Jeanai La Vita

Style: Opera; Jazz; Folk; Gospel; Rock; Classical; World; Pop; Musical Theatre

Bio:

Jeanai La Vita is a highly dedicated instructor, with over 25 years of professional experience as a singer and triple-threat performer, director and educator. She is a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing), PAVA (Pan American Vocology Association), American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) and American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA). Dr. La Vita is a PAVA-Recognized Vocologist who is fully committed to evidence-based voice instruction and cutting-edge voice science. As a Singing Voice Specialist, she is an expert at teaching solid vocal technique designed to serve diverse musical styles for all voice types. She specializes in teaching classical, musical theatre and CCM (contemporary commercial music). A true mentor who takes great interest in guiding and supporting her students, her teaching style is positive, energetic and engaging, while instilling technique that is specific and focused on precision and fluidity. She is goal driven in her approach to the progress of students, building foundations of solid preparation and growth with confidence. Dr. La Vita’s students are frequently featured in Broadway, national and international tours, in addition to professional and community productions throughout the U.S. and abroad. Her students consistently win top places in major competitions in classical, musical theatre, contemporary commercial music, and singer-songwriter divisions. They have been admitted to the most competitive universities, conservatories, and study programs, while earning robust scholarship support.

Jeanai La Vita has appeared with leading companies such as New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera and the Ravinia Festival. She has performed professionally alongside Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris, and earned the direct praise of Stephen Sondheim for her performances in his musical, Anyone Can Whistle. A winner and finalist in major international competitions and a recipient of numerous grants for her performance work from the New York City Artist Corps, Bronx Council on the Arts, JP Morgan Chase Foundation and Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance. Dr. La Vita has also earned high-level recognition for her teaching, including the NATS Joan Frey Boytim Award for Independent Teachers. As a concert artist, Dr. La Vita is a frequent chamber music collaborator and soloist in master work performances. Her ensemble, La Vita Duo, with her classical guitarist husband Giacomo La Vita, has performed in concert throughout the U.S. and Europe. They performed an environmental advocacy concert for an assembly of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland at the Palais des Nations for a large audience of international dignitaries. Their album, Nightfall, is available on iTunes. www.LaVitaDuo.com

Dr. La Vita is an Assistant Professor in the music department of SUNY Oneonta, where she teaches voice and directs the Musical Theatre/ Opera Workshop, and Chamber Choir. She also serves on faculty at Manhattan School of Music, where she has been teaching voice, directing choirs and musical theatre productions, and serving as a classroom professor, since 2001. She has also served on voice and musicianship faculty at Stony Brook University, Mercy College, and the Music Conservatory of Westchester. She currently maintains a thriving private voice studio and is an active master clinician, presenter, adjudicator, and interdisciplinary collaborator. Her doctoral work and ongoing performance research explores the intersections of voice, biopolitics, and social justice. She has won numerous grants in recent years for her performance advocacy work including her original, semi-improvised, theatrical chamber music production, The Séance; Common Ground featuring underrepresented composers on subjects of biopower; and The Heart of a Woman, which included a new song commission from Justine F. Chen “Projecting Set-Screw” to the words of Crystal Eastman, co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and co-author of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Dr. La Vita received her D.M.A. in Vocal Performance from Stony Brook University, with cross-enrollment at Columbia University, NYU Steinhardt/ NYU Langone Voice Center and NYU Institute of French Studies. She received her M.M. in Classical Vocal Performance from Manhattan School of Music and her B.M. in Vocal Performance from S.M.U. Meadows School of the Arts. Beyond her professional life, Dr. La Vita is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Italy, and her mastery of foreign languages includes fluency in French, German, Italian, and proficiency in Spanish and Mandarin. She is a kitesurfer, Emergency First Responder, PADI certified scuba Dive Master and Rescue Diver. www.Jeanai.com

Voice Type: Soprano

Music Styles Taught: Opera; Jazz; Folk; Gospel; Rock; Classical; World; Pop; Musical Theatre

Availability: I am available as a performer; I am currently accepting private students; I offer lessons in a group environment; I am available as a clinician or presenter

Contact Information