Tribute to the Maestro for good health

The world famous tenor
Peter Gougaloff
 about 
Valentin's vocal skills

​

Working with JON BATISTE

"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...."

​

Lawson Anderson, USA

" I was introduced to Valentin when I was taking part in a musical theater conservatory - I was about 10 years old. Today I am a professional vocal artist, and much of the credit goes to Valentin for working with me through the years. Valentin has been a devoted friend, and vocal coach, many times waking up in the middle of the night to train me when we were in different time zones. He is always there for me no matter where I am working, giving me the confidence to know that my voice will sound its absolute best. Val is the only vocal coach I trust to keep my voice in perfect shape, and to prepare me for performances.

If you want the the best from your voice, and want to work with a consummate professional who is in a league of his own, you must work with Val!! "

​

 FRAWLEY (Lauren), USA

"Fortunately, I met Valentin Peytchinov at a turning point in my career. Although I had played many roles before, I understood that I still lacked enough vocal technique to support me in finishing a big role. Even I couldn't finish some Verdi arias at that time. In Marilyn Horne's master class, she told me: "You can ONLY play CHARACTER roles..." I don't mean it is demeaning for more suitable to play character roles because it's a different career direction. But, as a singer, who worked so hard for those serious roles for more than 20 years, these words from a famous opera singer certainly hurt me too much.

When I was doing Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel in New York, a conductor, Francisco Miranda, brought me to meet Valentin and told me he could solve all my problems with vocal technique. I clearly remember that Valentin showed me his unique, simple, but extremely helpful vocal technique in my first lesson. It was amazing. At the end of the lesson, I could effortlessly sing an aria from Verdi’s Macbeth, like singing an Italian folk song. "Singing is not difficult. Do not push your voice like HELL. " He said.

Now, I add big arias to my repertoire more and more, including some Wagner's works. I also have played more significant roles, such as Rigoletto from Verdi's Rigoletto and Scarpia from Puccini's Tosca, even Figaro from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, an extremely challenging role for a dramatic baritone. Meanwhile, my vocal range is wider. My father, a dramatic tenor, has started asking me if I want to change my fach to become a dramatic tenor. I am very grateful to him for saving my voice and career. Besides, not only me, he helped my wife build her vocal technique, but it is another story.

Thank you so much, Val. We love you so much."

Jin Yu, CHINA

"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..."

​

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!...."       

​​

Michael Cheng, HONG KONG

"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."

​

Manya Steinkoler, 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!"

​

Edmond Chu

"....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!..."

Angelina Sekulova, Bulgaria

"...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!"

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..."

Arthur Espiritu

"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." 

​

Robert Ellsworth Feng, USA

​

​

" I have lived in New York City for over 35 years. I am a composer, previously a performer. In all the time here, I have met many people in the music industry, but, none as knowledgeable, capable, precise or kind as Valentin Peytchinov, vocal coach supreme. He has a way of getting the very best out of his students. He listens, and immediately introduces you to the problem. He then helps them  achieve  their goals to their best possible potential. I advise you to be careful if you choose him as your coach, you will become better than you imagined."

Christine Gardner, 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