King Classical
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Level Up Your Child's Audition Game. Unlock Vocal Mastery.
Picture this-
You’re cowering behind a music stand, and the accompaniment-only music on a Bluetooth speaker is about to start. The only thing separating you from your judges is a bed sheet hanging from the ceiling.
This is exactly the scenario that many students find themselves in each year for All-District and All-Region Choir auditions.
As a teen, I didn’t understand that part of being a choir singer meant that I would be presenting myself as a soloist in the situation described above—competing against students who were being privately coached in performing and classical vocal skills for years.
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My name is Raquel King, voice teacher and singer at King Classical.
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In school, I remember the moment I realized that my choir peers (competitors) were going to keep on surpassing me. They were free-spirited, bubbly, taking voice lessons…and then there was me, awkward, nervous, and working hard but without the benefit of private instruction.
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I was already behind in the game—without a chance to present my music to anyone before the audition. And while I was meticulously practicing the music, I was also practicing an unhealthy pattern for singing (and for life)—perfectionism and comparison.
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I needed a guide to develop my voice with the classical method, a method that helps singers stand out at any audition. I also needed guidance for managing the internal critics.
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It wasn’t until my third botched tryout in high school that I realized that the door to the next level was locked to me using the method of “do-it-on-my-own.”
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My hard work and the pressure to achieve were beginning to impede my enjoyment of singing, and I didn’t see that I was losing the childhood abandonment that is so magnetic in successful young singers.
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"Thank you for helping my daughter with her choral music! As a singer and performer, she was late to the choral music game in high school and started from square one. She realized pretty quickly how different it was from Musical Theatre stage singing...& that she was going to need some help getting caught up in the choral world! You helped her tremendously!"
-Erica Kennett
Mrs. King has helped me improve and enhance my vocal techniques immensely. She teaches the best breath support and resonance exercises to improve the quality of the voice beyond what I ever expected. She prepared me with college repertoire so that I was able to successfully continue choir into my college days, and I really enjoyed her personalized lessons during high school. My voice has greatly improved through her work!! --Brooklyne Goad
King Classical NWA
I have been singing and teaching voice in Northwest Arkansas for 20 years and enjoy enhancing cultural accessibility around me, whether through teaching or singing. Contact me if you'd like to enhance your event with classical singing or to elevate your teen's All-District, All-Region, and All-State Choir auditions!
Ways to Work with Me
Country club events. Private parties in homes. Corporate gatherings. Fund-raisers. Together with leading area classical voices, Raquel King programs the finest singing entertainment for your event.
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Whether you are interested in voice training or booking fine singers for an event, book a call now! Scheduling carolers for December now! Also, because many of our events are private and not open to the public, we encourage you to subscribe to King Classical NWA for notifications when we are singing.
Raquel King, soprano
Raquel King, soprano, holds a master's in vocal performance from Wichita State and a BA from John Brown and has been singing and teaching voice or music for the past 20 years. She has been featured in numerous concerts, including several Bach solo cantatas as well as opera lead roles which inclue L'elisir d'amore, Hansel and Gretel, The Magic Flute, and a premier performance of Hageman's Nightingale and the Rose. A choral music enthusiast, Raquel King won a position in Helmuth Rillling's Festival Choir in Germany through the International Bach Academy. In 2021, the international vocal competition Cadenza Contest named Raquel a finalist. She enjoys exploring Arkansas, hunting for a peaceful, "natural state" of wonder at her surroundings, and connecting with others through singing or teaching.
My Story, continued
After many years of singing, I see that many junior high and high school singers have a similarly rocky relationship with auditions. They harshly hold themselves to a high standard, but they don’t have access to the extra training that could unlock that level.
Maybe your child has felt left out of opportunities and wants to be a better singer. Maybe freeing up the voice is the challenge. Perhaps the need is sight-reading skills or preparing college and All-Region audition pieces.
Most of the time, when choir parents try to improve their child’s auditioning, they make the mistake of acquiring last minute voice lessons, or relying on choir directors to teach their child the music.
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Instead, what I’ve discovered is that a mentoring program blending voice, piano, and auditioning skills needs to be in place to achieve better ranking results as well as to keep the student more at peace with the process. I have a unique methodology that allows me to open students up to a wealth of vocal and sight-reading skills, which allows the students to feel more confident and therefore better able to manage the stress of both the audition process as well as the results.
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This personalized program for singers ages 12-18 is a culmination of the most important takeaways from my 20 years of teaching and singing.
Just think—what if you could elevate your child’s audition game and perhaps secure their spot in the next level choir?
Book a call now to see if this goal (or simply becoming a better singer) is within reach!