Workshop and master class details 2025

35 workshops, master classes, round tables will be held at FIAP Jean-Monnet, October 27-31, 2025

Daily Schedule
Sign up for your sessions
Round Tables
Workshop and Masterclass Details
Visit the Preparation page to get ready for the workshops.

The daily schedule from Monday through Friday:

9:00 AM Doors open to complete registration and get ready for the day.
9:15 AM The day’s orientation begins in the large classroom
9:15 AM Three concurrent morning sessions
12:30 PM Lunch: we recommend the FIAP cafeteria
1:30 PM Round Table discussions in the large classroom.
2:30 PM Three concurrent afternoon sessions
5:30 PM Refresh, travel and dine, including dinner shows.
8 PM Evening concerts and encounters

Round tables (RT) – proposed themes

The Round Tables are an opportunity for us to learn more about the history of cabaret, to take a look at some of today’s challenges, and to imagine its future. Topics will be refined as we get closer to the dates. Your suggestions are welcome.

Thursday, October 23: Bringing in New Generations and How Cabaret Can Save the World (with Director/teacher Camille Germser)
Friday, October 24 in Lyon: Professor/author Agnès Curel talks about the relationship between the bonimenteur of the turn of the century, the cabaret emcee, to today’s television hosts, stand up comics, and cabaret performers such as ourselves. What is our social role, are we still relevant?
Monday, October 27: Vocal Health with Dr. Susan Arjmand
What to expect in a medical interview/exam with an MD voice specialist, what types of symptoms warrant medical investigation, the ways in which other medical conditions and health issues can affect the voice, how to maintain healthy vocal habits. The format will be informal with time for Q and A.
Date to be determined: Expat Singers in France: What brought you here, what keeps you here and what advice can you give?
Date to be determined: Producing and Touring Your Show
Date to be determined: French Cabaret, Broadway Cabaret, German Cabaret, Chicago Cabaret – what’s different, what’s the same? Vive la différence !

Workshops (W) and masterclasses (MC)

Master classes will focus on individual singers one-by-one (usually 10-15 minutes for each) whereas workshops offer a more collective round-robin experience. In both cases, get ready to sing! Non-singing auditors are welcome to observe all sessions. Jeanie Carroll will lead daily warmups.

Session descriptions

Open the plus sign (+) to read the description for each class.

I look forward to opening up the performer to look at the lyric and the melody as a team, as a map in telling the story. The meaning of each word, how it helps create the thought, the mood, the truth in the moment.- how it feels in the mouth, on the tongue – the smoothness or percussiveness of the words and how that influences the thought. How each lyric leads in to the next as if by surprise, and how it helps to form the thought and the story as a whole.

Angelina Réaux & Michèle Barbier— Putting It Together: Constructing Your Show (W)
Intimidated by the blank page and all it represents? Don’t know how to begin? Unsure of what makes a good show? This masterclass is perfect for those who already have a show idea but are not sure where to begin or how to get past a list of song ideas. Learn the elements of storytelling, and how they apply to your relationship with your audience; how to select the best music; how to create a ‘script” and clever construction techniques that will add interest and variety to your show. Gain an understanding of the creation process, from beginning to end, and leave with tools to use in the construction of your own show. Michèle will address appropriate repertoire for your persona.

On your feet interactive workshop finding your personalized arrangement of a song. Then a deep dive into practical Biz Goals to do today: bookings, venues, non-traditional spaces, websites, collaborations, recording, releasing and promoting music, social media, and graphics.

We will work individually to use theater techniques to place a song in a context and embody a character, so that it’s no longer just about singing but about telling a story. We begin with a few theater-inspired exercises to encourage engagement and freedom of expression. Then, each student takes turns presenting a song of their choice and learns to interpret it as if it were a theatrical scene. The use of body language, eye contact, and presence within the environment plays a key role in conveying emotions more authentically to the audience. Experimenting with how letting go can lead to more authentic results than control

While other workshops will explore text and subtext of our lyrics, let’s take a look at what happens in between the songs. What setup or context connects the song to your audience? Whether the song serves as soundtrack to the world we live in or is a time-travel vehicle to another time, its “patter” helps point the way.

The average human face has about 30 different muscles on each side. The possibilities for expressing emotion using individual muscles and combinations are enormous. Would you like to harness that kind of expressive power in your performance? The first part of the workshop will review the various muscles and organize them into some basic emotions. The second part will be a performance lab exploring the ability to portray and change expressions with detail to add deeper meaning to your presentation in performance.

In the city of haute couture, choosing the right elements of your outfit and accessories can make or break how you walk down the boulevard. This workshop aims to introduce you to the items in your vocal wardrobe and how each of them contributes to (or clashes with) your ensemble. “We’ll explore “Wardrobe” —your Vocal function and sound through anatomy—and clarify some of the mysteries and myths about singing. Then, Putting together elements of style, we’ll create a Vocal fashion show (performance lab): participants can try out the outfits individually and receive helpful feedback. An introductory presentation and resources will be shared prior to the conference. Participants who wish to sing a solo in the performance lab should bring a long cut (approx 1 min) in a preferred style for demonstration and experimentation.

How to enter and exit the stage, how and when to move from point to point on stage, how and when to move your hands, how to use the mic, stage “presence”and body language. IMAGE: clothing, hair and make up will also be discussed.

Whether you sing opera, jazz, Broadway or pop, Elisabeth will address vocal techniques to make the healthy and most resonant choices for each. Elisabeth will lay her hands on your voice to find new expression. We will cover breathing, support, power, projection, dynamics, vibrato, vocal colors and resonances, head and chest registers, personal expression, and blending registers and the Mix for high powered high notes. Handouts with vocal techniques for practice will be distributed. Audio demonstrations will be played throughout this session.

Instruction on the elements that comprise authentic Blues, R&B, Country and Jazz. We will cover the Blues scale and Pentatonic scales for “licks and runs” and how to use them for authentic embellishments of words. We will discuss the use of vibrato, delayed vibrato and no vibrato. Back Phrasing and anticipation will be addressed. Diction in various styles. A pronunciation guide for Jazz will be handed out. Audio examples will be played. A handout sheet for pronunciation will be distributed.

You will learn the secrets of Bel Canto, applicable to all musical styles. He’ll bring out your true voice, revealing the artist in you. The first session (open to all, but required for those taking his master class) introduces Master Tavelli’s vocal technique and approach to interpretation: breath, voice placement, air column, articulation… Two 3-hour masterclasses in the afternoon over two days are limited to 10-12 participants, who perform a song of their choice to then apply this technique, enhancing their interpretation. Each will learn a number of vocal exercises to warm up and improve your vocal technique. Master Tavelli will work with each to solve technical and interpretation problems.

Stretching. Breathing. Choosing a song. Experimenting – exploring the possibilities of interpretation
Let’s start from your point of view, connect with your body, and be in the moment. Get out of your comfort zone. Isabelle brings methods on how to learn a text and work on it, to give you more confidence and a larger range of interpretation choices.

We’ll begin with all the accompanists (pianists and accordionists) and break out into three sessions after we explore: Speaking the Language of your Accompanist. Whether meeting for the first time at an open mic or working for years with a pianist partner, there’s an essential vocabulary to share. The relationship between pianist and singer soloist is technical, psychological and spiritual. Let’s explore what each brings to the partnership. For singers and accompanists.

Bringing a clean score, specifying the key tonality and other details. What you “hear” and what you want the pianist to hear. Tempo, Key, and Song Form, Phrasing, the beat, the rhythm, not to mention the pickup and longer anacrusis, slowing down and accelerating, guiding, breathing, vibrato and vibration, climax and coda.

How to drastically improve your voice and your performance using software tools/apps and other gadgets.

The cabaret artist is often faced with a dilemma: how do I communicate the beauty and flavor of a beloved song in its original language but still make it accessible to an English speaking audience? My masterclass will teach the art of the blended song—including key passages that guide the audience in their own language while retaining the framework of the original beloved language.

French and English to begin with —Maryline Rollet will monitor the French diction, and Michael Sokol will help with Russian, too!

We will introduce and explore the concept of the middle voice or mixed voice in singing. This vocal register is often misunderstood or overlooked by many singers, but it plays a crucial role in achieving a smooth transition between chest voice and head voice, providing vocal flexibility, control, and a richer sound palette. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the middle voice, learn exercises to develop it, and apply this knowledge to enhance their vocal technique and artistry.

Foster multicultural contact with song; expand the possible sounds that singing in other languages produces; enrich your repertoire, find the performance, vocal gestures, creativity and feelings that a sound evokes, even if the lyrics aren’t fully understood. The workshop is for all who wish to connect with other cultures through singing, and who would like to experience and explore their voice further, whether for musical, theatrical, or educational projects. Today we will look at the historical and practical context of the samba-canção and bolero genres of 1950s Brazil.

I want to teach how to interact with an accompanist. Putting them at ease. How to approach a first rehearsal, and how to be clear about your intentions and interpretation. As the accompanist follows the soloist, the soloist must listen and follow the accompanist! When we play music, we need to have fun, and enjoy creating together by following each other’s suggestions!