About Me

I found beauty in the outdoors and music in nature growing up on a family farm. When drawn indoors, vinyl records, family sing-a-longs and Lutheran worship fed my soul with music and a joy of singing. That joy ultimately called me into the music profession. I discovered a passion I could not live without.

Teaching voice is part of that musical passion. It’s more than going through the motions of instruction. It’s an intuitive grasp of the whole. It means listening with a quiet, attentive mind and heart to discern the needs of the voice and the person. It requires a bit of “soul work” by the students and me. That keeps me rooted in the deepest part of myself, the essence of my faith and my relationship with others. It’s nourishing.

Working collaboratively with students invigorates me. Questions lead to exploration of thoughts. Imagination unleashed yields musical creativity and vocal development. The journey is exciting and new with each discovery, and it is my privilege to accompany them in the process. It involves celebrating gifts while working out the challenges. It’s examining vulnerability and discovering the courage to go beyond its constraints. It’s striving for something new and good that yields a freedom in singing and life.

There is risk and responsibility in guiding a voice through growth and development. There is joy and inspiration in piloting a young artist. I am deeply invigorated and thrilled with each student’s discovery.

Professional Experience

Judith White is a member of the Allegheny Mountain Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She has taught voice and conducted choirs for over 30 years. Before joining the voice faculty at SU in 1993, Ms. White taught applied voice and vocal pedagogy at Lycoming College and studio voice at Bucknell University.

A lyric soprano, she has performed the soprano solos in such works as Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s B Minor Mass and his Magnificat, Haydn’s Mass in D Minor and The Creation, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem and that of Rutter, Vaughan Williams’ Hodie, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Honegger’s King David.

Adopting the philosophy that performing artists need to explore and perform all genres of music, she dedicates her instruction to that end teaching the vocal classics of all eras. Active as a musician within the community, she extends the same philosophy in coaching singers at any age to express their ever-evolving identity as an artist.

Courses Taught