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thea bransby

Thea is available for in-person voice lessons.

$30 half hour/$45 45 minutes/$60 per hour

Thea Bransby began singing at a young age. She participated in the Indiana University Children’s Choir, traveling with the group and performing at Carnegie Hall in 2000. In high school, Thea studied with beloved Bloomington singer Janiece Jaffe. Janiece’s teaching centered on jazz singing, and on the use of singing as a healing therapy.

Thea learned about singing in the jazz idiom both from Janiece and from her late brother Julian Bransby, who studied jazz piano at IU’s Jacobs School of Music. As a selected member of the Indiana State Vocal Jazz Ensemble, she was recruited to the Western Michigan University Vocal Jazz Program under Dr. Steven Degree, who later started a twin program at Jacobs.

At Western Michigan, Thea studied Vocal Pedagogy with a Jazz Emphasis, along with general vocal pedagogy. Thea sang in their top classical choir, the University Chorale. She also toured as part of the Gold Company Vocal Jazz Program, performing at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2011!

Thea then worked in Indiana and California, collaborating with various jazz artists including David Gulyas, who was a guitar accompanist for opera star Sylvia McNair. She also worked with San Diego University’s former piano professor Rick Helzer, among others.

Thea also creates original music, such as “Lift Me Up Into The Sky,” which has been used in various earth-oriented spiritual settings and made its way from Indiana all the way to Berkley through oral singing traditions.

Thea has an interest in using the voice both as a healing instrument, and for individual and collective musical expression. She aims to continue the teaching traditions of her early teacher Janiece Jaffe. Along with Jaffe’s concepts, Thea is comfortable guiding students to develop and strengthen the voice, and to pursue whatever musical paths they choose.