WholeTone Music Academy

I have been so grateful for Maria’s expert vocal instruction and sound healing work. She is very knowledgeable and has really helped me to improve my technique and manage performance anxiety.

alejandro is an amazing musician and teacher who is very patient and meets me at my level. With his knowledge and support, I have grown exponentially in my guitar technique and understanding of music theory.

With his knowledgeable expertise and infectious personality, Kyle was able to equip me with the necessary tools to becoming a more confident, well-rounded singer.

She always really listened to me. I really liked her classes and being with her. The classes I’d say were very good and high quality. Thanks Maria for giving me such amazing classes!

My daughter has been taking voice lessons with Kass Melo (in person at first and now virtually), and we could not be happier! It’s been fabulous to see how much her confidence and vocal abilities have grown in just a few months. Kass brings enthusiasm and positive energy to every lesson.

“Ms. Lina was the best teacher, I learned so much and I improved my playing skills. She made me love practicing.“

” المعلمة لينا من أحسن واشطر المعلمات اللي كنت عندهم” “الدرس كان يمرق كتير سريع وبالفترة القصيرة تعلمت معها كتير اشياء وصرت اعزف بطريقة احسن وحببتني اكتر بالقوانين وقواعد العزف

Quinn is an excellent teacher who incorporates many different approaches to vocal pedagogy into their work. I was always learning something new either about the voice or a new technique to elicit better sound from my voice. They are encouraging and easy to work with, and provide good feedback on what could be improved in a respectful and friendly manner.

They are knowledgeable on how transition impacts the voice, and are also sensitive to the needs of trans voices. They provide a pleasant, safe, and nurturing learning environment in which to grow one’s voice. I feel much more confident in my singing than when I started, and feel like I have learned a great deal about my voice and myself in the process. I would highly recommend studying with Quinn!

10/10 Would Recommend! Working with Quinn at Wholetone Academy has been an absolute delight – I can’t recommend them enough. I had never taken voice lessons before, so I was a bit nervous. I reached out to Quinn specifically because I’m queer and I was interesting in their gender-affirming voice lessons. I felt safe working with them right away. Quinn is an incredibly kind, patient, and knowledgeable educator who helped me feel more confident in both my speaking and singing voices. Thanks again, Quinn! And thank you Wholetone Academy for your generous scholarship opportunities that make these experiences more accessible!

Quinn is a phenomenal teacher and has helped me so much. They helped me regain my confidence with singing. The lessons were fun, and they fostered a safe and encouraging environment. Highly recommend!!

I have been with Alejandro for over 7 years now, and I can confidently say that I have improved in more ways than I thought I could. I had played guitar before, but I had never stuck with it due to a lack of motivation. However, with Alejandro, I have gone from playing the guitar to being able to play bass, and picking up some percussion and oud along the way as well. I have been very glad over the past 7 years that I have been able to work with him, as this has helped progress me further into my music than I could have ever imagined. I have learned so much about not only music, but other cultures as well, which has helped me with my music playing. I would recommend him to anyone who is looking to learn music and much more.

My lessons with Rafael Natan were absolutely wonderful. They were so attentive to my physical limitations and extremely encouraging without being pushy. Lessons were both fun and informative–leaning into child-like experience of learning an instrument from scratch was really fun and helped create a low-stakes, high-reward environment.

A clearly talented musician, Raf is a patient, encouraging, enthusiastic, and supportive teacher, making learning new things fun and exciting rather than overwhelming and intimidating. After just a few lessons, I can already hear the difference in my playing.

My fiancé Darlene and I took 2 voice lessons with Nora through zoom due to the pandemic. It was a great experience, we had a lot of fun and learned a lot. Nora was a great teacher that did a great job explaining concepts and providing concise feedback on how we can improve. I appreciate how patient she was with a beginner like myself and also the helpful exercises she introduced us. It was a great experience, we had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I highly recommend taking a voice lesson with Nora!

My lessons with Nora have been transformative and empowering. Nora helped me to tune in to my inner voice and sensations during singing. Having awareness of my body, breath, and voice has been crucial in my learning process. After lessons, I felt whole, balanced, and at peace. I also enjoyed the playful nature of singing lessons with Nora as I learned fun and playful singing techniques. I highly recommend lessons from WholeTone Music Academy!

Lessons with Stephany are helping me to open up different parts of my voice and range. She helps me understand how singing is connected to the whole body and how to help the sound resonate. Every time I hit some kind of difficulty, she has a suggestion for an exercise or technique that will help me open up the sound. It’s great to have tools that I can bring to all different types of singing!

My daughter has been taking voice lessons with Kass Melo (in person at first and now virtually), and we could not be happier! It’s been fabulous to see how much her confidence and vocal abilities have grown in just a few months. Kass brings enthusiasm and positive energy to every lesson. You can tell she loves getting to know each student and helping them find their unique voice. My daughter always looks forward to her sessions and appreciates the quirky analogies Kass uses to explain techniques and break down songs. Highly recommend Kass and WholeTone Music Academy!

I’ve been taking voice lessons with Kass for a few months now and I absolutely love it! Kass is super passionate, supportive, and fun, and I have already improved so much in my technique and confidence. Our lessons add a much-needed dose of positive energy and music appreciation to my week, which is especially valuable during self-isolation. I would definitely recommend WholeTone Music Academy!

My voice teacher at WholeTone is Kass Melo, and she is simply wonderful! I love her energy and enthusiasm, and how supportive she is, while still offering substantial and useful feedback. I also enjoy how our lessons aren’t just about sounding better. I always learn a lot about how each song is constructed and I’m learning something about how songs work. She is really great and you will not be disappointed if you sign up for lessons from her.

Mattia is a skilled, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and supportive teacher who inspires an appreciation of music and confidence in my ability to learn violin, who helped me overcome my nervousness about picking up an instrument at an older age with practically no prior musical experience. They are professional and responsive and yet warm and fun in communication style. They easily adapted the teaching style to one that worked best for me, while still emphasizing good techniques. I would certainly recommend Mattia as a teacher to anyone who has wanted to learn violin.

Nora’s voice lessons have helped me become a much better and more confident singer in a matter of months. If they choose the other people who teach here, they’re probably great too.

Mattia is a very insightful instructor. When we were identifying problems with my technique and performance, they offered suggestions and worked through solutions with me, paying attention to how I internalized their advice and modifying their approach when it didn’t click. Our lessons felt like a collaborative process, where we equally engaged in the work, which I found very rewarding.

I am delighted to add my voice to the chorus (ha!) of glowing reviews for Nora. I was a loyalist from the first lesson, but she even won over my skeptical boyfriend, who was way outside of his comfort zone taking voice lessons.

Nora is warm and friendly, with a true passion for teaching others to sing. She has clearly devoted a ton of time and energy to studying her craft, and her knowledge is self-evident when she explains not just how to do an exercise, but why we do it. Another thing I appreciate about Nora is, though we were taking lessons purely for fun and not with the intention to perform or to go out and audition, she was still invested in our learning and growth.

In short, while some instructors may be very good in their particular niche, I would characterize Nora as a very multidimensional instructor with the ability to connect with students of all levels and backgrounds.

Great location, great teachers, and great culture.

I take voice lessons at WholeTone with Garry and, in a word, he is AWESOME. Warm, talented, and engaging, Garry is a master at creating a safe space where he can really push me to do better in a constructive and supportive way. He meets me right wherever I happen to be mentally and physically on lesson days and, no matter how I walked into the studio, I always leave feeling like good work was done and noticable progress was made. I am ever eager for my next lesson with Garry!

Von has been a wonderful teacher for me these last few months. I have felt so welcomed as a person and as a singer. I have benefited immensely from his patience, ever-present encouragement, and technical skills as a teacher. I find voice lessons with him to always be a highlight of my week! I wish I could have a voice lesson everyday!

An absolutely wonderful organization! I’ve been going to Nora for violin and voice for two years now and she is phenomenal: very talented, knowledgeable, intuitive, and just so much fun. I’ve been singing my whole life but I’ve learned so much from her. The recitals and events are great opportunities to share your progress with fellow students and music lovers. Highly recommended to all!!

Got a couple of lessons as a gift and I’m glad I had Von as my tutor. Even though I’m a complete beginner, he made me feel very comfortable and always approached areas for improvement in a constructive manner. I really enjoyed my lessons and the all the advice he gave me. Top notch!

An excellent school, full of excellent people I’m proud to be associated with.

I go here for choir rehearsal and group voice lessons. The people are friendly and welcoming, and the atmosphere is warm and bright. Definitely one of the highlights of my week!

Whole Tone has been a wonderful experience for me! Alex Brander is a highly competent, supportive and engaging drum teacher. I feel every time that I am getting a unique lesson and he always takes the time to meet me at my level. These lessons have given me the confidence to call myself a drummer!! Highly recommended for someone who wants an instructor who is very skilled and yet approachable.

I had my first lesson with Nora today and she is just amazing. I cant say enough about her depth and breadth of knowledge and instruction and music. I will be going back.

Hard work is fun when improvement is evident! Nora is such a great teacher and really offers exemplary instructions through engaging and interactive lessons. I’ve loved listening to how she transforms students from amateurs to professionals with skill, technique and hard work.

Nora is an amazing teacher! I wasn’t expecting to learn so much in such a short time. She implemented numerous tactics to improve many different aspects of my voice, breath control, posture, performance ability and musicality. She helped me gain more confidence, and learn how to make tiny differences in my body that lead to vocal improvements. She’s well educated, professional and very creative. I highly HIGHLY recommend her as a voice teacher.

Amazing voice teacher and instructor. Can make real changes not only in the way you sing but also in how you hear yourself and comprehend music. This will change your voice and your life. So glad I found Nora, she’s amazing.

Nora is fabulous! Warm and engaging, Nora is an excellent teacher, sensitive to her student’s needs. I am a trained classical pianist, and Nora has adjusted her lessons to include my previous musical training while teaching the basics of voice. I have been working with her for a year, and I hope to continue for another!

I’ve been taking voice lessons for a year with Nora. I’ve gotten so much more out of it than what I expected! The first things Nora taught me were how to relax enough to sing in front of another person – I mean, really let it out and not be afraid to make mistakes; and about how the body as a whole contributes to the voice. I now know what to give attention to when my voice sounds ‘off’ – and most importantly, I’ve learned how to sing loudly and brightly without hurting my throat or feeling tired.

One of my favorite things about Nora as a music teacher, too, is that she will roll with literally anything I want to sing. Want to sing some Ray Lamontagne? Some Red Hot Chili Peppers? Amy Winehouse? Any random local artist who barely has any sheet music available? She is ON IT.

Musically – I can sing higher than I ever have before, and lower than I ever have before, I’m learning how to ‘belt’ louder than ever before. Not only did she help me develop my head and chest voice, but I’m now able to transition between head and chest voice more easily, and that is expanding my repertoire quite a bit. Yay being able to sing more things!

And I have to speak to her attitude – always honest but warm and encouraging. She’s a joy to learn from and I’d recommend her to anyone – from a nervous beginner to a professional musician.

I had always been a bit wary of classical musical training given my unfortunate experience with a conservatory-educated piano teacher in my childhood, but finally decided to pursue the vocal training I had always wanted but never really had time for.

I haven’t regretted it. Nora is not only an incredibly competent vocalist in her own right, but also a superb teacher — she has a warm and personable demeanour while also professional. She works with what her students are most passionate about singing or playing and takes a holistic approach for using one’s instrument — I definitely wasn’t expecting to stretch or learn about the anatomy of the throat at the beginning, but it has factored into my technique improving dramatically. She also encourages visualising whatever sticks best in a student’s mind for finding the right placement and sound.

I’d recommend her to anybody. I imagine she’d be great with kids, too.