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Professionally, Tom has starred in more than 25 operas, 60 musicals, and numerous concert performances in Europe, the Americas, and around the world. He has appeared opposite such celebrities as: Kaye Ballard, Milton Berle, Placido Domingo, Jose Ferrer, Linda Kay Henning, Ann Jefferies, Van Johnson, Jerry Lewis, Roberta Peters, Vincent Price, Burt Reynolds, Beverly Sills, and Forrest Tucker. Television Special Guest appearances have included The Merv Griffin Show and Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. This vocal technique is a systematic approach to bridge together all registers of the voice. Tom works together with the student to build a bridge between the low voice (chest voice) and the high voice (head voice), combining those parts in the middle creating the "mix" that many singers struggle to master, and most teachers don't know how to teach. A majority of students begin to experience positive results within a few weeks. Tom has studios in Houston, Dallas, NYC, Italy and England. Teacher training in this technique is also available. For appointment scheduling, please contact the Houston studio. Tom serves as the New Talent Development Vocal Technique Instructor for Beyonce and Mathew Knowles’ Recording and Publishing Company, Music World, located in Houston. |
Tom studied with Keith Davis for more than 10 years and with Seth Riggs from 1970 through 2003. During that time, Tom garnered many awards as a performer and eventually became an associate of Mr. Riggs’ Speech Level Singing Institute, where he attained the highest level of teacher proficiency, Level 5, and a place on the Education Management Team of the Speech Level Singing Institute (SLSI). Tom has been featured in Mr. Riggs’ book SINGING FOR THE STARS , in its first edition in 1984. Mr. McKinney left SLSI in January, 2004 to pursue his own goals as teacher and performer, and to develop a national organization of highly qualified vocal instructors and coaches under the Tom McKinney Vocal Studios banner. He is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) , and currently has more than 90 students from the U.S. and Europe. Many of his students are touring nationally in Broadway shows, or have signed with major recording labels. In twenty years, the same vocal technique taught by Tom has been used to win 140 “Grammys,” 12 “Tonys,” and 8 Metropolitan Opera Soloist Awards. Tom was a National Metropolitan Opera Soloist Winner himself in 1971.