Tribute to the Maestro

The world famous tenor

Peter Gougaloff

 about 

Valentin's vocal skills

"Before meeting Valentin, I had struggled for years trying to navigate different, contradictory singing methodologies from various teachers.  Valentin’s first step is to personally walk each singer through a lesson in physiology in vocal production.  His goal is for the singer to realize the simplicity and freedom in uninhibited sound generation. He brought me “back to the basics” of singing, and- in so doing- allowed me to unleash my natural singing voice, free from the obstructions and over-manufacturing that was straining and tiring my voice.  His exercises, which I still perform daily as a vocal warm-up, really help ingrain his philosophy of the “free, ringing voice”.  

Results came quickly after starting with Valentin.  Within months, he had helped me reshape my repertoire such that I was able to win top prizes at major International competitions, sign with a top agency and secure a multi-year contract with a top European theater.  I attribute this success directly to Valentin’s teaching.  He not only builds the natural voice, but also a holistic performer in each of his students.  He takes personal pride in each of his singers and is fully committed to their success.  His private lessons are a fantastic starting place and for those who need or desire more intensive study.  As I got more comfortable in technique, I personally enjoy the group lesson setting, where you can really observe the theory in practice and learn tremendous amounts from other artists.

Valentin has changed my voice and my life in the most positive manner, and I am forever thankful to him for his patient, steadfast commitment to my development.  I am proud to call Valentin my teacher and friend and am blessed to have found him.  Thanks to him, I am able to share my best, “true” voice with audiences all over the world...."

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Lawson Anderson, USA

It’s taken me a long time to write this testimonial for my teacher Valentin Peytchinov. I was
trying to avoid the negative feelings I have regarding my prior education and experiences. Right
now I am in Vienna, and I figured it’s a suitable place to start since one of my worst professional
experiences happened here a few years ago. I had a very bad audition here once, because I
lacked the proper technique to execute my dramatic repertoire, and wanted to quit singing
forever. I mean what is the point if your technique fails you at the most important moment? I
blamed myself: for being stupid, for being nervous, for not being able to learn despite years of
training and thousands of dollars spent on voice lessons and coachings with top professionals.
Nonetheless, after I licked my wounds, I continued for 2 years after that, only getting more and
more confused. During this time I started a business which had become very successful,
although my vocal training getting more and more confusing. With the success of my business,
and no end in sight for settling in my vocal technique, I decided to quit singing forever. One
night I was having dinner with my good friend, and told her I was quitting and why. She told
me, before you quit, take a lesson with Valentin. I immediately called him, and Valentin invited
me to come to class the following morning in his studio. Val, as we call him, has a very unique
structure for his training. It’s like Olympic training for the voice. Anyway, since I was quitting, I was open to anything.
Within the first 5 minutes of vocalizing with Val, I knew immediately that his technique would
stabilize my voice forever. I immediately signed on for class, working with him for 5 days a
week in order to retrain. Not only is Val an expert on proper vocal technique, he is also an
expert for score and dramatic interpretation. Even after years of conservatory training at top
US schools, I learned more in my 2.5 years working with Val than I ever did in school. I can now
go and have gone to any top coach or conductor in the world, completely prepared with the
knowledge of how to interpret any music score by any composer. My vocal technique is now
completely stabilized, and I am a confident interpreter of the most difficult dramatic soprano
repertoire: Wagner, Strauss, Verdi, Puccini. No sleep the night before, fatigue? It doesn’t
matter, my technique is stable. Sick with a cold? It doesn’t matter, I can still sing a full role. I
don’t ever worry about my technique failing me in any circumstance. I have sung all over the
world including Europe and Asia. In less than a year of studying with Val, I was offered my first
full role in years, singing Cio-cio-san in Madama Butterfly, and it has not stopped there. I also
added Leonore in Il Trovatore to my repertoire. Currently I am preparing the role of Isolde, one
of the biggest challenges of my life. After I am done with this, I know I can do anything.

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Jullianna Millin, USA

"It's my honor to work with Mr. Peytchinov in the vocal masterclass. Thank you for spending hours in explaining the vocal mechanism and techniques. It's a great time to explore my limits!...."       

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Michael Cheng, HONG KONG

"...Yours truly is the only correct way

for singing. I’ve never heard better and physically there is no other way

to produce that great sound. 

No one does it. I hear wobbles. 

Shit vowels and words. 

Bad musicianship. 

Bad acting. My ears are tuned and

I hear and see it all over.  Thank you. 

The world needs your helps.    I

hope to help by singing perfectly and totally mastering the technique..."

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Keith Milkie, USA

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When I first sang for Valentin Peychinov, it was after a break of nearly 25 years. In my youth, a serious student of singing, a voice teacher once told me that my voice had “too much squillo” and that as a consequence, it was “ugly.” During the very first lesson, Valentin was engaged, intensely listening, attentive to every sound I made, guiding me to find the path of least resistance to my own sound. “Is it ugly?” I asked at the end of the lesson. “What do you mean, ‘ugly’?” He looked surprised. “That is not ugly. That is opera!”

Since that transformative and welcoming moment two years ago, I have been able to live my dream of singing. I have sung recitals, concerts in New York, Sofia, on the Black Sea, and have engagements to sing in the future. Valentin’s teaching is informed by a long history, having worked with the greatest coaches and singers of his time who themselves were products of a long and revered operatic tradition. This tradition is transmitted by Valentin – not only in terms of the voice -- but also in terms of musicality, style, diction and dramatic interpretation. Most importantly, Valentin puts his heart and soul in his teaching and in his investment in his students.  This quality, his total and absolute commitment to the work of singing and its transmission is most heartening in our contemporary moment. Valentin’s teaching is inspired by the dignity of the call of the voice, not only of the singer to his audience, but of the voice to the singer himself. The ability to hear and nurture this call, especially nowadays, is the greatest of gifts. 

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Manya Steinkoler, USA

"Until I met Valentin, I was a conservatory graduate without a discernable fach or range. Working with Valentin, I saw immediate results in understanding the building blocks of healthy phonation that not only doubled my range but taught me how to navigate the dreaded passagio. Since becoming a part of his Studio, I’ve been able to sustain a budding professional career in New York City, The Pacific Northwest in Oregon and most recently Sofia Bulgaria. No role has been beyond my ability thanks to the philosophy of “Pipe, projection and free ringing voice.” Valentin is a veteran performer himself with a career that spans decades. Not only have I learned how to sing with my natural voice under any circumstance, but his vast knowledge in the field has benefitted my performance skills greatly. He is a dedicated master voice teacher who takes special interest in each of his students and doesn’t quit until we get the job done!"

Anna Viemeister, USA

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"Valentin saved my singer life. I'd had no idea what was my real voice type, full lyric, without him. I had been trained as coloratura and it was literally destroying my voice.

I didn't know why but Valentin explained why. Now I'm singing with full of my voice without hurting it. I feel much comfortable with my new repertoire. I'm so thankful to work with Valentin. He is my savior.

Valentin is also a hard-working teacher. He works with you no matter how much time it will take and he never gives you up. He is also very generous and listens to what you say. You are going to learn what you didn't know and what school never teaches you about singing plus reading music correctly!"

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Hajeong Lee, KOREA

"...To say that Valentin Peytchinov is a merely voice teacher would be an oversimplification.  I came to him a pianist who wanted to learn to sing and left every lesson a better musician more inspired to apply everything I learned to my playing. His knowledge of the vocal mechanism opened my ears to the kind of sound world needed to perform the works of the great masters and my playing could only improve from there on. He has the unique talent for taking all of the information from the great singers, coaches, and conductors that taught him and summarize it into tools that a musician could take and use for ever. I recommend him for anyone regardless of what instrument they play if they are serious about learning music..."

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Juan Jose Lazaro, PERU

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“I never felt that I had properly picked up the singing techniques until I took the first group lesson with Val in summer 2018. 

Val is a high calibre opera singer and top notch vocal coach with a genuine interest in the success of each of his students in singing. In the first lesson, he said “singing is so embarrassing easy if you know how”. This is proven to be true as the 3 weeks intensive class has helped me to discover my own true singing voice. His opening lecture allows me to learn and review the basic but important principle of how our vocal body parts work for the production of the natural free ringing tone. Following the lecture, Val taught the vocal exercises which I now practice daily and it really helps to strengthen my techniques and increase the power of my singing volume. 

Val also helped me to identify the right repertoire and my singing has since a hugh leap forward.  Though I am an amateur,  I am now able to  handle challenging arias with increased confidence and have earned great compliments. I cannot be more thankful to Val. He is simply a dedicated singing teacher, mentor and a wonderful friend!"

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Eve Yeung, HONG KONG 

"....thank you for what a blessing my time with you has been. I am blessed that the gifts that you have been given have been a direct blessing to me. I am very confident that I have been placed here in this circle of vocal perfection on purpose. I am very blessed to have finally found my home and family in this opera world and am very excited and blessed to be singing this well. 
I am happy to be brainwashed with this technique that you thought me and also a sort of responsibility to sing perfect so that we can show the world how to sing correctly! ...."

Samuel Varhan, USA

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“There are two promises that Valentin makes when he begins working with anyone; 1) that he cannot give you a voice you don’t have, that you were born with your talent, and 2) that he CAN teach you to use what you’ve been given.

Having established this fact, I can honestly say that Valentin is my last voice teacher. I learned much from teachers prior to working with Val, but no teacher I had ever worked with had a complete mastery of voice from both performing and teaching. You see, the requirements to be a master teacher are unique for the voice. 1) the teacher must have personal mastery over their voice as the voice cannot be seen and manipulated externally. 2) there must be correct understanding of the mechanics of the voice, as well as mastery of musicality. And lastly, 3) the teacher must be able to assess how the student feels by how they sound in order to correct their technical problems. 

In my experience, there are many teachers with only one of these requirements, some with two, and it is extremely rare to have all three. I commonly joke that I earned my Masters Degree in Music and then promptly moved to New York to learn how to sing, though it is also true. 

I am so grateful to have been blessed and given the gift of Valentin’s instruction. The depth of his experience, the passionate dedication he has to his students, and his desire to leave the world with stunning musical singers have not only made me a believer of his instruction, but in Valentin himself. Stop spinning your wheels and begin the first lesson of the last teacher you’ll ever need!”

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"....You said, "I don't know if you guys understand how much I want you to succeed."  

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To this we wanted you to know how blessed we feel to be discovering our voices with you and how devoted we are to the journey.  We really believe in your cause to bring correct singing back to this art form and want ever so much to succeed because of this weapon that is "Correct Singing" that you are giving us! 

It has never before been such a joy to sing and so rewarding to achieve  what I didn't even fathom I could sing......"

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Jeremy Griffin, USA

It is an absolutely wonderful and unbelievably great learning experience offered by the maestro. He is a very experienced and capable vocal teacher and coach, not just a great opera singer in US. We all experienced a very new learning method by addressing the misconceptions and reconsolidating our understanding of the vocal mechanism which is very fundamental. We tried very easy but effective ways to get into our most beautiful sounds and I start pulling out my bigger and projected voice having more resonance. What's more, It was very crazy for me to sing some very low notes and a C6 "for a while" (an octave higher than the Tenor High C!!!) with a comfortable way and not falsetto. What a unbelievable moment!

I hope I can remember clearly that feeling when I sang and what I tried to release that sound from my restricted body. It is really fantastic!

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Edmond Chu

"...I have worked with Valentin for several years and can say that he has helped me stabilize my voice in the lower register and gain vocal power overall. His arsenal of vocal exercises is simple but effective at lining-up the voice and extending it range wise. Valentin also has great notes when it comes to coaching repertoire, especially nineteenth century opera.

His method applies to any genre of singing. I have benefited from Valentin’s instruction as a singer and a teacher. I teach a lot of children and teens, and have successfully adapted some of his vocal exercises for my young students. Beyond being a great mentor and coach, I would add that Val is a very caring and supportive person, who always makes a point of attending the performances of his singers."

Emma Lavandier, USA

"....Прекрасният ВАЛ, който донесе толкова много живот в читалището в Княжево, направи го арена на международни майсторски класове и превърна България в дом на много млади певци от всички краища на света. Стана ми приятел! Създаде ми приятели, които вече са сякаш разклонения към семейството ни.

Допринесе много за здравето и издръжливостта на гласа ми, за да спра да гледам назад в живота си и да "ближа рани" колко много неща с пеенето при мен не са се 'случили' по подходящия начин. 

Не просто колосален певец, а великолепен педагог – ИСТИНСКИЯТ такъв в моята подредба на света...

Убедена съм, че ще се видим още тази година!

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Angelina Sekulova, Bulgaria

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Благодаря специално на своя вокален гуру и най-космическия бас на планетата Valentin Peytchinov, без чиято преподавателска намеса никога нямаше да мога да си мечтая за живот, който вече мога да превърна във... вокален маратон!

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Angelina Sekulova, Bulgaria

You have helped me along the way and I wanted to express my gratitude to you.  I'm glad to have met you.  Know that you have given me the tools I needed to be where I am now.  Thank you for that

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Arthur Espiritu

"I met Valentin in a time when I knew I needed a new direction in my technique and he helped me to reconcile with my voice, something I had been trying to achieve for a long time.

Valentin is not only a knowledgeable teacher, he is also a kind and patient human being that guides you through the basics, regardless of where you are at your process and nourishes your artistry through his wisdom. After a few lessons under his tutelage, I started noticing how my voice had started to sit comfortably throughout my whole register and suddenly I was capable of maintaining my stamina better than I had in years.

Beyond the benefits he has given me vocally, I am most grateful for his kindness as I was still in the process of healing from experiences from the past and thanks to his teachings, I have regained faith in myself as an artist."

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Sasha Gutiérrez, COLOMBIA

" ...These 3 weeks are very rewarding with Valentin Peytchinov, a patience, loving, knowledgeable 

guidance who seek his way to utilize everyone unique voice, no matter beginners, talented 

youngsters, amateur or who already having singing as a career, he has his way to keep us grow...."

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Joanne Shao, HONG KONG

"It is truly a blessing to find such a marvelous teacher who is not only an expert on lower male voices, but who also empathizes with my process and development as a bass himself. He demands nothing short of greatness, which pushes and inspires me to grow as an artist. If something is not working, he knows exactly what it is and how to fix it. It is a joyous experience for me to ingrain in myself the freedom of Bel Canto technique through Mr.Peytchinov. I am extremely grateful for Mr.Peytchinov’s positivity and guidance." 

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Robert Ellsworth Feng 

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" It is with pleasure that I recommend the teaching of Valentin Peytchinov.

  Valentin has been a teacher at Pier Studios and Biz Kids NY for the past ten years.

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Over his years of training at Julliard and his experience as a professional Opera Singer he has developed his own branded 

technique. Vocal Perfection is not just a unique technique it is also easy and very accessible. Over the years I have witnessed

many students have "break though's"  that ultimately led to not only better projection but very importantly, 

healthier vocal technique.

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Although I have retired and closed my school, I still continue to recommend Valentin to my private students."

Peggy Lewis, USA

"....Last night I sang a concert in the middle east, and the experience was just magical.  After only studying with you for only two weeks, the pain I was sometimes experiencing during singing is gone, and the joy and pleasure of singing has returned to me.

I was recalling your teachings to me while singing, and being aware of using my body correctly to produce the sounds.  As I sang, I felt like my body had become a musical instrument. 

Of course, the response from the audience was fantastic.  The organizer of the event was in bliss.  I received invitations to perform in other venues.

Thank you for broadening my musical horizons and sweetening the experience of singing.  Thanks from both me and my audiences!..."

Ekalavya Das, INDIA