Dr. Raymond Smolover

Raymond Smolover, director of voice seminars at the National Guitar Workshop and cantor emeritus at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, NY, has been actively engaged in voice research and education for five decades. He is the author of The Vocal Essence, Vocal Behavior Analysis and Modification (published in part in the International Journal of Research in Singing) and Developing Your Singing Voice. As a leading teacher of voice in New York City, he has taught a broad spectrum of opera, theater and recording artists, including Richard Kiley and Tony Randall, and has worked extensively with both young and mature voices. From 1968 to 1992 he served as executive director of the American Conference of Cantors.

With degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University and Columbia University Teachers College, Dr. Smolover is a classically trained singer whose professional background includes leading tenor roles with the New York Opera Company, the New England Opera Theater and the Tanglewood Music Festival. He also has performed numerous concerts at Carnegie Hall and on television.

As a composer, Dr. Smolover is best known for Where the Rainbow Ends, which premiered at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and Proclaim Liberty, which was presented at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Atlanta with Mayor Andrew Young as narrator. He also is founder-director of the New York Music Drama Theater, which has commissioned and performed six music dramas.