About Your Singing Teacher

Susan Bell, Singing Teacher
See My Resume Here

History of a Songbird

My earliest memory is being 3 or 4 and singing Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer.  I was Rudolph, red nose and all.  My family would always say sing, Susie, sing.  I found out early it was something I could do with little effort and get lots of attention and applause.  Was I a “natural”?  Well, I definitely showed signs of singing being fairly natural and easy but the lucky thing for me was there were great music programs where I attended school and great voice teachers in our area.

As a blonde, in Annie Get Your Gun

What I have found is you can get some great training for  your voice in school and choirs if you have a good program as well as with your voice teacher. My music teacher in elementary school took special time with me.  I was in choir and usually sang the female solos.  In Junior High we were able to audition for County Choir, which had the students who sang the best in the county.  A whole new world opened up.  I was working with some of the best choir directors in the State and also the country.  We sang at sporting events, the Kennedy Center, the Naval Academy to mention a few.

High School was even better.  We had regular choir, chamber chorale and of course county and then state choir.  I was lucky enough to participate in all these.  I was getting training my whole 18 years.  I even received some of our most coveted awards in singing.

Once I was done with high school, it was time for college and suddenly I was faced with the dilemma of no support for what I was good at.  My parents were paying for college on the condition that I study to be a teacher.  No music, no theatre allowed.  My parent’s belief was that a career in music and theatre was not a viable option.  In hindsight they realize what a mistake it was forbidding me to do what I love and what I was good at.  I ended up within 6 months doing musical theatre again.  So, money for school was taken away and I had to work full time and I worked at a dinner theatre to help pay my way and still get to perform at the same time. 

My next stop was New York City where I worked and put myself through the American Musical and Dramatic Academy where I spent every day singing, acting and dancing , which was heaven.  It wasn’t easy and I found out just how hard this business can be, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way.  I then spent the next 20 years performing in various theatres, dinner theatres and with touring companies and it has been a good life for me. I was definitely bitten.  Now, I am excited to share all my knowledge with other people who are as excited about singing as I am.

I am working professionally with my group, Sixties Chicks. Come and see us some time!