Laura Bernay

I grew up in the U.S.A. on the east coast in a musical family and learned to sing just about every style of music I heard from jazz, country, folk, blues to classical, cabaret and music theatre!

After graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in Performance (Flute and Voice), I completed a Graduate Diploma in Education (Melbourne University), I went on to do postgraduate studies in my home state of Massachusetts, U.S.A. at The New England Conservatory of Music and the Berklee College of Jazz in Boston. I also hold of Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Spanish and French from the University of Western Australia.

My work as a singer, pianist and flautist has taken me all around Australia singing in cabaret, piano bars, jazz venues, luxury ocean liner cruises and national TV appearances. Following this I performed in Japan, the Middle East, USA and Europe in the 80’s and 90’s. I love to sing in languages other than English with French and Spanish being two of my favourites, in addition I speak both. But generally I love singing in as many languages as I can, depending on the requirement and the style. It’s fun!

I spent some years training specifically to teach Young Voice as this is a very specialised area and requires an extra knowledge of the Voice and how it works in the different age groups. I worked with the renowned Païvi Kukkamaki in Finland and taught and gave recitals there.

Growing up with a father who was a jazz musician I learned hundreds of jazz standards and songs from music theatre, they are part of my DNA! But as I love being eclectic I decided to train hard in ‘classical voice’ after my initial studies and explore the world of opera, lieder and art songs from all over the world. I lived and performed in Germany for a year and have a sound knowledge of singing in German and I specialise in French and Spanish art songs. I also have a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in French and Spanish.