Voice

Marie Engle is a doctoral student at Northwestern University pursuing opera, improv comedy and experimental combinations of the two. She has her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, her master’s from the Juilliard School. Marie also studied French for a year at the Sorbonne in Paris and comedy for two years at the Second City Training Center. She additionally lived in Vienna for two years, and speaks fluent German and French, and intermediate Italian. She spent two summers singing opera at the Chautauqua Institution and two summers performing chamber music at the Marlboro Music Festival and School.

Marie is very interested in creative projects and as part of her doctoral research, she uses comedy and improvisation to elaborate the classical repertoire. Marie has performed several operas in her career, most recently singing the title character in Carmen at Northwestern University. She has also performed Poulenc’s one woman opera La voix humaine with Northwestern’s Chamber Orchestra, Mozart’s Dorabella (OperaDelaware), Donna Elvira (Wichita Grand Opera) and Ramiro in La finta giardiniera (Juilliard Opera), as well as Bellini’s Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Chautauqua Institution.

Marie has studied and performed a vast amount of classical song literature in recitals throughout the United States and Europe. She studied song repertoire under great masters at the Schubert Institute in Vienna in 2016 and L'académie de Royaumont/d’Orsay in Paris in 2022.

Teaching Philosophy

Singing requires more kinds of study than other instruments, but luckily it also involves an instrument you already know quite well: your voice! In addition to songs and warm up exercises, you will be introduced to methods for pronouncing, understanding and expressing in non-English languages, as well as ear training exercises that build musical literacy and a strong musical ear. Acting is also an important part of singing training, so get ready to have an individual point of view!

I believe in play as a core value in education of any kind, but especially in singing and music. Through play, one is able to naturally release muscles and breath to create a healthy and individual voice. This voice is essential to the individual expressing and understanding your inner world, and thus, whether one sings professionally or not, you become a well-rounded person who knows how to seek joy and to problem-solve through creative avenues.