Vocal Coaching

In person at The Voice Lab Studios in Ōtepoti, Dunedin

Rock / Pop / Musical Theatre / Folk / Jazz / Classical / Songwriter

 

Private Sessions

The Voice Lab nz Studios is comprised of nine private voice coaches. Most of our coaches specialise in CCM (Commercial Contemporary Music) styles of singing, including Musical Theatre, Pop/Rock, Folk and Jazz. A few of our coaches teach Classical singing styles; have a look at their bios below for more information. We work with singers of all skill levels and ages, and no prior experience is necessary.

Prices for private sessions depend on the length of the session and the coach. Please contact us for more information.

 

Group Sessions

Group sessions are held at our Ōtepoti studio for school-aged children. Please get in contact to check the current group sessions.

 

Our Team

Kelly Hocking

Principal Voice Teacher, Vocal Technician, Teacher Trainer - NZ Wide

Kelly Hocking trained in acting, voice and dance at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. She studied singing with the late Tony Award winner, John Peck and has gone on to study with several other renowned teachers in both classical and contemporary styles of singing.
In New Zealand, Kelly has performed in productions for The Fortune Theatre in Dunedin, The Court Theatre in Christchurch, Musical Theatre Dunedin, Taieri Musical Society, North Shore Musical Society in Auckland and in national touring productions for THETA. Credits include “Kate/Lucy” in Avenue Q, “Ellen” in Miss Saigon, “Roxie Hart” in Chicago, “Sally Bowles” in Cabaret, “Mrs. Banks” in Mary Poppins, “The Baker’s Wife” in Into The Woods, "Diva" in Priscila Queen of the Desert and "Glinda" in Wicked. Kelly has performed as a lead vocalist with groups including The Oxo Cubans, St Kilda Brass, La Forza and The Divas.

Kelly was the first recipient of the full Level 3 certification in Applied Vocal Pedagogy and Voice Science from AtlasVoice. In 2014, she completed a course in Somatic Voicework©, The LoVetri Method, which is dedicated to CCM (non-classical) styles of singing. Kelly is a mentor for voice teachers all over New Zealand and has a special interest in vocal health. She also works with professional actors, presenters and other voice professionals to expand their voices in a sustainable way.

Beth Waite 

Senior Coach and Studio Manager- Ōtepoti

Beth Waite trained in Musical Theatre Voice at the University of Otago. She went on to receive a Master of Arts with Distinction in Theatre Studies, focusing on revisionist feminist intervention adaptation theory with the creation and performance of a one-woman show about Wendy Darling from J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan.

 

Alongside teaching, her work ranges from performance, coaching, directing and producing around Ōtepoti. Performance credits include The First Time, Chicago, I Love You - You’re Perfect - Now Change, and Ovation, for which she was nominated for an Otago Southland Theatre Award. She was selected as an Emerging Professional for Christchurch International Musical Theatre Summer School in 2014 and 2018, where she received instruction from a robust international teaching staff, including Andrea Burns and Jonathan Groff. Directing credits include Women Like Us (Little Scorpion), Now. Here. This. (Arcade Theatre Company) and Footloose (St. Hilda’s Collegiate). She was also the Vocal Director for Highlights, a celebration of Musical Theatre in collaboration with Musical Theatre Dunedin, Taieri Musical Society and Showbiz Dunedin.

 

She has achieved her Level 1 certification in Applied Vocal Pedagogy and Voice Science from Atlas Voice. In 2020, Beth completed Level 1 in Somatic Voicework, The Lovetri Method. She also participated in Anti-Racist Theatre (A.R.T.): A Foundational course and also holds a Mental Health First Aid Certificate from St. John's.

 

Beth is passionate about creating a safe teaching space for all ages, with particular consideration for neurodivergent students and alternative learning styles. She has a special interest in musical theatre repertoire selection. 

 

 

 

Anna Langford 

Senior Coach - Ōtepoti

Anna has recently returned to The Voice Lab NZ after a year away performing in Mamma Mia! onboard Allure of the Seas for Royal Caribbean. During this time, she joined a very short list of women worldwide who have played all three Dynamos (Donna, Tanya and Rosie) professionally.

Anna has spent many years studying and performing musical theatre and voice both in NZ (BA, Otago University) and in the U.K., where she gained her Post Graduate Diploma in Musical Theatre, studying under Paul Sabey at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. She is known to Otepoti audiences for her roles as Elphaba in Wicked, Eponine in Les Miserables, Diva in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Kate Shephard in That Bloody Woman.

 

Anna has taught at The Voice Lab since its formation in 2018. She specialises in coaching CCM (Commercial Contemporary Music) styles, including Musical Theatre, Pop and Rock, with an emphasis on both technique and performance. She has completed her Level 1 and 2 TOSCA certification with an emphasis on Voice Science and Applied Vocal Pedagogy. Anna's clients have reached performing success both locally and internationally. She currently has clients in many international productions, including Wicked (UK Tour) and Mamma Mia! (West End), Moulin Rouge (Germany) and Saturday Night Fever (Royal Caribbean).

 

Anna is available to take on pupils of all levels and is committed to helping clients reach their vocal goals whilst furthering their vocal development and education.

Ben Johnson 

Senior Coach - Ōtepoti

Ben lived the first 18 years of his life in Otautahi, Christchurch, where he was a Choral Scholar at the Christchurch Cathedral. At the end of 2017, he performed with Sol3Mio as part of their Christmas concert. After moving to Ōtepoti, he completed his Bachelor of Performing Arts in 2020 and has had a blast doing shows in Dunedin.

 

Ben’s performance credits include Now. Here. This. (Arcade Theatre Co.), Chicago (Taieri Musical Society) Wicked, Les Misérables, Jersey Boys, and Legally Blonde (Musical Theatre Dunedin). Ben made a brief return to Christchurch this year to play the role of Hanschen in Spring Awakening for the newly formed professional theatre company Ovation Musical Theatre.

 

Recently, Ben has tried his hand at vocal direction for musical theatre shows, beginning with Frozen jr (Taieri Musical Society). In 2024, Ben looks forward to vocal directing Firebringer for Musical Theatre Dunedin.

Toni Lenore 

Senior Coach - Ōtepoti

Toni Lenore began singing at the age of six and instantly fell in love with performing arts. She has been heavily involved in the local musical theatre scene, performing in Taieri Musical shows such as Ovation! (2018), and Mary Poppins (2017). A highlight of Toni’s acting career was performing in the four-person play Now. Here. This. directed by Beth Waite for Arcade in 2020. She graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in 2016 before going on to complete a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education, allowing her to share her passion for performing arts with the next generation of performers. Toni Lenore is currently working as a Music and Drama teacher at Bayfield High School, and she is excited to be back teaching at the Voice Lab.

Ashlee Maxwell

Vocal Coach - Ōtepoti

Ashlee Maxwell is currently working towards her degree in psychology, which she later hopes to follow through to music therapy. She has trained in contemporary singing with Kelly Hocking since the age of 13, and in 2018, she completed her Level 1 training in vocal pedagogy and voice science for singing through The Voice Lab.

Ashlee has performed in musical theatre and has had much experience in contemporary genres, including pop, rock, blues and jazz. In addition to performing, she is passionate about songwriting and has entered solo songwriting competitions such as Smokefree Rockquest, where she placed 2nd, Lions Songwriting Foundation and Play it Strange.

In 2017, Ashlee attended the National Youth Drama School in Napier, where she studied musical theatre, acapella and improvisation and drama.

Chelsea McRae

Vocal Coach - Ōtepoti

Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Performing Art (Music Theatre) from the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art and previously completed Grade 5 ABRSM Music Theory (Merit) and papers in Certificate and Adult Tertiary Teaching (UCOL). She has spent time working in Sydney TVC, represented by Lee Leslie Management and training with Estill trainer Peter Bodnar.

 

Previous theatre credits include original work Bachelor Party, Cathy Hiatt - The Last Five Years, Kirsty Knight - Shortland Street the Musical, Holly Sullivan - The Wedding Singer, Candy - Working, Bridget - Ragtime, Bea - The Collective, That Bloody Woman, The Skriker, Othello, A Comedy of Errors, The Wizard of Oz, Hazel Kirk and Grease.

 

Currently, Chelsea works at the University of Otago and is completing her postgraduate studies in Theatre. Her special interests include working with students in Musical Theatre to help them achieve their singing and acting goals.

Erin Connelly-Whyte 

Vocal Coach - Ōtepoti

Jay Bailey

Vocal Coach- Ōtepoti

Jay has a Bachelor of Arts and Science majoring in Music and Psychology, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours, First Class) in Music. Through his degree he studied contemporary voice and vocal pedagogy with Arlie McCormick and Dr Tessa Romano. His honours thesis was an autoethnographic case study of his vocal transition on gender-affirming testosterone therapy, particularly analysing its technical, psychological, and emotional impacts on him as a singer.

Although they grew up in a musical family in Porirua, Jay truly fell in love with singing after joining their highschool barbershop chorus bass section. Under the direction of David Brooks, ACBC won the national Young Singers In Harmony women’s category four times during Jay’s time at school. Jay also competed nationally in two YWIH quartets (Noteworthy, 1st Place 2017; SEEK, 3rd Place 2018) and a mixed quartet (Mixed Messages, 2nd Place 2018). 

Despite intending to return to barbershop for several years now, Jay has recently been distracted by local musical theatre. His musical theatre debut was with Pop-Up Productions in Spring Awakening in the role of Ernst, and he has since appeared in MTD’s Firebringer (Ducker/Nikolai) and Taieri Musical’s Footloose (Garvin/Ensemble).

Jay is looking forward to launching their career in teaching voice and is open to working with a range of adult/adolescent students on CCM repertoire including pop and musical theatre. They are particularly interested in creating an affirming space for LGBTQIA+ and transgender singers.