“I have never seen another man, woman, animal or machine with as much spontaneous energy as Sylvia McNair. She is a force to be reckoned with! This energy is contagious, and it sweeps over the entire classroom, challenging the brightest of students, and nurturing those who are still trying to find their way through the fog. She caters to every student with profoundly inspirational guidance.

When presented with the word “crossover”, most voice professors run for the woods, opera scores flying. This is where Sylvia McNair saves the day. She is a true paladin of the Great American Songbook, and her intense love for this music is like TNT in the classroom. She teaches her students to revere the music of George Gershwin or Cole Porter just as much as the music of Johannes Brahms or Claude Debussy. One is not more important than the other in her classroom, as she might teach Bernstein and Mozart back-to-back in one class period. She lives in a very uniquely hybrid world of music, and I think we elitists can all learn a lesson from Sylvia McNair about that!”
Adam Burnette (pianist, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, collaborator since 2007)

“In our first class together, Sylvia McNair asked everyone to sit in a circle. She slipped off her lime green patent leather pumps (revealing a glittering lime green pedicure), strolled barefoot to the middle of the circle and asked everyone to write down the answers to two questions: ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What do I want?’

This is just one fabulous example of the unique, exciting energy Sylvia brings to the classroom. She asked her Opera Workshop students to look at themselves and their prospective careers in an honest but positive way. She makes no excuses: they all have to know that to have a career as a singer will be harder than they can imagine, and that keeping a healthy perspective on themselves as people will be even harder. Yet Sylvia infuses everything she says and does in the classroom with joy. Her face radiates her joy as she tells the class that she herself is still a student, and that the best musicians never stop learning.

My favorite experience of Sylvia’s teaching was my coaching with her on “Deh vieni, non tardar”. Sylvia played the piano while I sang, and we talked about every note. We talked about expressing the meaning of each line of recitative with a color, a shape, a consonant, or a whisper. She said that some lines are vertical so you pause, you savor, you highlight. Others are horizontal so you move through them. We talked about where to linger and where to just get on with it.

Perhaps most importantly, she talked about the value of the silences. She wasn’t teaching me how to imitate her or how to make the choices she preferred, she was teaching me how to think about the music and how to make my own choices.

Sylvia is a teacher who exemplifies humility, courage, creativity, passionate commitment, and joy in art, as well as in life.”

Marie Masters (graduate assistant for 2 years)

Sylvia McNair leaves a wonderful impression after you meet her. She is very easy to be around and one doesn’t stop laughing when being with her! My lessons with her fly by between half step scales (pitch integrity is her motto!), musical suggestions and tips that she received from the best singers and conductors in the world. It is a dream come true to be studying with my idol, an amazing singer who not only has a great deal of knowledge and experience, but is also able to pass it on – she’s a great teacher!

Paloma Friedhoff-Bello (private singing student – Madrid, Spain)

One cannot describe Sylvia McNair in only a few sentences – there is simply too much to write in praise of this incredible woman!  She has a beautiful voice as well as great artistry.  She is also an insightful teacher and has a passion for life that is simply infectious!  An individual who possesses just ONE of these attributes is a rare and precious find, but Sylvia has them ALL in abundance! What is most impressive is that this beauty, greatness, insight, and passion is ALL REAL – Sylvia is one of the most genuine people I have had the honor of knowing – her heart is truly as pure as her gorgeous voice.

Kenneth Pereira (graduate assistant for one year)