About Me

Mary-Jane as Donna Elvira with hair up, glittery ear rings and neckless to match

Before music college I toured Spain at age sixteen singing my own composition for voice and string orchestra, also playing cello on the tour. My college training was at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and The Royal Academy of Music where I won two scholarships and the Authur Burcher Prize.

I have attended multi disciplinary voice conferences since the late 1980's to get my voice questions answered that the usual training simply didn't cover. See below.

I am a Singing Teacher, Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music and have a Professional Certificate from the Royal Academy with 11(1) Hons., and Certificate of Advanced Studies. LRAM. Prof.Cert.RAM. Cert.Adv.StudiesRAM. MISM. For my operatic roles see below.

I have been a vocal coach for over thirty years including at The School of The Science of Acting, as a part time lecturer for the Faculty of Arts Brunel University, and at The City of London School for Girls. In May 2012 I created VOICERCISE. As well as one-to-one lessons, I lead Workshops for singers, choirs and professional voice users such as school teachers, and led a Singing for Health and Pleasure class in my local community. More recently, I led voice workshops for the teachers at Chater Infant School, The Aeolian Singers and at Braziers Park Oxfordshire. I was the teacher on an online voice coaching event for "Midlifers" which dealt with menopause and the voice among other things. My online group includes individual coaching in a group setting and people often experience new abilities in just one session. I draw on multiple skills and techniques including breathwork and primal sound.

I am a member of the British Voice Association BVA and in 2018 I was invited by Mary Hammond to lead a short practical session on Lax Vox at the Royal Academy of Music's BVA Rock and Pop seminar HERE. I am also a member of the ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicians) and was a member of the Association of Teachers of Singing for many years until 2023, and Equity from 1989 to 2017. I am also a member of the HCA, Hearing Conservation Association. I work with all ages and abilities and have an enhanced DBS. In 2012 I was an honorary observer at The Luton and Dunstable Hospital ENT Voice Clinic.

Multidisciplinary voice conferences attended CPD

2024

Neuroscience of Stammering with Dr Michel Belk

Habilitation for the aging voice with Dann Mitton

Voice Rehabilitation in the voice clinic with Leda Scearce MM, MS, CCC-SLP

Training Pop Singers with Kim Chandler CCM vocal coach & session singer

SOVT Exercises: What, How, When, and Why? John Nix, M.M., Cert. Vocology. Prof. Music and Voice Pedagogy

How Exercises and Stretching Impact the Voice. Manual therapy in speech-language pathology. Walt Fritz

British Laryngological Association ( BLA) www.britishlaryngological.org Study of Palpation/Muscle Tension, detailed anatomy of larynx and neck. Physical therapy stress/release. Understanding of how tension can manifest in the neck / voice / endoscopic images, Understanding of principles of palpation of the neck and principles of anatomic trains.

2023

Voice as Portal to Regulation with Jessica Maguire and Alison Davies

Diagnosis and treatment of professional performers with Tori Burnay SLT (voice) Guy's and St Thomas' NHS

The Brain, Music, and Optimal Performance with Dr Karen Leigh-Post

2022

Warming Up and Cooling Down Impact on Function with Dr. Kari Ragan

Effects of aging on the voice, and vocal exercises to promote ability to sing into the senior years with Professor Karen Brunssen

The Necessity Of Trauma-Informed Voice Practices:
Impact, Research, Scope
With Dr Elisa Monti

2021

Designing and Customising Vocal Exercises for Singing Voice Rehabilitation
With Leda Scearce MM, MS, CCC-SLP.

The Nature Of Empathy And Its Relevance For Voice Work, Joanna Cazden

My singer has a voice problem. VocalProcess CPD course

Dann Mitton Low Male Voices Development, Technique,and Repertoire

Vocal Process hosted Carrie Garrett certMRCSLT, ASLTIP, HPCP, Vocal Rehabilitation Coach on the role of the singing teacher versus speech and Language therapist (SLT).

Singing for Health and Trauma, with Emily Foulkes exploring Neuroscience research, the Principles and Practicalities.

2020

British Voice Association (BVA) - Training the Vocal athlete.

British Laryngological Association (BLA ) - Laryngeal Sequelae of COVID19

BVA, Neuroscience for working with Voice, Dr Boris Kleber, Neurophysiology and MRI imaging,

Sing for Parkinson’s, N. Wydenbach,
Dr Michel Belyk, Evolutionary Neuroscience of Voice Motor Control.

Dr Maryna Kryshtopava, Muscle Tension Dysphonia.

Charlotte Davies, Sound processing.

Heidi Moss, training the tonally compromised.

Kate Sheppeard, Emotion for Training Singers.

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, COVID-19 Rehabilitation.

Dr David Joncos and Teresa Shaw, Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) with (ACC) Acceptance Commitment Coaching derived from (ACT), Acceptance Commitment Therapy.

Alex Ashworth, The Royal Academy of Music on Intention in Singing.

Singing for Health conference.

Emily Foulkes BA hons, PGcert, ITEC Dip, Trauma and Mental Health Practitioner Dip., impacts of trauma on young people, how that relates to voice and how the voice and singing may support positive mental health and well-being.

Singing for Lung Health with Phoene Cave BA Mus Hons, PGDip MT, MA an HCPC, music therapist.

Free Voice work, Christina Shewell MA, FRCSLT, ADVS.

Dr Gillyanne Kayes and Jeremy Fisher Vocal Process Ltd, Best Practice Update.

BVA Inner Jazz with Pete Churchill.

2019

BVA Hormones and the Voice.

In 2018

The British Laryngological Association, Perceptual Analysis – Current Theory & Practice.

BVA Laryngeal science into practice.

In 2017

BVA,Christina Shewell MA, FRCSLT, ADVS. Imperial College London: Therapy for Voice Disorders.

BVA Voice Clinics Forum, St Thomas’ Hospital.

Estill for singing teachers.
Estill Workshop with Estill CMT.

In 2016

BVA Assessment, Diagnosis and Remediation.

BVA Voice and Neck.
BVA Burnout and The voice in distress, Emotional Repair.

The Estill Papers with Anne-Marie Speed.

Many more attended from late 1980's

Operatic Roles

As a Mezzo-soprano I have sung in France, and five cities in Japan with the Ambrosian Opera Chorus including with Maria Ewing as Carmen and José Carreras as Don José. I toured Britain and Northern Ireland, singing Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus for the D’Oyly Carte Opera and chorus. Other roles I have sung include Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen, Elvira in Don Giovanni, Marcelina in The Marriage of Figaro, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, the Mother in Hansel and Gretal and Azucena in Il Trovatore.

I sang the role of Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Ulrica in Verdi’s Ballo in Maschera, Maddalena in Rigoletto and Martha in Gounod’s Faust.

I sang Marcellina and Don Basilio in the Marriage of Figaro with Olivier award winning company OperaUpClose from September 2014 and toured the UK in 2015 with The Marriage of Figaro.

I have sung many times as a soloist in Oratorios and on the concert platform with a varied repertoire in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and with a single concert in Hungarian for the British Kodaly Academy.

On another subject, being forced to sign a non disclosure agreement by a school made me into a Whistleblower, and The Children's Commissioner's office has thanked me for all that I did over many years that has caused safeguarding of children in the UK to improve.

My past teachers include: David Pollard, Joy Mammen, Yvonne Minton, Vera Rosza and Janice Chapman.

Mary-Jane in role of Marcellina on stage in costume with other members of the cast

The Independent ★★★★

“Mary-Jane de Havas’s fruitily-exaggerated Marcellina makes a perfect foil…”

What’s On Stage

“There’s a charming moment when Mary-Jane de Havas, who doubles Marcellina and a gender-bending Basilio, has to effect a knowingly fumbled hat-swap in order to share a scene with her other self.”

Derek Carden
Chief Conductor at Hastings International Composers Festival.

“tremendously professional”

Randy Nichol
Tenor and Director of Opera

"I recommend her as a performer and a person who understands the technique of singing and performing."

David Bezona
Professor at Wilmington College of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

“Mary-Jane possesses an outstanding singing voice and one certainly as good as any with whom I worked while singing opera, oratorio and concerts during my 12-year professional career in Germany and Europe."

Adrienne Walters
Singer

“a dramatic and powerful actress and singer…very moving”

“

Mark Windisch
Chairman of the National Early Music Association

“Not only does she have a beautiful voice. But her acting and ability to project emotions was very impressive indeed.”

Anthony Mccarthy
Musical Director

"Mary Jane has an extremely versatile voice that is enhanced by her good sense of musicianship developed through her many years of orchestral experience as a Cellist. Her performances are always sincere with a convincing portrayal of the character both through the varying timbres of her voice and her strong acting ability. Her passionate and sincere portrayal of any given character shows flexibility from the wild heroine to understated comedienne."