Saul Kotzubei

Saul is a brilliant voice coach. I’ve had the honor to work with him for a few months and attend one of his public speaking workshops. Both have been the most valuable work I’ve done to improve my speaking. Although Saul may be more expensive than other teachers, his advice and teaching is more insightful, so you actually save time and money. Give him my highest recommendation and would recommend him to anyone. Saul is a teacher cut from the finest cloth.

I recently took Saul’s Fitzmaurice Voice workshop in LA. It was truly an incredible experience. It not only gave me more access to my voice, it helped propel my acting to a new level. What he teaches can easily be incorporated to an artist’s toolbox to complement other techniques and methods. I plan on not only using what I learned at the workshop on a regular basis, I will continue to further pursue studies of the Fitzmaurice technique. Thanks for a wonderful artistic and physiological exploration of voice and emotional depth! HIGHLY Recommend.

LIFECHANGING!!! I’ve never had a class last 16 hours and still wanted to stay because of how enlightening it was… SAUL is a GEM!!! Any actor with the desire to take their craft to the next level should definitely take his 3 day Workshop. He truly cares to help his students work through their difficulties and is very intuitive about the specific needs of each performer. His generosity and compassion are truly rare and I am forever changed. I will surely continue to work with him. Don’t hesitate… It truly is worth the hype.

I can’t say enough good things about Saul and his way of teaching, I feel beyond blessed that I was able to work with him!
I took the 3-​day workshop for performers and I cannot recommend it enough for actors and singers, AND those who may just want to connect with themselves and their voices and bodies. It’s an incredibly freeing experience to find yourself moaning, groaning, panting and crying while you’re twisted in some shape you normally only reserve for sex or yoga. ;) Seriously though, to be able to get to that space among strangers — and receive the incredible emotional, mental and physical benefits of it — is truly a wonder, and so very much because of Saul and the environment he is able to create for everyone.
Saul does an amazing job to create a calm, welcome, relaxed and utterly free space. He respects your space, encourages everyone else to do the same and encourages you to respect your OWN space, your own process and, most importantly, your inner voice. It was also juts FUN! He can also go really deep with you while working, and you feel he is right there with you, supporting you and helping you use/​deal with whatever it is that comes up. It’s an excellent balance that helped me feel very safe and well-​regarded. He’s just a warm person who is also highly gifted at what he does. The two go hand in hand.
The work itself is amazing — freeing, therapeutic (potentially on a deep, primal level that you cannot imagine) and just plain interesting and rewarding. I found myself having some insane breakthroughs and profound emotion releases in connection to my voice (literally and figuratively) which has taught me so much about how I have approached (and how I now want to approach) singing. You cannot get that really anywhere. Unless you’re rolling your muscles around on a tennis ball for 2 hours and having some kind of Kundalini-​energy exorcism. Trust me, this is a lot more fun and probably safer, haha.
If you struggle with breathing, personal boundaries/​being heard, or if you’re an actor or want to become a better singer… even those seeking healing and therapy from trauma or emotional pains, GO TO SAUL! :) Go with an open heart and an open mind. You will learn so much and be so thankful you met him.

Saul is a teacher who lives, breathes, and patiently encourages presence. Never have I met someone as attentive, compassionate, intuitive, and insightful as Saul Kotzubei, and that he so generously and thoughtfully shares his life experience with his students has served as a model and an inspiration in my own life and teaching.
Saul works with an incredible range of clients — performers, professionals, novices, seasoned veterans, students, teachers — and he consistently supports and encourages all of his clients through attentive listening, compassionate engagement, and highly specific and aware feedback. He is the Co-​Director of Fitzmaurice Voicework and the Fitzmaurice Institute, as well as being one of the original Master Teachers of the work — and his immense talents and intelligences extend well beyond his utter efficacy in awakening the power of the breath and voice.
As a performer, I have found a greater connection to my sense of truth and presence through Saul’s nuanced questions and integration of imagination and physicality. As a teacher, I have found greater compassion and acceptance in my approach to my work through Saul’s modeling, both in his desire to teach effectively and to challenge himself to grow through consistent mindfulness. And as an artist, I have found greater clarity of purpose and the voice with which to express that purpose through Saul’s unwavering commitment to integrity and honest self-​exploration.
There is no teacher — of Fitzmaurice Voicework, of breath and body work, of imagination and self-​expression — who can match Saul Kotzubei’s unique commitment to helping his students challenge themselves and grow. Time spent with Saul is always time incredibly well spent, usually with life-​changing implications. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

I have studied voice for a long time, and it is through Fitzmaurice work (the work Saul teaches) that I have had the most significant breakthroughs. Fitzmaurice work will bring you face to face with many of the fears that come with public speaking and performance, especially the fears of looking silly in front of others or being judged. Saul creates a truly safe, non-​judgmental space that allows you to explore your voice freely. He is an incredibly kind, patient teacher. His work has allowed me to tap into my real strength and power and to find the freedom to express that inner strength physically and vocally. Because of working with Saul, I speak with greater self understanding and confidence.

Saul is a certified MASTER TEACHER in Fitzmaurice voicework, one of only 11 in the world. I am an acting teacher in Los Angeles and have referred my students to Saul for years (no kick-​backs) and never heard of anyone being disappointed. Countless actors I have sent to him over the years have found greater vocal freedom and far more access and expression in their emotional life.
I believe every serious actor should have at least two years of voice training. I am a great believer in Fitzmaurice voice work and Saul truly makes that work his own.

I love the work that goes on in Saul’s classes. He is such an understanding and caring teacher. I’ve been studying with Saul for a little over a year now. It’s given me new avenues into my work as an actor and made me so much more aware of my experience, moment to moment. I recommend working with Saul to everyone. It has not only helped me to evolve me as an actor, but also as a human. This work blends into my life everyday, and Im so thankful for it.

I’ve been studying with Saul for several years now — he is not your traditional voice teacher. We do warmups, but more in the way one would tune a musical instrument.
I once heard another actor from class call it his actor yoga voice class. Saul’s teaching of the Fitzmaurice technique is the most well rounded vocal work that I have ever done. Not only is my voice stronger and freer, but I think my acting is as well.
I recommend Saul to every professional actor I meet (and even people who just need to get up and speak to others). Saul is one of a kind. I will be studying with him as long as he is teaching.

I had been studying as actor for about four years and it wasn’t until I took Saul’s voice classes that everything began to click and the dark cloud of my own personal blocks began to clear. Through Saul’s listening, I am finally finding my own voice as a performer. He studies each of his students at the individual level, recognizing that each must find their own distinct path to freedom of voice. He’s a humble, caring, down-​to-​earth teacher who is constantly learning and questioning even his own methods. Check out his website and you’ll not only see that he’s well connected, but that he’s at the top of his game. He is a teacher of teachers. He really is the kind of teacher who, once you’ve taken from him, you want all of your friends to take from him. Thanks Saul Kotzubei! ;)

I have been working with Saul for a few years now and I’m not sure if i can put into words how helpful he has been. I started with a weekend intensive which knocked me out (physically and emotionally). I have to admit that I was a bit resistant since it’s hard to tell how this method is going to help at all– I thought it was coming at the voice work sideways compared to what I had done in college. But however I got there, I am amazed at how much more open vocally and emotionally available I am when I work. The physical tensions that had been holding me back from fully expressing emotion are no longer an issue– and when they do come up, I know what to do. My voice now allows me to express with power and vulnerability like never before. My acting has changed forever for the better thanks to my continuing work with Saul.

I first met Saul in 2005 for a 5 day workshop. I have been taking voice with Saul from privates to classes on and off since 2005 and I am constantly learning new things to help me open up to myself and others in my work as a performer as well as my personal life. I study with Saul because he is always evolving himself as a teacher and constantly challenging himself as well as his students.
Saul encourages you to challenge him and to discuss your own experience so that he can help you make the work yours. He is encouraging, nurturing, and incredibly sensitive to what a performer needs.
I have studied with multiple voice teacher since 2002 and I always recommend Saul for LA actors who are serious about their work.

Saul is a great teacher with a deep soul and a tremendous amount of compassion for his students. After a lifetime of regularly losing my voice to laryngitis, I haven’t lost it once since we began working. I’ve learned to be more present in the chaos and be able to speak effectively. Saul and Beth, a teacher trained by Saul, have encouraged me to keep going when my confidence wavered while giving me the freedom not to pretend to always have my act together surrounding my practice. I recommend working with them — they will bring the Human out of you and help you shine.

After reading Regna’s review of Saul I felt I had to write my own. I worked with Saul several years ago. I took his workshop and also some privates. I found the work amazing and Saul to be a meticulous and caring teacher. I’m an acting coach myself and am very picky about whom I refer my students to. I send them to Saul without compunction (and no, I don’t get «kick-​backs» of any kind). I’m sorry that Regina had a bad experience, but I have to say, Saul clearly states on his class policies that the deposit is non-​refundable. He is a professional and deserves to be paid for his time and effort.

After researching various voice coaches, I decided to give a weekend workshop as a gift to my husband, who is an actor. I contacted Saul by email, and asked about pricing etc, and technique. Although it was a little pricey, he appeared to be someone who really wanted to help performers overcome hurdles in their chosen profession. Someone who was not about just the almighty dollar. Boy was I wrong! So, we sent in the $ 100 deposit, as required. Then, as luck would have it, my husband had an audition 2 days before his weekend intensive was scheduled… and he got his first booking in over 2 years and it shot that weekend! He called Saul K and told him the great news, and asked if he could take the next intensive. Saul said he would think about it; but we never heard back from him. Then we emailed him again, and Saul said the deposit was nonrefundable. We asked Saul if he would consider applying the deposit to another class or a private, and he said NO, he was keeping it. Now he doesn’t return emails or calls. Obviously its about the money, and not helping actors improve their craft. If you need a good and caring coach… look elsewhere!