Upper Floor Studio

I highly recommend Sheila Townsend as a vocal coach and teacher. I first met and worked with her on the complex Sondheim musical «Company». She swiftly guided me and the the other actors through the maze of discordant notes and phrases. She has a wonderful ear for harmony blends. She can easily asses where your voice is now and show you in minutes how to achieve glorious sounds by simply using breathe and imagination. Mary Gibboney

If you’re looking for a vocal teacher with incredible training and a passion for making music, you’ve found the right woman! Sheila is always up to a challenge– whether you’re a beginner or trying to make it professionally. She is able to assess where students are struggling and make tweaks that can improve technique and sound immediately. Although she has a wonderfully critical ear to assist your development, she’s kind and stays positive so you will walk away feeling proud and accomplished. She has a vast repertoire of music to learn and to experiment with, and she will work with you to find something that fits just right for your personality, body, and voice. Highly recommend!

Sheila is an incredible teacher. In her lessons, she is always 100% invested in you. She is very enthusiastic about her work, and she has a keen eye and keen ear for specific details. She can immediately pinpoint the difficulties her students are having both in overall technique and in the minute details. She always has a suggestion or exercise to help improve. While being a very critical teacher, Sheila is always positive. She has an innate ability to know where to draw the line so as not to destroy the confidence of her students. With everything she asks you to do, she is great about explaining exactly why you’re doing it and what the intention is.
On top of her lessons, Sheila goes above and beyond to stay connected with her students. She is in constant communication and uses technology to share resources with her students, so they have everything they need to practice outside of lesson time.
Sheila’s investment and enthusiasm are unparallelled, and her abilities as a teacher are right on par with some of the best and more experienced teachers in the Bay Area. I highly recommend working with her.