep her here all summer long!"

"Deb is a marvelous instructor who has that special gift of identifying quickly the issues each singer needs to address, particularly about breath, and knowing how to communicate the solutions in a way that best suits the individual. She’s so warm and supportive, and every one of our artists loves working with her – and they all improve as a result." I recall a colleague at another young artist program saying the same thing, "Everyone sounds better after she’s been here".

"Deborah has studied this issue in such depth and has solutions for problems, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. She really helps singers examine their own body structures and designs patterns for each individual. When a singer has a good sense of their support … it frees up everything else. It gives them artistic freedom."

"It shouldn’t be the case that one studies breath support separately from the voice lesson, but if the voice teacher isn’t explaining it, then it’s a good thing Deb does … her work is so important."

"Deb Birnbaum’s work with singers is astute, methodical and essential. She addresses breath technique in a straightforward way, effectively providing singers with practical tools to gain freedom and consistency in their vocalism."

"Deb has no shortage of physical exercises to help remind the body how to engage fully, all this with the goal of total connection and therefore full expression. She encouraged me to make warming up my breath part of my vocal warm up. It's made a huge difference."

"Before I began to work with Deb, I tended to come off my body when I sang. My breath often got hiked and my singing lacked the consistency of body connection and grounded breath support. With our work, I found a deeper sense of foundation which then allowed me more freedom vocally and interpretively."