Study with Corrie

Corrie’s Teaching

A life-long resident of Northern New Jersey, I first discovered my passion for music through choral singing at West Morris Central HS in Long Valley, and I hope to inspire a similar lifelong love of music in my students. I have been teaching on and off since 2018, and have been actively performing in children’s outreach shows for several years with Opera Naples, Opera Idaho, Indianapolis Opera, Knoxville Opera, and Opera Theatre of Montclair, bringing traditional operatic repertoire on a smaller scale to over 25,000 children. While my first love is opera, I believe all forms of music are valid and worth exploring, and I've performed a wide variety of styles from video game symphonies to jazz standards to baroque cantatas and beyond.

I received my Bachelor of Music degree from Montclair State University and Master of Music degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN, where I taught Class Voice for Non-Majors at the University of Tennessee and was a musicology teaching assistant. I have given masterclasses and talks at Montclair State University, Brigham Young University-Idaho, University of Idaho, and Boise State University, as well as at several high schools and middle schools. Previously, I co-led a singing class for clients in recovery from long-COVID symptoms with significant lung scarring or other COVID-19-related damage in conjunction with St. Luke’s Hospital in Boise, ID, focusing on using classical voice techniques to strengthen breath support, control, and phonation. I am also a certified substitute teacher in New Jersey.

I have several years of private voice teaching experience, and I love working with students of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. I teach voice and beginner piano lessons in Northern NJ, both at my home studio and in the homes of my students. I also teach at Sellwood Studio in Madison, NJ. I particularly love working with young singers, working with transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse students, and helping students prepare for auditions.

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Cornelia and Angel Love performing a children's opera with Indianapolis Opera in 2021.

Teaching & Outreach

Cornelia teaching a student during a masterclass at a university.

Cornelia working with a student during a masterclass in a high school theatre.

Cornelia performing for a school of elementary-age children with Indianapolis Opera.

Four adults performing an opera (The Barber of Seville) for children, with a set depicting a barbershop and a malt shop. The audience is seated, watching the performance.

Cornelia Lotito performing on stage in an auditorium at a university. The room features high ceilings, large windows, and ornate chandeliers.

More Information

Download Teaching Philosophy

Lesson Policies (private studio)

Lesson Policies (Sellwood)

FAQs

Your sheet music (at least 2 copies, one for yourself and one for me - a digital copy is fine for me, as I tend to use an iPad for music), your recording device (a smartphone works just fine for this), a pencil, and a bottle of water.
While my background is largely in classical singing, I am open to helping you with any genre of music you may be interested in working on, be it musical theatre, opera. jazz, pop, or rock. All students can benefit from good posture, consistent breath support, and healthy production of sound. However, if what you need is beyond my range of expertise, I will recommend you to another qualified and talented teacher in the area who might be better suited to helping you find your voice.
If you are preparing for an honors choir, musical theatre audition or a role, you may want to take lessons for a finite amount of time. While I typically like to take students on for longer periods of time, I may have room in my schedule to take on a student for a short period of time. Contact me and I will do my best to find a time in my schedule to help you rock that audition!
This can be a controversial topic among voice teachers. Many feel that it is impossible to teach voice lessons to students under age 13. I find that children of all ages are capable of learning to sing, assuming they are ready to listen, willing to participate, and can maintain a certain degree of focus over a 30-minute period. While I do not teach my 5 year-olds the same way I teach my 15 year-olds or expect them to perform to the same level, there is a great deal that can be taught to a young child through voice lessons. Voice lessons for very young singers will largely consist of music theory, beginning ear training, posture and beginning breath ideas, performance skills that develop confidence, language skills, some gentle vocal warm-ups, and -- of course -- plenty of fun and games! There are some parents who want to prepare their very young singers for stardom -- this is fundamentally the opposite of what I aim to do. My goals at this age is to build musicianship skills and develop a deep love of music that will last the student's entire life.
I offer make-up lessons for students who let me know of a cancellation at least 24 hours ahead of time. If I am not notified, students will lose the benefit of the lesson, but I may be able to provide a video lesson or group make-up at my discretion.