Craig Tompkins ~ Voice Teacher

 ABOUT ME

  • As a former teacher of swimming, flute, first aid and fitness, Craig brings his enthusiasm for helping others reach their fullest potential to the voice studio. He has over thirty years of experience as a performer and more than twenty-five years of experience as a voice teacher. His special interests include helping people regain their voices after stroke or other traumatic brain injuries, helping transgender, nonbinary and gender fluid folx find their authentic voices and of course working with all kinds of CCM (contemporary commercial music) and musical theatre performers!

 BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

  • Craig studied flute at Queen’s University in Kingston before becoming a professional choral singer with the renowned Festival Singers of Canada. In 1979 he moved to Vancouver to join the Vancouver Chamber Choir, one of the top professional choirs in the world, and sang with them until 2007. With the VCC, he had the opportunity to participate in countless tours across Canada as well as extended tours of the USA, Asia, Europe and the former Soviet Union. In one concert alone, the Chamber Choir sang in more than 30 languages! He has been involved in the premieres of over 100 new works and appears on 22 of the Vancouver Chamber Choir’s CDs.
  • Craig has given workshops on healthy vocal technique to groups as diverse as lifeguards and swimming instructors at the city wide inservice of the Vancouver Parks Board, to members of the National Association of Teachers of Singing as well as various high school and community choirs. He was frequently called upon to give group lessons and sectionals to amateur choirs when on tour with the VCC.
  • He has taught at the Vancouver Academy of Music, Delta Community Music School, the Steveston Arts Connection, the Royal Oak Conservatory of Music where he was the Principal and Director of Activities, and currently maintains a private studio in downtown New Westminster. In September of 2009, Craig joined the faculty of the Music Theatre Diploma program at Capilano University where he is a private voice instructor. Since 2017, he has been a faculty member of the Institute for Somatic Voicework™ the LoVetri Method offered through the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio.

 QUALIFICATIONS

  • Phyllis Mailing at the Vancouver Academy of Music was his primary voice teacher. He worked with Ms. Mailing first as her student, receiving the Artist’s Diploma, then later as her teaching assistant in the weekly performance masterclasses that were required of all voice students in both the degree program and the advanced Artist’s Diploma program. He has also been greatly influenced by the distinguished pedagogue Richard Miller, having participated in many extended masterclasses with him both as performer and auditor. Currently, Craig continues his training with the ground breaking pedagogue, Jeannette LoVetri in New York.

 Craig believes that in order to be the best teacher possible, it's essential to stay abreast of new developments in voice science and pedagogy. He participates in professional development programs on a regular basis. 

  • In July of 2008, he was certified by Jeannette LoVetri in levels 1, 2 & 3 of Somatic Voicework™                    the LoVetri Method at the Contemporary Commercial Music Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia. He returned regularly to Shenandoah to expand his knowledge, and when the Institute relocated to Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, he became a faculty member.
  • Craig regularly attends the International Congress of Voice Teachers (2005 - Vancouver, 2009 - Paris, 2013 - Brisbane, 2017 - Stockholm) where he participates in workshops and lectures given by leading researchers from around the world.
  • He is also a regular participant at the NATS National Conventions and workshops, presenting, adjudicating and mentoring. In late June 2010, he attended the National Convention in Salt Lake City as the Northwesten Region's Governor-elect and served on the National Board in that capacity for four years. In Boston in July 2014, he adjudicated the National Music Theater competition semi-finals. 
  •  In June of 2015, Craig was honoured to be the first International Master Teacher at the NATS Intern Program since its inception in 1991! 
  • In May of 2016, Craig was instrumental in bringing Jeannette LoVetri to Vancouver to offer the first Somatic Voicework™ the LoVetri Method Level 1 training to occur outside the USA.                                     
  • 2020 - 2023 brought online training with webinars hosted by Jeanie LoVetri and others focusing on all aspects of singing. He increased his knowledge of teaching transgender, nonbinary and gender fluid singers working with Dr. Anita Kozan SLP, one of the foremost experts in this field in the world. In November of 2022, Craig was honoured at Open the Window: A Nationwide Celebration of Arts Education and Musical Theatre, at a special concert presented by Theatre Collingwood and Talk Is Free Theatre Company in Ontario to celebrate theatre educators through Canadian song.

 PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS/MEMBERSHIPS 

 STUDENT SUCCESSES                           
 

Craig's students are often seen on stage with major theatre companies here (Gateway, TUTS, The Arts Club, Royal City), across Canada (Chemainus, Barkerville, Prairie Skies, Neptune, Citadel and Stratford to name just a few) and on cruise ships around the world! Many students from his studio are accepted into post-secondary music programs and special congratulations go to both Nicholas Burns, MMus (McGill) who is completing his DMA at UofT and Caleb Lagayan Dip in Musical Theatre (Capilano) who received his Masters in Musical Theatre at the Royal Welsh Academy of Music and Drama. Nicholas has appeared as a tenor/countertenor soloist with major Early Music ensembles throughout North America and Europe. In February of 2024 after very successful tours through Ireland and the UK in Les Misérables followed by The King and I, Caleb made his West End London debut to great acclaim, as Prince Chulalongkorn in the Lincoln Center production of The King and I! Other students, both current and former, can be found singing in many of Vancouver's top choirs.