About Cynthia

Cynthia Makris brings 30 years of experience singing major operatic roles in the leading opera houses of the world to her voice coaching. Her vast repertoire ranges from bel canto to dramatic, from Bellini, Donizetti, and Mozart to Verdi, Richard Strauss, and Wagner. Her career brought her to the stages of the world, including La Scala, Covent Garden, and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. She has lived and worked in nearly every country in Europe, as well as Japan, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Argentina. Makris has been praised not only for the beauty of her voice but also for the integrity, honesty, and depth of her portrayals of figures as diverse as Puccini’s fragile title heroine, Madama Butterfly, to Verdi’s Lady Macbeth or Strauss’ Salome, which she has performed over three hundred times on five continents.

Cynthia is multilingual and has sung in many languages. This, along with her knowledge of musical styles, makes her an ideal coach for the serious classical student. She also specializes in preparing young people for auditions and building the foundation for their vocal technique. Her students have been accepted into the prestigious Bak Middle School for the Arts and the Dreyfoos High School for the Arts, as well as receiving college scholarships to pursue degrees in vocal music.

Cynthia has been coaching singers since 2007.  She has a B.A. in Music Performance and is a certified life coach and master practitioner of NLP.  She is a very demanding teacher and expects her students to have a high demand of themselves. Understanding that the voice is a very intimate part of a person’s makeup, she is also very compassionate and positive and always on the side of the student, empowering at all times.
Ms. Makris teaches a natural and healthy approach to developing the voice, using the body’s own resonance chambers. It is especially important for children, whose voices are still developing, to learn a natural style of singing which will support the still maturing voice and not put unnecessary strain on the vocal chords. Classical Italian techniques uncover the natural beauty of each voice. The goal is an instrument which is integrated in all registers, which is capable of a wide variety of expression and has both power and beauty throughout.