Kristin Marchilena is a musician and educator based in Essex, Vermont.
Kristin’s specialties include vocal coaching, curriculum design, classroom music instruction, music direction, songwriting, arrangement, and choral conducting.
Kristin has lived on the east coast for 21 years, but she’s a Midwesterner at heart.
Kristin grew up just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the age of 18, she moved to New York to attend NYU for an undergraduate degree in Music Education. She didn’t expect to stay on the east coast forever, but a funny thing happens when you attend school, make friends, get a teaching license, get a job out of college, grow a professional network… You look around one day and you’ve spent over half your life somewhere else, and that somewhere else has become your forever home.
There’s still a bit of a Wisconsin accent and a whole lot of Wisconsin pride (go Brewers go!) just under the surface.
Looking for voice lessons or vocal coaching?
Kristin is available for regular lessons and individual coaching sessions. Lessons and coachings can be virtual or in-person. Click below for info.
Vocal Style
As a classically-trained, contemporarily-influenced vocalist and educator, Kristin offers a versatile training experience for students of all ages.
With students ranging from five to 75 years and beyond, Kristin combines patience, curiosity, creativity, humor, and professional musicianship to support students in their quest for musical excellence.
Foundational to success with any instrument is an understanding of how it functions. For singers, the body is the instrument. As such, Kristin prioritizes an understanding of how the body creates sound, helping her students to sing with healthy, sustainable technique as well as sensitive artistry.
Lessons lean heavily on breath work and alignment as well as attention to text (lyrics) and context (character, venue, etc.). Precise attention to intonation, solfège-based ear-training, and playful improvisation are additional elements of Kristin’s work as a musician and teacher/coach.
Sound
Show Me Love
This song, by Hundred Waters, encapsulates Kristin’s love of close three-part harmony and songs with a message.
Loves Me Like a Rock
In June and July 2021, Kristin took advantage of the low COVID caseload in NYC as well as the fully vaccinated status of some of her closest singer friends. For this summer project, Kristin transcribed a few songs from the Wailin’ Jennys album Fifteen—an album of covers to celebrate the band’s 15th anniversary. This particular song features the voices of Madolyn Accola (soprano) and Sarah Garza (alto) alongside Kristin on the mezzo melody.
Ella’s Song
Bernice Johnson Reagon, one of the founding members of the group Sweet Honey in the Rock, wrote this song in honor of the work of civil rights activist Ella Baker. Kristin’s interpretation here is one she shares with her middle and high school students, inviting them to join her in questioning the ways in which we can be allies and activists rather than rest in the comfort of our own lived experiences.