Jay Lane teaches classical and sacred music, the Great American Songbook, and 20th-century musical theater. He believes working collaboratively with each student in order to help them develop their musicianship. He makes his point saying, “Although I have specialized knowledge my student needs, I feel that the student and I are working together on the same project, which is helping the student to sing with freedom and ease.” He loves to help people express themselves and says, “When a student makes a breakthrough at any level, I celebrate their success. Of course it’s necessary to point out mistakes, but pointing out successes is just as important!”
Jay uses the McClosky Technique as his foundation. This method is based on anatomy and physiology, and gives concrete guidance on how to surmount all kinds of technical difficulties. Jay finds extreme satisfaction when he can help students who come to him with an issue—vocal pain, tension, age-related deterioration, or a surgical recovery, and they work through it together. The end result being that his students can enjoy “regular” lessons once again while improving their new voice and exploring new repertoire.
Jay has taught at both the McClosky Institute of Voice and at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. Additionally, he’s taught music history, theory, music appreciation, and orchestration, as well as leading workshops on vocal technique to choirs.
Jay’s not afraid of challenges—he loved conducting the Duruflé Requiem at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Lincoln, MA. He says, “It was a real stretch for everyone, but we rose to the challenge, supported one another, and made music that was more beautiful than anything we could have done individually.”
Jay earned both B.A. in music and Ph.D. in musicology from Yale University. He’s a Certified McClosky Voice Technician & Master Teacher from the McClosky Institute of Voice.
Outside of performing and teaching, Jay loves to garden and cook, and of course, wishes he had more time for those activities!