We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tania Solomon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tania below.

Tania, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

It sounds a little grandiose, but my mission is to get the whole world singing. I’ve been an opera singer for 35 years and a Voice Teacher for 30 years. I’ve taught everyone from absolute beginners to professionals. I’ve taught all styles of music and all ages. This huge breadth of experience has shown me what a tremendous gift it is to sing. It has literally changed people’s lives in incredibly varied and unexpected ways. I’ve seen health problems disappear, mental health improve and literally every circumstance in a person’s life be affected in positive ways. I firmly believe this world would be a better place if everyone sang. It is so positive and life-affirming. Singing relieves stress and just makes you feel amazing. Plus, it’s fun!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have been an opera singer for my entire adult life and I always taught singing alongside my other professional pursuits. I really started focusing on my teaching studio about 10 years ago. Singing opera is an extremely technical pursuit. I always say opera is fully optimized. It is an acoustic form so we max out on everything: volume, stamina, resonance, vibrato, and of course drama! Every other style of singing can be adapted from the bel canto technique. I took my extensive experience as an opera singer and developed adaptations for all genres. I have taught just about every style of singing there is. My pop, rock, alt rock, indie and soul singers are capable of touring without fatigue. My musical theater singers can withstand the demanding schedule of rehearsals and performances easily. But I honestly feel the most satisfaction when I introduce someone to the joys of singing. Everyday, regular folks can sing too. It is a pet peeve of mine how much elitism there is around singing. Everyone can learn to sing- it’s a skill! Who cares if you’re the “best” singer or not? Singing is a pleasure and it shoudn’t be reserved for professionals. In fact, my hobbyists often enjoy it more because there isn’t so much riding on their singing. Professionals often have huge mindset obstacles to overcome. Once a layperson realizes they can learn to sing, it gives them permission to just have fun with it.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I first started out, I thought I could intellectualize the process of singing. My technique suffered as a result. I was too in my own head. Perfectionism made singing miserable because I was torturing myself with unattainable goals. It took me a really long time to realize how much I was my own enemy. That’s why, in my studio, I focus on a nurturing environment where it’s safe to fail and learn. We really only ever advance in anything once we allow ourselves to be right where we are in our journey. Constant striving and pushing is toxic. The development is only enhanced when we relax and enjoy the ride. I try to educate this way so no one has to suffer the way I did. Singing should be joyful and fun.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I have a modest yet loyal following on Tik Tok. I am also on Instagram. When I first started out, I was jumping on trends and trying to shoehorn my message into that format. I also felt like I had to post 5 times a day! That really wasn’t sustainable. Now I just try to stay as consistent as possible. The videos where I was just explaining singing technique became the most popular. People started to realize they could trust my advice and that I was genuinely an authority in my field. I started to get more and more clients from social media. It enabled me to expand from 1:1 lessons into courses and group Zoom classes. Now I am more accessible to more people which geniunely fits with my core mission. It has been an evolution, to be sure. If I could offer any advice to someone starting out, I would say just allow it to be messy. your style will emerge. Also, always be authentic. I mean, authenticity is something to always uphold. But especially on social media, it’s important to not succumb to the pressures to do what’s popular in an effort to go viral and gain a bunch of followers. It’s better (especially as a business) to stay true to yourself and attract the followers who are truly interested in you and what you have to say.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thrivingsinger.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrivingsinger
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingsinger
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivingsinger433
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thrivingsinger

Image Credits

@monarchbabe