Edmonton South - Voice Lessons

Desirae Becker (Piano, Ukulele, Voice)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Day(s): Thursday, Saturday, Sunday

Desirae started her musical journey like many children do around 6 years old in traditional private music lessons. Her first instrument of study was piano and soon doubled into voice. Beyond solo performances she moved into a leadership role running a youth choir where she first played music with other instrumentalists. Trained in classical piano and voice for 14 years, she was accepted to the Bachelor of Jazz and Contemporary Music program at MacEwan University and begun teaching privately in 2013. Her university adventures focused on Piano Composition and quickly inspired her to dive into other instruments. Today Desirae teaches Piano, Voice, Guitar, Ukulele, and Theory in a wide range of styles. She prefers to approach lessons with an environment of enjoyment while providing a healthy foundation to the student’s technical playing. Regardless of your music goals, she is eager to help you explore different ways to learn your instrument(s) of choice.
Her rate is $29 per half hour.

Kayla Enns (Voice)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Day(s): Tuesday, Friday

Kayla is a freelance musician with over twenty years of experience performing, training and competing in piano and voice. Kayla has been teaching since 2008 and enjoys working with both youth and adults. Kayla believes everyone can and should find their voice. Beginners (who are terrified) are her specialty! Kayla has worked with The Rock and Roll Society of Edmonton (Edmonton Rockfest) as an instructor for their Centre of Arts and Music program since 2015. Specializing in Pop and Rock, Kayla is passionate about all genres of music and singing styles. As a singer in Edmonton’s The Bobby Tenderloin Universe, she had the privilege of opening for Orville Peck on his American tour in 2019. Kayla offers traditional voice lessons as well as alternative music classes (wellness/healing, songwriting, artist development) for the not so average student. She guarantees you will leave each lesson with more joy and music knowledge!
Her rate is $28 per half hour.

Laena Anderson (Piano, Voice)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Day(s): Monday, Thursday, Saturday

Laena is a performer, improviser, and musician who has been teaching private voice and piano lessons since 2014. Laena sings and plays piano for Payphones, an alt-folk band that released their debut album in the fall of 2022. A graduate of the Theatre Arts program at MacEwan University, Laena is a theatre kid at heart, and they love finding ways for students to tell stories and express themselves through music. They are especially skilled at working with beginners and kids, making the discovery of music accessible, exciting, and fun. They can't wait to see you in lessons!
Their rate is $27 per half hour.

Meg LaRose (Piano, Voice)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Day(s): Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday

Meg LaRose is a trained vocalist with twenty years of performing experience. Their training crosses a variety of genres ranging from classical and opera to contemporary music, such as jazz, rock and pop. They hold a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from MacEwan University. Most recently, Meg has completed their Master of Arts in Music and Culture at Carleton University in Ottawa. Their research at Carleton analyzed the relationship between voice and perceptions of gender by exploring the concept of transition. Meg loves all different kinds of music and is passionate about creating a learning environment where people feel safe to play, explore and achieve their individual goals for sounding.
Their rate is $27 per half hour.

Melissa Mohammadi (Piano, Violin, Voice)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Day(s): Wednesday, Friday, Saturday

Melissa started her music journey at the age of 3 in traditional private music lessons with piano. She soon expressed interest in vocal music and auditioned to become the youngest member of a child choir in her city. Her interest in music is what encouraged her parents to prepare her to audition for a music conservatory at the age of 12. She then went on to learn violin and persuaded her high school diploma along side music at the conservatory.

Among her newfound interest in violin, she continued to explore contemporary popular and jazz vocal music and went on to take singing lessons on contemporary music, during the pandemic. After graduating high school, she decided to join MacEwan’s contemporary popular and jazz music program as a vocalist with hopes to pursuit a Bachelor’s degree.

She is currently finishing up with the last two years of her degree and is majored in performance. Melissa has been teaching privately in her spare time as a student since the pandemic in 2020 and is honored to be a member of the Long & McQuade family. Her rate is $28.00 per half hour

Natalia Ungstad (Piano, Guitar, Voice, Theory, Songwriting)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Day(s): Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Natalia Ungstad is an accomplished musician with a diverse background in music. As a student pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree specializing in composition at MacEwan University, she has honed her skills and developed an extensive knowledge of various genres, including Metal, Alt-Rock, Classical, and Broadway. Natalia's passion for music extends beyond the classroom, as she has performed solo alt-rock sets at Taste of Edmonton 2021 and 2022, toured as far as Australia, and independently released several singles and EPs. She has also worked as a freelance lyricist, guitarist, bassist, singer, and music producer throughout her career thus far. Her impressive accomplishments, including being appointed Student Representative of the Music Program for her high school, receiving an achievement award for Choral Music from the Music Parents Association of LaZerte, and winning first-place and the audience award for the "17 - 18 Voice" category in the Royal Sound Competition, Winter 2022 in Montréal, are a testament to her dedication and diligent work. Natalia's love for music drives her to share her expertise with others. She tailors her lessons to each individual student, whether working on technique or music theory, and she hopes to foster a love and understanding of music in every student she teaches. Her rate is $30 per half-hour.

Rebecca Merkley (Guitar, Voice, Ukulele)

Online Lessons:

Teaching Day(s): Monday, Thursday, Saturday

Rebecca is a multifaceted theatre artist, instructor, composer, musician and writer whose
original written work has earned her 7 Award Nominations. She is the first recipient of the Gerald Osborn Playwriting Award and has been working as a drama, voice, guitar and piano teacher for 10+years. She’s taught at Dominellis School of music, Resonate, Azimuth Theatre, Foote Theatre School (The Citadel), Mile Zero Dance, YONA SISTEMA (The Winspear Centre) and the Writes of Passage playwriting program (Workshop West). She completed her studies at Macewan University in 2012 and has been working in the local arts scene ever since. A favorite performing credit was being the lead vocalist for Drag Queen Thorgy Thor and their show“Thorgy and the Thorchestra" (The Winspear Centre). She is also a gifted producer and composer having produced two original musicals: “Rivercity the Musical”, and“Scoobie Doosical” at the Edmonton International Fringe. She’s also worked as a sound
designer/composer having recently designed for local playwright, Connie Massing in
collaboration with Workshop West in their world premiere of “Dead Letter”. Her rate is $29.00 per half hour