Staff

Linda Brice

Linda Brice, Founder/Artistic Director, has been a passionate and committed teacher of the art of singing and speech for 30 years. Linda’s students sing professionally and avocationally throughout the world, across styles and genres. She is the developer of the breath-based, spiritually grounded system of techniques, methodologies, and principles which form the core of the Transformational Voice Training curriculum, the goal of which is to liberate the Authentic Voice and thus the spirit of the singer or speaker within. Linda is a frequent guest lecturer on vocal technique and spirituality, and has also taught Voice and Diction on the faculties of Oregon State University, Oxnard Community College, and Indiana University-Bloomington. In a prior life, she designed some of the first computer-assisted instruction in music theory while directing an artificial intelligence research project for IBM-Los Angeles Scientific Center. During this time she served as the Founder of the First and Second International Congress on Music and Artificial Intelligence, as well as on the Editorial Board of Journal for Computers and the Humanities. During her corporate days, Linda also founded a speech and accent modification consulting firm, Amerispeak. She taught hundreds of speakers from every walk of life how to discover their authentic voice and to use it fearlessly and effectively, for clients such as 20th Century Insurance, Wells Fargo Bank, Citifinancial, and Continental Airlines. Linda holds a Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from the Indiana University School of Music (where she began her teaching career), pursued a doctorate in Systematic Musicology at UCLA, and holds Certificates in French Language and French Art Song Interpretation from the Institute Internationale d’ete de Nice. A professional classical singer, she is also a lover and advocate of popular music, especially jazz. She is indebted to her many great teachers who showed her the way, especially Gerhard Husch, Virginia Zeani and Reri Grist.

Karen Abrams

Karen Abrams, Managing Director, brings a breadth of knowledge and experience to managing the day-to-day operations of TVI, and the capacity to understand what is crucial to advancing the Institute’s mission.  She has been instrumental in helping to establish the Institute as an Oregon nonprofit corporation. As the Institute’s Managing Director, she works with the Board of Directors as well as the Artistic Director, administrative and technical staff, faculty, apprentices, and students. Karen is an accomplished administrator, program manager and communications professional in the fields of higher education, health care, human services, nonprofit organizations, and state and local governments. Her professional experiences have taken her from the major metropolis of Manhattan across the U.S. and as far north as Juneau, Alaska’s capital. She has also been sole proprietor of her management and communications consulting firms in New England, the greater New York metro area, and the Sierras. She received her B.A. in the Psychology of Health and Healing from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, with a minor in health care administration, and her M.S. in Management from Antioch University New England with a focus on organizational development and marketing.

During her early college career, Karen had the opportunity to travel out west and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest where she made her home in Portland for many years. Her work and family commitments have taken her throughout the U.S. over the years, and she has come full circle by returning to Portland in 2010. Karen, a colatura soprano, has sung in various temple and community choirs. She has been a student at TVI since January 2011, and is committed to discovering how to access the full power of her singing voice. She (secretly) has visions of singing like Christine Aguilera one day. When she is not working at TVI, Karen enjoys being outdoors, especially on or near the water, as well as writing, choral singing (Jewish liturgy), concerts, and the performing and visual arts. 

Rachel Joy

Rachel Joy, Financial Services Coordinator, performed as a mime and instrumental musician in the intergenerational Peace People’s Circus throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and grew up in a creative and collaborative environment with a passion for social justice issues and community service, which she has continued through work supporting non-profit organizations with her office skills and attention to details.

Currently studying at Portland State University for an MA in Conflict Resolution, Rachel started taking classes from Linda Brice several years ago to develop greater authentic presence in her speaking voice, also important to her personally as a poet. With a moderate to profound hearing loss, Rachel has found the kinesthetic aspect of Linda’s teaching crucial. In the process, a singing voice opened up – much to her surprise—and awakened a new sense of self. Having stepped into the transformative power of the Transformational Voice Institute as a student, Rachel is honored to be a part of the office team keeping this work alive and flowing.

MoeMoe

MoeMoe, aka Count Momanski, Moe-Man, Moezir, The Big Moe, Moe-Hair…Institute Host and Greeter, Butler, Security Guard, Cat Chaser, Breathing Model, Grief Counselor, and Potluck Dinner Food Taster. Once officially and erroneously declared “Best of Mixed Breed,” MoeMoe is actually a fine example of an extremely rare breed called a “Bleutner,” bred in the Black Forest to hunt moles. MoeMoe is quite willing to teach the fine art of mole hunting free of charge to anyone wanting to learn, but they must not be a squirrel, cat, or other small creature. No text book is currently available.