Greta is a contralto/mezzo-soprano and music educator currently based in Manhattan. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, she expressed interest in and began studying music at a young age, first focusing on the piano before turning to the violin and voice in her teenage years. Her first voice teacher was vocal pedagogue Diana Borgia-Petro. Greta received a merit-based scholarship to study at The Hartt School of The University of Hartford, where she obtained her BM in Vocal Performance in 2013, graduating summa cum laude. While at Hartt, Greta studied with Marjorie Melnick and Eric Trudel and appeared as Leila in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe as well as The Strawberry Woman in George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess with Hartt Opera Theater.
Greta has performed a variety of roles with opera companies in The Northeast and the Midwest, including Arnalta in Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Haymarket Opera Company and Mercy Lewis in Robert Ward’s The Crucible with Hartford Opera Theater, among others. An active recitalist, she enjoys collaborating with musicians based in New York and New England on a wide variety of repertoire, particularly early and contemporary music. Greta is currently a member of CONCORA, one of New England’s premier professional choirs. In addition to teaching at Rubato Music School, Greta also teaches at the New City School of Music in New City, New York.
What will make a student learn best?
I feel that a student learns best when the student and teacher have developed a shared vocabulary so that the teacher may communicate an idea to a student as specifically as possible and, conversely, the student may then ask questions about the idea with the expectation that the teacher can answer those questions clearly. Because of this, I feel that it is very important for a teacher to take the time to experiment with different ways to explain ideas to a student early on in the relationship.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
Though it is wonderful to see a student grasp a concept over time, there is nothing more exciting for me than seeing a student have an “Aha!” moment, when an idea that we’ve been discussing suddenly clicks for him or her. I find the excitement that comes with the sudden but firm grasp of a concept, as well as the application of that concept with nearly instantaneous results, often leads to a student wanting to further explore and grow in knowledge of his or her instrument, thus continuing the journey of exploring his or herself through music.