I worked with Steve Schnurman over an intensive 3 week summer festival in 2003 and then followed up with bi-monthly lessons over a 6 -8 month period in 2004/2005. Steven is committed to getting the best from his students and helping them to achieve results. As an experienced singer and having worked with teachers in Europe, Asia and the USA, I was most encouraged and impressed by his thorough attention to detail and dedication to technical excellence. Complementing Steven’s giftedness as a teacher is his ability to encourage and support the development of a “singer” in his or her entirety, being acutely aware of the psychological and physiological development involved. My experience under Steven’s tutoring has been inspiring and informative, reinforcing the fundamentals of singing and securing crucial technical aspects of my "craft".
Sandra Partridge
B Mus Ed, Dip. Opera, Licentiate Singing

Dear Steven,
How can I thank you enough for all the singing and vocal technique training have given me over the years? I know that your techniques, patience and talent helped me to land the role of my dreams on Broadway as Gavroche in Les Miserables. I have taken your training and techniques with me to every audition and recording session. In the past, I have recommended you to fellow singers and actors and I plan to continue to do so in the future. Your students are blessed to have the benefit of your talent, wisdom, sense of humor and patience.
Best wishes,
JD Daniels

I have been singing professionally for 16 years. Steven really got me back to basics. There were so many things I was doing wrong, potentially hurting my voice, and he helped me correct my bad habits with his simple straight ahead techniques that work like magic. I never lose my voice and always feel in vocal control. Thanks to Steven, I have developed a much stronger vocal instrument. I feel very lucky to have gotten an opportunity to study with him and can't thank him enough.
Donna Harris, Lead Singer, “Straight Ahead Band”
http://www.straightaheadtheband.com/home.shtm

I have been taking voice lessons with Steve for the last two years. Upon speaking to him for the first time on the telephone, I knew immediately that he fit all the criteria I was looking for in an instructor. I have had other voice teachers, but none who could compare to this man. Steve is an extremely gifted person who motivates his students to achieve their goals. He has helped me build certain aspects of my singing technique such as breathing correctly and learning how not to strain my voice. I feel that with Steve's techniques I will be more than ready to conquer the music world with a confidence that I never had before meeting him. Steve is not only an amazing voice teacher with endless experience and training, but he is also a very compassionate and kind-hearted person. I feel for Steve as I would feel for someone in my immediate family. He has become an extremely important aspect of my life not only musically, but personally as well.
Becca M., Bridgewater, NJ

I began studying with Steven Schnurman because of what I read of his training and reputation but I have remained a student because of the dedication he has to his craft and the love he has for what he does and the students he teaches.
When I began with Steven, I had zero confidence and had no idea what my potential was. But over time, he has taught and guided me to be a singer with strength and confidence. I have learned the importance of strong technique and he has helped me build my voice into an instrument I understand. Because of this understanding, I have been able to constantly grow and improve.
Steven is a wonderful teacher and an amazing person and I trust him completely with my training. He expects his students to aim for excellence but balances this with his warm personality and encouraging teaching style. He makes you want to be a great singer and he has the goods to help get you there.
Komal K., Philadelphia, PA

When I first came to study with Steve, I had very little proper vocal technique. It literally physically hurt me to sing through an entire aria. It was a rare occurrence that I could get to the high note without "crashing and burning" as they say! Steve brought me from an aria in shambles to successfully performing my first dramatic role in a full-length opera.

Don't get me wrong, there was hard work along the way. It takes pesistence and dedication to learn the skill of muscle isolation that he so carefully and clearly teaches. But Steve worked patiently with me through every step. He understood that it was hard work and he even encouraged me to be patient with myself and believe in myself. He cares not only about his students' voices, and how his students perform, but about them as a person. He will not be the driving task master that some voice teachers can tend to be. He will understand and be gentle with you and your voice, yet he will also know exactly what to say to push you to excellence!

Steve has an incredible ear! He could always hear exactly what my voice was doing, whether I was too tense, needed more breath support, less breath, whatever. I call him my voice doctor! I would go in weekly for my checkup, I would sing, he would listen and then give his diagnosis and tell me what to work on for the following week. Sometimes in the past, I have felt as if I came to a finishing point in my work with a teacher, and could learn no more from them. With Steve, I never felt like I stopped learning. Even when I got the hang of it, there was always more tweaking he could do with my voice.

I feel forever indebted to Steve because he gave me the tools to use my voice in a way that really conveys emotion and communicates with an audience. You can trust him with your voice. I would never trust anyone else with mine!
Wendy Walden

It is difficult for me to describe the magnitude of the change I've experienced in the way I sing over these past months. When I decided to "try" to begin singing again -- after so many years of vocal neglect -- I had strong doubts that anyone could help me in any significant way. In less than a month, I could tell I had found the right teacher in Steven. Over these past six months, I've made progress I hadn't dreamed possible. The years of training I had in the midwest and in NYC, when I was younger, don't compare to the technique I've learned with Steven. I am more grounded and confident in the way I sing than at any other time in my life. I feel blessed. Not only have I found someone who has the knowledge and craft that I've been seeking, but one who is also gifted in teaching and sharing what he knows.
Thank you, Steven!
Patricia Poisl Carney

Our daughter began formal vocal training with Steve Schnurman when she was fourteen. Now, at eighteen, she's reaping the rewards of a beautifully developed voice, enjoying highlighted performances in local musicals, and has just been accepted to NYU as a musical theatre major for next year. We highly recommend Schnurman Voice Studio to anyone serious about singing. We are blessed that our daughter connected with Steve when she did--he is a musical gem of a teacher. Thank you so much, Steve!
Laurie J., Washington Crossing, PA

Steve is amazing. He is an extremely kind-hearted, great person and an excellent teacher who truly cares about his students. I came to him with some natural talent, but no technical foundation upon which that talent could flourish. He gave me the technique first, and soon after, he helped me master the art of expression. The voice can be so beautiful when technique and expression come together.

Before I came to Steve, I couldn't sing all the things that I wanted to. I would be in the middle of singing a song and loving the song, but I just couldn't figure out how to make it come out the way I wanted it to. Steve has honestly changed my life. We both actually got choked up one lesson thinking about what a wonderful gift he has given me. Singing and music are my life, and he has given me the tools to enjoy to them to the fullest. And gosh, does that mean a lot to me. I can be singing a song and feeling all sorts of emotion, and my technique stays solid. It happens naturally. I don't have to think about it. My throat doesn't close up like it used to if I would get too emotionally involved in a song. I used to have to harness my emotions during a performance because I was afraid of this happening. How can someone experience the power of the music fully if they are trying to harness their emotions? It is impossible. Now, I can emote freely while the voice stays beautiful, and because of this, I have the power to move myself and my audience.

The voice is such a difficult thing to teach because it is inside the body. You cannot touch it or see it. A teacher has to be extraordinarily skilled to able to get a student to understand and feel inside him or herself what the teacher is trying to convey. I don't know how to explain exactly how Steve does it, but he does, and I am thankful for it!
Love you, Steve!
Kyrie S., Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA

Before I met Steven I had already had some vocal training and experience--group voice in college and sung in and conducted church choirs for many years. Lessons with Steven have taken me to an entirely different level of vocal production. He immediately identified my singing problems and corrected each individually using multiple approaches. He was then able help me apply advanced singing techniques. As a result, I have developed a strong lyric bass soloist voice with a free and uniform sound which can be sustained throughout my entire range both in pitch and dynamics. Whereas before, I felt comfortable in choral roles, now I feel I have the tools to tackle big opera arias, art songs, Broadway pieces, you name it!

Steven has also worked with my 11-year-old daughter and helped her bring out a commanding and charming voice which she used in her principle roles in two summer camp musicals and will be using in school productions and advanced choir.
Greg M., Cranbury, NJ

Steven Schnurman is a master not only at the art of music but, the art of communication as well. He is a genius at explaining the often abstract concepts of the human voice. I have achieved more progress in six months under Steven's tutelage then all of my previous years of singing lessons in Manhattan combined. I am singing notes with ease that I couldn't even reach before. Steven's expertise, experience, passion for music and his love for teaching inspire me at every lesson. I feel blessed to have found a teacher who can show me how to reach my highest potential as a singer!
Maureen H. Robbinsville, NJ

I've learned a tremendous amount from Steven in the year we've been working together. I had been singing for 20 years, without any idea of how to sing properly, and I've made wonderful progress. Steven makes sure that when you learn something, you really understand it, so that you don't forget it. He explains not only the technique, but also the anatomical picture, and encourages you to develop your own unique approach. Steven is a wonderful teacher and I would recommend him to anyone.
Joel G. Somerset, NJ

Steve was not only my voice teacher for seven years but he was my mentor as well. I met Steve while I was still an undergraduate in voice at a fine school of music. At the time I was unable to connect with a teacher at the school. I had a lot of tension and for some reason, it seemed as if nobody was able to recognize what I was doing that was getting in the way of my singing freely. From the first day Steve heard me sing, he was able to define for me those things that I felt were giving me problems, and he had a technique which, over time, would begin to help me free up the tension and change many of the tension-filled habits that I had. That was the start of what has become a wonderful friendship. In addition to Steve being my teacher for many years, he gave me my first opportunity to teach private voice lessons. None of my teaching or performing opportunites would have been possible had Steve not been the mentor, teacher, and friend that he has been to me since 1997.
Jay Winston

I have been studying with Steven Schnurman for 4 years and the results have been a complete transformation. I started training because I've always loved to sing and I was tired of people telling me to shut up. Now, I get compliments all the time! The techniques he teaches (from the Juilliard School) are specifically designed to build strength and range and can turn anyone into a singer.
Beth M. Hightstown, NJ

Steven has a gift to hear your potential, not what you sound like today. That is so important in any one's training. The first step for me was getting the confidence that after 35 + years of being a "shower" singer. I could actually sound good in front of something other than a toothbrush and shampoo.
Steven Schnurman has give me that confidence. More importantly, Steven has taken a genuine personal interest in seeing me reach my singing goals. I may never win a Grammy but.............................??????????????????
Thanks Steve!
Vladimir S. East Windsor, NJ

Steven has been an outstanding teacher. His groundbreaking technique can literally develop anyone's voice into a singing voice because he zones in on the actual instrument, the muscles which create and color the sound, to give you technique which develops the voice from the inside out. On a more personal level, he takes great care in giving his instruction to you as an individual. Though his instruction is very professional, his sense of humor and personality make anyone feel at home in his studio. I started taking lessons two years ago, and though I was shy with wavering confidence in my vocal ability, I have found my own strength both physically and spiritually through the instruction and encouragement he has given me (with, of course, a few jokes thrown in.) So if you dream of becoming a great singer, or even just developing your voice, Steven will lead you to where you want to go. Training your vocal instrument is not just a path to great singing but a journey with great personal fulfillment. For anyone who truly wants to improve their voice, their confidence, and their sense of well-being, I would greatly recommend Steven's teaching.

Nobuko H. Rutgers University, NJ

Steven is an amazing, inspiring and compassionate teacher and always a joy to work with. He helped me find my singing voice! In a short period of time I became confident enough to sing professionally. When my students and colleagues express interest in studying voice, I always recommend Steven immediately. I can't thank him enough for what he has done for me.
John Bianculli pianist, composer, bandleader and teacher
John Bianculli Music

I have been singing professionally for 16 years. Steven really got me back to basics. There were so many things I was doing wrong, potentially hurting my voice, and he helped me correct my bad habits with his simple straight ahead techniques that work like magic. I never lose my voice and always feel in vocal control. Thanks to Steven, I have developed a much stronger vocal instrument. I feel very lucky to have gotten an opportunity to study with him and can't thank him enough.
Donna Harris, Lead Singer, “Straight Ahead Band”
http://www.straightaheadtheband.com/home.shtm

I am a senior in high school and have been taking lessons with Steve for close to one year now. In that time my progress has been exceedingly dramatic. Through weekly half-hour lessons Steve has managed to transform my unsure and unfocused voice into a far superior instrument. I find myself leaving every single lesson having tangibly learned something. In all my years in school I've never before had this experience with a teacher. Steve's no-nonsense, fact-based, experience-fueled teaching is capable of bringing out the best in any person's voice, and his humor always keeps the mood light. Before lessons with Steve when I sang in a show or ensemble I would always be terrified going into the performance. I was never quite sure if the right sounds would come out of my mouth. This lack of confidence was absolutely crippling. I've found that with Steve's training I have both the knowledge and skill to rise above this fear and consider myself "a singer". In grade school I was never the kid who could "sing". During chorus classes I lip-synched along. So, in light of this, my newfound vocal confidence strikes me as astonishing. Steve's teaching is a gift to any aspiring vocalist.
Joe A., Pennsauken, NJ