You may not remember me, but I was your student in NYC in the 80s/90s. I was a rock singer who felt that her sight reading technique was getting flabby, so I joined an amateur choir at a church near my house in the village, and settled into the alto section with a nice thick book of music. There was a day when the choir maestra told us that she was bringing in a coach to help us with our sound, someone named Alimo Russell.
The minute you walked into the room I thought to myself, “Magical being entering…” And sure enough, within minutes, you had magically changed the sound of the choir. I made a beeline for you as soon as the session was over and asked that you be my teacher.
Your tutelage changed my life. You rebuilt my voice from the ground up, you were loving and encouraging. I did continue on as a vocalist. I had a development deal with Capitol Records in the mid-90s for my band 2.5D. When that band broke up I moved to LA with my new husband and had a baby. I worked (more like toiled) in the internet services world, a soul-killing enterprise for sure.
I decided to become a Cantor, a thing that would have been forever out of reach were it not for the studying that I did with you.
Years passed, and then I went on tour as a vocalist with Video Games Live, a symphonic concert of music for video games that my husband created. I sang all over the world with some of the greatest symphonies in some of the most spectacular venues. Again — not possible without the voice that you unlocked in me.
When I returned from touring the world with the show, I felt that I wanted to become a storyteller through music exclusively, and applied for an artist residency in Paris, which, shockingly, I got. So I wrote an opera about the Psyche and Eros myth, which was mounted 2 years ago.
I’m about to mount my second sung-through work for stage this summer about author Anaïs Nin.
I’m also teaching voice, and have a vocal studio here in my house.
I ALWAYS start with new students by telling them about my experiences with you, and that my teaching them is a pay-it-forward event. It all goes back to Elaine Russell, and her incredible technique and personage. The thing is, you brought so much soul into the vocal workout. It wasn’t just technical information/suggestions, it was also mystical images drawn from the ether. (I distinctly remember, “Cindy, feel like your legs are tree trunks growing up from the ground.” And somehow that transformed things.)
There are many days that there are tears from my students when they experience the sensation of having their voice unlocked and freed.
So, I want to say thank you, and that I hope you and your daughter are well.