I am obsessed with all the magic that is the singing, voice-giving, expressive human. This is my greatest passion, a calling that I’ve dedicated myself to for over two decades.
I am radically present with every student I work with. Working with me is healing and holistic; intuition supported by intellect and years of experience.
I believe in a paradigm shift for singing, voice giving, being an expressive Human Being, and being an artist. The process itself must be rooted in an understanding of the whole human being including nervous system, body, psyche, and spirit.
WAYS TO WORK WITH MARISA
Virtual & In-Person 1:1 Deep Work
Inquire to receive a list of current offerings and rates. Learn about the possibility of working directly with Marisa or BOOK HERE with an apprentice or Vo-De Teacher Training Graduate.
Vocal De-Armoring™ Membership Channel
A virtual membership space (via Mighty Networks). Includes live classes and a library of practices. Click the button on the right to learn more.
Vocal De-Armoring Community Gatherings
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In person gatherings at Marisa's home in Upstate New York. Includes private lessons, group singing, trail-walking, hot-tubbing and precious time to connect in with non-human connections.
Previous course titles include:
Apprenticeship & Teacher Training
An intimate year-long Vocal Pedagogy and Vocal De-Armoring Mentorship for Professional Vocal Coaches, Therapists, Yoga Teachers, Bodyworkers, etc. ​​Open primarily to long-time students of this work.
Working with Marisa has been
an ecstatic awakening to my own self.
"Working with Marisa has been an ecstatic awakening to my own self. In my time with her I have touched places of grief and longing; I have felt into my own desire and engaged in playfulness in a way I had only ever imagined. All of these experiences have been embodied expressions of the moment that connect me more fully to the past, the present, and the future. The courage to step into myself in this way has felt possible only in the resonance of relationship and witness. I trust Marisa.
Her willingness to feel into her student with total awareness and her acute perception, of what is most alive in the moment, is a kind of magic that has brought me to other worlds and lifetimes.
These are the things I had not expected. I had hoped for a letting go of long held tension in my throat and my voice, a felt sense of constriction I could not seem to release., This is beginning to unfold and soften in its own time, in its own beautiful way. I am in no rush to arrive anywhere, just utterly grateful to be in process with this work and this remarkable teacher.."
Pilar Gizzi, psychotherapist
What is Vocal De-Armoring™?
Vocal De-Armoring™ (Vo-De) is an umbrella term for a somatic and holistic approach to working with singing and voice-giving.
Through the practices, principles, and ethos of Vocal De-Armoring, we may connect intimately with the layered dimensions of Self.
As an official offshoot of the Libero Canto School of Singing, Vo-De applies certain transformative approaches from that school more broadly, not only in service of freer singing, but also in service of healing, self-growth, sexuality, and spiritual inquiry. The Vocal De-Armoring approach is unique in its equal honoring of the raw, primal, wild and chaotic alongside the highly refined, disciplined, formal and abstract.
Vo-De is not focused on particular aesthetic sound outcomes, although aesthetic improvement - which is mostly subjective - is a certain byproduct) but, instead, on self-connection and on learning to sing from a place of ever-changing Truth.
At the same time, Vo-De practices absolutely and without question help a person develop musical and vocal skill as they advance along a path towards mastery.
Vo-De invites a person into freer and more spontaneous relationship with their own instincts, inviting the release of inhibitions and encouraging one’s clearest and most honest expression. Vo-De guides a way of Being which infuses the Self-relationship with qualities of presence, courage, playfulness, expressiveness and curiosity.
By noticing and freeing the body, soul, and voice through physical practices that feature specific movements, active imagination, embodied musical practices, and ways of working with the pure energy (not the looping story) of emotions, Vo-De invites people into a relationship with themselves that is Alive. Vo-De is learning to be with one’s feelings, and to allow the full extent of feelings.
Vo-De is also about Agency, De-conditioning, Skillfully connecting to Desires, and Humaning from a place of Truth.
Sessions are tailored towards the individual.
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This means some lessons are about supporting professional singers working on Broadway, singing in stadiums around the world, leading song circles, singing classical music, etc. to sing with more freedom, joy, ease, coordination and mastery.
Sessions also help with healing certain vocal injuries.
For non-professionals, we may focus on non-musical vocal expression, like reading poetry or other texts, verbal communication etc. One’s relationship to voice-giving is complex and rich, whether or not you consider yourself a singer.
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While Vo-De is always including the state of the nervous system in perception and practice, other sessions may focus primarily on listening to your body and regulating the nervous system through the unique vocal, touch-based and imagination-based practices Vo-De offers.
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Journey with and in your body as you get to know all aspects of voice including inner voice.
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Fever of Love from Song of Song of Songs
Composition and Voice: Marisa Michelson
"Studying singing with Marisa for the last 6 years has impacted
every dimension of my life..."
MOLLY RANSON (Broadway's Prayer for the French Republic; August: Osage County; Plaza Suite; originated the role of Carrie White off-Broadway)
"...Her commitment to authenticity, freedom, and radical presence create the conditions for transformation on many levels. This was clear from when I first started working with her, and has only become clearer over the years.
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Marisa is a brilliant teacher and healer of tremendous integrity, rigor, and depth, and I trust her immensely. She also happens to be tremendously FUN. With her support and guidance, I have experienced profound shifts and releases from long-held patterns of tension. These shifts have not only led to freer, more joyful, and expressive singing, but have allowed for more presence and spontaneity as an actor, and most importantly to me, greater access to and trust in my full Self.
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Marisa is incredibly attuned to her students and has the uncanny ability to perceive exactly what is called for in each moment, which makes lessons endlessly delightful, alive, and deep. It has been exciting and fulfilling to experience the process of working with Marisa unfold over the years, and I look forward to ever-deeper unfolding in the years to come.
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An added bonus is that Marisa attracts wonderful, lovely, insightful people, and it’s been a joy to come into contact with so many special humans through events that she hosts and through her Channel. Being Marisa’s student is a gift that keeps on giving, and giving, and giving."
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