that she resigned rather than go through the BS of hearings/committee crap after the most recent complaint. She's probably best suited to a private studio setting anyhow. That way if one likes her teaching style, they can choose to pay for that service. If not, they can just pay someone else, end of story.
BQ
"Until last week, I thought legato was a cured meat!"
--Paul Abhelha, Bathroom Divas
This message has been edited by blondieQ on Jul 1, 2009 1:49 PM This message has been edited by blondieQ on Jul 1, 2009 1:48 PM
I'm so sick of the enablers. Yes I hate the woman for what she did to one of my good friends. And she's still doing it. Why do people take this crap and why do people make excuses for her?
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
This message has been edited by Houndentenor on Jul 1, 2009 2:07 PM
....but let her teach the way she teaches. people are too pc and afraid to get their hands dirty nowadays. if it gets me to sing better, i say beat the shit outta me!
There is no way in hell she pulls that crap on her big people. If any teacher/ and or student of that teacher tells you verbal/physical abuse in opera is okay because it toughens you- stay away! It is as silly as saying sexual abuse make you a better lover.
Those of us who respond well to her "style" aren't "enablers"--she has never degraded me, sworn at me, physically harmed me. My experience isn't like that--she has been a very warm, supportive person towards me for the past..well, 4 years now! Sure, she is tough--but we just laugh about it, or I just dish it right back! If I feel like something she's doing to me physically isn't helping, I just speak up and say, fucking cut that shit out! Let's try something else! And it is ALWAYS respected and never falls on deaf ears. I appreciate that she is physical and hands-on. She never BS's me and is always brutally honest-that's what I'm paying her for. If I didn't feel I was getting my money's worth, I'd be the first to go elsewhere.
I adore the woman and always feel like I'm walking into a safe environment where I can be brave, try new things-sometimes I crack or sound like crap when trying a new thing, but I am always at my best in there. I'm sorry if others don't share that experience, but not THAT sorry--if they don't benefit from the work, then they can just work with someone else! I'm confused as to why there is any controversy about that. You don't have to be "put through" anything if you don't want to. If you don't like what you're experiencing, why keep going back?
BQ
"Until last week, I thought legato was a cured meat!"
--Paul Abhelha, Bathroom Divas
This message has been edited by blondieQ on Jul 2, 2009 2:08 AM This message has been edited by blondieQ on Jul 2, 2009 2:04 AM
she obviously doesn't pull the same crap on every student. I doubt you would be defending her if she had thrown a chair at or pulled the hair of you or one of your friends. Screaming at people that they are stupid is not being tough nor is it being honest. It's being an imature excuse for a human being.
Glad the technique works for you. But people can get good technique without the abuse and it's abuse. Excuse it all you want. Some of us have been waiting for someone to sue her or press criminal charges for years now.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
Y'all can be pretty ridiculous. I don't study with Trish but I have many friends who do. They love her and don't find abusive at all. I went to MSM when this happened in the spring. The girl made a stink about nothing and she's going to have a helluva hard time when she gets to the school. None of the other teachers think Trish did anything wrong and not many people have sympathy for this girl.
But, to me, all of that is pointless. if you don't like the woman then DON'T STUDY WITH HER! It's that simple. No one is forced to study with Trish at MSM or in real life. If she's too hard on you or if you think she's "abusive" then find another teacher.
There's a sign on her wall as you walk in that says she's intense and that if she's not for you there are no hard feelings, you are free to leave and you will not be charged for the lesson.
And I've gotta say to those who are bitching- it just seems to me that you want drama. You don't study with her, you weren't there, just shut up.
You don't know who has studied with her and who knows her, who has played for her etc. This woman has been around for years and many of us have encountered her in other venues and not just MSM. I have met her and she seemed nice but I have never worked with her so what I know is second hand but it is from some people who I esteem highly. I have heard (and know) quite a few of her students and they all sound great. I know many people, including accompanists, who have worked with her and no one has ever refuted these claims that she is intense and perhaps abusive to some people and that her teaching is not for everyone.
This is not breaking news and this reputation has been in place for AT LEAST ten years if not more.
When this thread came out I knew it had to be something about her abusing a student--to what extend I didn't know--but it doesn't surprise me that it happened and that she was kicked out. What does surprise me is that it took so long for it to happen. I think it is fine for her to teach privately when students choose who to study with, but really this kind of "style" should not be in a school setting. Even if the students aren't obligated to study with her, some of them are too young and naive to know what to do when placed in such a situation if they don't like it, and it is just too much drama for them and a school to have to deal with.
Whenever I hear one of these tirades in defense of Trish all I can think is "Stockholm Syndrome". Drama? Yes, I dealt with the drama of living with one of her students for awhile.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
If any teacher ever laid a hand on me, I would probably haul off and wack em right back. NO excuse for that EVER. Mental abuse is just as bad. If you like paying for abuse, then hire a dominatrix as someone else here said. A teacher who will tell you the blunt unvarnished truth without being nasty or abusive, great! But someone with psych issues to the point where they'd abuse someone should NEVER be a teacher. Inexcusable, period!
This whole thread is interesting from the pov of a former pianist.
July 4 2009, 2:22 PM
I've heard so many horror stories about this woman's teaching habits: tantrums, flying objects, yelling, etc. All of that behavior sounds like the Juilliard piano department in the 70s and 80s. Juilliard's Adele Marcus was notorious for yelling and throwing scores. Curtis' Isabelle Vengerova was dubbed "Beloved Tyranna" by her student Leonard Bernstein. Vengerova taught my own teacher and the stories I heard were astounding. Claudio Arrau's disciple, Rosalina Sackstein, is NOTORIOUS for screaming at her students. Students leave that woman's studio in tears.
And, these teachers became some of the piano world's most respected, sought after, and sometimes beloved, pedagogues. By no means am I glorifying those teaching techniques. I'm merely stating what was so in the piano world.
I've never met Ms. McCaffery (does she teach tenors?), but it seems like she would have been a successful professor of piano somewhere.
Quite frankly I am amused at all the people talking about Trish, it is old news guys!
Put a search and you will find numerous threads, it is always the same: you love her or you hate her.
She never leaves anybody indifferent!
Trish has been teaching for years and she has always been straight forward and warned any students walking into her studio that she is NOT for everyone. Contrarily to other teachers, she will never make you believe you have a potential when she thinks you don't, she will never tell you that you need to try at least 10 lessons in order to decide if it works or not...she could care less!
Trish has always been incredibly upfront and honest with all and every of her student, she does not back stab, she does not gossip, she simply does her job.
There are aspiring singers out there that will pay $180 a lesson just to hear that they are great. If it is what they need, fine, let them pay if a teacher wants to play their game. The minute they don't hear the things they need, the teacher is abusive. My only advice: if you need a hot stone massage, don't go to Trish. If you are emotionally fragile and can't take unfiltered comments about your singing without your entire world collapsing, don't go to Trish...SIMPLE!
There are plenty of resources out there to help you make your decision, don't complain afterwards and blame the teacher, WALK THE F...away.
Trish teaches and treats EVERYBODY the same way, star soprano or student. It is really silly to pretend otherwise.
Why are Pat Racette and other singers studying with Trish? BECAUSE THERE ARE GETTING WHAT THEY NEED, plain and simple! Lots of Trish's students are at the top and have stayed there simply because of Trish's teaching. If you don't like it, as I said, walk away!
I have seen Trish teach a lot over the years and can assure you that she has NEVER hit anybody.
This would be a good time to start a new thread about singers'needs and ego's.
Isn't it always someone else's fault anyway: the conductor, coach, director, costume, dresser, light, score, plane travel etc. ?
The problem in our field is that most people can't help but gossip and make things up. Since the info travels so fast these days, gossip can turn toxic really quickly. The problem is also that when someone is simply honest and direct, we never talk about it!
I know from honest and direct. Screaming at someone about how stupid they are is not honest or direct. It's just being mean. Sorry I witnesses this over a period of time. I guess it's second hand but this was from a person who deals with very direct and frank coaches and conductors all the time. Blaming the victim?
Glad you weren't there when she threw things at people. Storming out of the disciplinary hearing? That doesn't sound like someone with nothing to hide. It does sound like someone with an anger management program. I don't pay someone to be their punching bag. Glad her technique works for you. If it hadn't you'd have been on the end of all kinds of nasty. Yes those students should walk away. Don't know why they don't but then bullies are good and figuring out who won't fight back.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
This message has been edited by Houndentenor on Jul 7, 2009 5:03 PM
My undergrad piano teacher was tough. Picture Maggie Smith with a southern accent. She often reduced students to tears but she didn't yell and she most certainly didn't throw anything. She did once record me playing and played it back so I could hear what it sounded like to teach someone who rather obviously wasn't practicing enough (which was true). She was respected and feared at our school. But I wouldn't say she was abusive.
I'm sorry but why do we tolerate people in the arts who clearly just need to grow the eff up. Talent schmalent. It's just immaturity. I know we all get angry and frustrated sometimes. But I didn't pull that crap as a teacher. And even as a child I quickly lost respect for teachers (and I had them) who threw temper tantrums rather than behave like grown=ups are expected to.
This really is a baseline expectation and it shouldn't be that hard to meet. Have your tantrum someplace else on your own time but it's not acceptable to treat students or coworkers that way. It's just not.
Houndentenor
"Get the trash off the street and back on the stage where it belongs." -- Bette Midler
