Jeanai La Vita, Voice

Jeanai La Vita is a dedicated and highly effective voice instructor and performer who has appeared with leading companies such as New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera and the Ravinia Festival.

A member of Actors’ Equity Association, AGMA, NATS and ACDA, Jeanai has performed in Broadway musicals with Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Michael Cerveris and has worked with Stephen Sondheim, earning his direct praise in her performance of his musical, Anyone Can Whistle.

Jeanai La Vita has over 20 years of teaching and directing experience. Jeanai is a true mentor and takes great interest in guiding and supporting her students, while building their strengths and abilities to their fullest potential. Jeanai's teaching style is positive, energetic and engaging, while instilling technique that is specific and focused on precision and fluidity. She is an expert at teaching solid vocal technique capable of serving diverse musical styles. Jeanai prides herself on working with students of all ages and voice types and helping them rise to their highest potential. She is very goal driven in her approach to the progress of students, while ensuring solid preparation and building confidence every step of the way. Jeanai will encourage and help you find appropriate performance and audition opportunities throughout your course of study. In addition to being very passionate about educating people to become excellent singers and colleagues, she is also committed to helping students become competent musicians and incorporates music reading and sight-singing education into everyone's lessons. Jeanai's students have thriving careers and consistently win top places in major national and international competitions in Classical, Musical Theatre and Contemporary Commercial Music divisions, such as YoungArts, NATS and the CS Competition. They achieve the highest scores at NYSSMA and earn places in the most competitive voice ensembles in the US and abroad. Jeanai's students are frequently featured in Broadway, national and international tours, in addition to professional and community productions throughout the US and abroad. Her students have been admitted to and received large scholarships to most competitive programs, universities, music schools and top music conservatories internationally.

Jeanai is on private voice faculty at Manhattan School of Music in the Precollege division, where she also directs the Youth Chorus. She also serves on the faculty of the MSM Summer program as Voice Faculty, Musical Theatre Director and professor of Audition Techniques, Diction, History of Musical Theatre, History of Opera, Conducting for Singers and Ear Training. Jeanai was on faculty at Music Conservatory of Westchester from 2012-2017, where she was a member of the voice faculty, theory faculty, directed the Musical Theatre Program and Youth Chorus during the school year and during the summer Music and Arts Program since 2012. Jeanai La Vita represented the Voice Department on MCW’s Faculty Council from 2013-2015. Jeanai has also been a member of the voice faculty at Mercy College and directed youth programs in Florida at American Stage and the Children’s Home of Tampa Bay.

Jeanai La Vita currently maintains a thriving private voice studio in the New York tri-state area and is an avid master clinician, presenter, collaborator and scholar. A winner and finalist in major international competitions and recipient of numerous grants as a performer, Jeanai is also the recipient of nationally recognized awards for her teaching, including the NATS 2022 Joan Frey Boytim Award for Independent Teachers. In 2021 she won a New York City Artist Corps Grant and a Bronx Council on the Arts Engagement Grant in 2022 for her original feminist advocacy work, The Séance. Jeanai La Vita received her Master’s degree in Classical Vocal Performance from Manhattan School of Music and is currently pursuing her Doctorate at Stony Brook University. She is a professionally trained dancer, actor and athlete. Jeanai's vast expertise and mastery of foreign languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish and Mandarin distinguish her as a first class performer and highly sought after instructor. www.Jeanai.com