Janet Pranschke
Teaches voice. B.M., Ithaca College. Past president, New York Singing Teachers Association.
Campus Hall, first floor B.M. Ithaca CollegeJanet Pranschke has been teaching people to sing for over 25 years. Her students range in age from 7 to 75 years of age. They include professionals singing on Broadway and at Lincoln Center, amateurs singing in local choral groups, theater workshops, pageants and those who sing just for fun.
A former President of The New York Singing Teachers Association and Founding Director of NYSTA’s Professional Development Program, Janet has spent the last 10 years studying the science of the singing voice to better understand how the mechanism works in order to best serve her students. NYSTA’s Distinguished Voice Professional Certificate was awarded her for completing the 5 course PDP curriculum of anatomy/physiology, acoustics, vocal health, repertoire and pedagogy. She also completed a 6 week internship with renowned otolaryngologist, Dr. Peak Woo at Mt. Sinai Hospital and team-teaches with speech therapists to rehabilitate injured voices. At the conclusion of her 10 years as Director of the PDP, Janet was honored by having a scholarship named for her. The Janet Pranschke Professional Development Scholarship grants full tuition to NYSTA’s 5 course Core Curriculum to be presented to one Apprentice Member each academic year.
Janet, a lyric soprano, made her operatic debut with the Santa Fe Opera as a member of that company’s prestigious apprentice program and has since sung over 35 leading roles with opera companies throughout the United States, including the Chautauqua Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Glimmerglass Opera Theatre and most notably, five consecutive seasons with the Asolo Opera (now Sarasota Opera Association). Her roles include Mimi, Marguerite, Adina, Melisande and Butterfly.
As winner of the Artist Management International Music Competition, she was presented in her Weill Recital Hall concert debut and as the winner of the Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition, she made her Carnegie Hall debut in concert with Metropolitan Opera bass, Jerome Hines. She won many other awards and grants, including the Sullivan Foundation and the Liederkrantz Foundation and gained national recognition as a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions finalist and prize winner in the Munich International Vocal Competition.
Janet has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, the New York Cultural Center, the Lincoln Center Library, the National Arts Club and on the Hear America First Concert Series and the Columbia Community Concerts Series. She has premiered works by Paul Reif and Gerald Ginsburg, and has been a guest on Robert Sherman’s The Listening Room(WQXR) numerous times.
Janet earned a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College Conservatory of Music and had post graduate study at The Juilliard School, The Mannes College, Stony Brook University, The French Institute and The New School. She is on the voice faculty of Wagner College and maintains a private teaching studio on Staten Island.