Dr. Leah Giselle Field is a Vancouver-based contralto, voice teacher, and adjudicator. Dr. Field is a graduate of Vancouver Opera’s Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program and holds degrees from the University of British Columbia and the University of Western Ontario. As a doctoral student she received a university-wide Killam Graduate Teaching Award for her teaching of Secondary Voice. Her doctoral research focussed on children’s opera, and her ongoing research interests include music of underrepresented voices in the realm of classical music and developing IPA guides for under-served language groups. As a performer, Dr. Field enjoys chamber music, oratorio, and opera, and is regularly seen performing as a soloist with choral and instrumental ensembles throughout the Lower Mainland. In demand as an adjudicator, Dr. Field has had the pleasure of adjudicating festivals across British Columbia.
Dr. Field teaches voice lessons privately and through the VSO School of Music in downtown Vancouver. She also offers private instruction in lyric diction, basic music theory for singers, and text analysis for singers. She is passionate about vocal repertoire, healthy vocal technique, and creating a welcoming and nurturing studio environment. Dr. Field’s students have received awards at the local, provincial, and national level, and have gone on to study music at the university level and to sing professionally. Students from her studio have been accepted to prestigious post secondary institutions such as UBC, U of T, McGill, the New England Conservatory of Music, The New School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School. Current students include professional colleagues performing with Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Calgary Opera, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Operetta Theatre, the Canadian Opera Company, and in London’s West End.
In the summer of 2021 Dr. Field cofounded the Vancouver Summer Vocal Intensive with pianist and conductor Dr. Kevin Zakresky. A two-week long program for singers and pianists, SVI is an opportunity for musicians to work collaboratively, explore new repertoire, and participate in daily masterclasses. About the celebrate its fifth anniversary, SVI has become a staple of the Vancouver summer music scene.
Dr. Field is a member of the BC Registered Music Teachers’ Association, Canadian Actors Equity Association, Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association, Canadian Registered Music Teachers Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She is current an artist-in-residence with the BC Canadian Music Centre.