I was hugely relieved to discover there was a purpose for girls with loud voices.

Well, the teacher I studied with for nineteen and a half years was a man named Paul Gavert. He was a great lieder singer, so basically Im a trained lieder singer because of that teacher. The teacher I currently study with - since 1995 - is Joan Lader, who also studied with Gavert.

For one thing, I teach my students what my teacher for twenty years, Paul Gavert, told me, 'The voice follows... the voice follows everything about you... who you are.

Our stories are different; our pain is the same.

Everything good that I know was taught to me by great teachers and I feel like giving back and sharing the technique is the thing to do.

As you get older, your voice changes, as well. Your voice should be able to last as long as you last.

I had no words for these feelings. And then people started using the word Ms. Suddenly, there was this handle with which I could identify myself and understand why I felt so out of whack with the culture around me.