Robert Becker

About

Robert Becker is a highly experienced voice instructor and performer with over 50 years of professional singing experience and more than 25 years of private teaching. Based in Little Italy, Cleveland, Ohio, Becker brings a unique philosophical and artistic approach to vocal instruction. His musical journey began in the 1960s as a guitarist and band performer across R&B, soul, jazz, and rock and roll genres, with a transformative moment in 1963 when he heard legendary bass vocalist Cesare Siepi perform, inspiring his transition to vocal performance. At eighteen, he auditioned for and was accepted into the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus under the direction of Robert Shaw, and subsequently received a Ford and Rainey Foundation scholarship to the Cleveland Institute of Music. There, he performed leading operatic roles under the coaching and conducting of James Levine, including performances in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Verdi's Falstaff, and Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. In 1970, he moved to New York City to study with renowned soprano Eleanor Steber and trained at HB Studio with Conrad L. Osborne and Hal Holden. From 1981-1988, he lived in Iceland, teaching voice and acting while performing with the National Opera and studying Wagnerian repertoire in Berlin. Returning to Cleveland in 1988, Becker established himself as a faculty member at Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory and the Cleveland Music School Settlement. He was a soloist with the Robert Page Singers and founded and performed in the Opera Gala at La Dolce Vita (1992-2005), a successful 13-year venue for emerging musicians. He has served as a soloist at First Church Christ Scientist in Cleveland for over 1,100 services. In 2011, Becker coached the barbershop quartet Over Easy to the World Gold Medal at the World Barbershop competition in Las Vegas. His philosophy emphasizes that singing is a spiritual and personal journey, helping students discover their natural voice through attention to pitch, color, weight, resonance, and timbre. He rejects manipulative and forced techniques, instead fostering organic vocal development.

Education & Qualifications

Ford and Rainey Foundation Scholar, Cleveland Institute of Music; Studies with Eleanor Steber in New York City; Training with Conrad L. Osborne and Hal Holden at HB Studio; Studies with Wagnerian soprano Hanne-Lore Kuhse in East Berlin; Faculty member, Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory; Voice instructor, Cleveland Music School Settlement.

Teaching Styles