Marlena Segi, MM is a voice teacher serving the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area community in California, USA. She received her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Musical Performance from Notre Dame de Namur University and her Master’s of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from Holy Names University, where she also studied in the Kodaly method of teaching music. She works with school children of all ages, most recently K-5, and prepares her older voice studio students for college admission auditions, community theater auditions, and professional recitals. Her personal teaching motto is: “As long as you have a song in your heart, together we can find a way to help your unique voice shine.” Marlena is of Samoan and Tongan heritage and outside of music, enjoys advocating for Pacific Islander students, selling art curriculum to K-8 schools all over the US, styling hair, and watching live sports.
Day 2
Time | Title |
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Session 5: 15.05 | Research: The Tongan Voice Student in Your Studio: Understanding Cultural Identity for the Success of Student-Teacher Relationships |
This research project is an international assessment of Tongan students, regarding the educational and cultural barriers present amongst their community. I have researched personal experiences, challenges, and cultural expectations as identified by Tongan voice students and teachers of Tongan students, through one-on-one interviews. I examined how these barriers impact learning and look at opportunities for improvement within the student-teacher and student-family relationship. This research aims to assist the student and teacher within the music classroom or voice studio to thrive in an inclusive environment – one where both parties are cognizant of learning and teaching goals, and celebrate diversity with its approach to one-on-one voice instruction – thus, helping to cultivate the natural talents of the Tongan student to contribute to family and community. I hope it will be a catalyst for further case studies and possible workshops on vocal health and vocal longevity. In addition, it could provide valuable insight for the proper training of voice teachers/choir directors in Tonga and areas where Tongans are pursuing music education such as Australia & New Zealand. It must be noted that these interviews in no way represent the entire population of Tonga but are the personal experiences of the interviewees. |