Marcia Ritschard-Sell holds a Dual Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Vocal Performance with a minor in piano from the University of Mount Union in Ohio.
She has taught in both public and private school systems from kindergarten through the university level, most recently at Delta College in University Center, Michigan and is an accomplished private instructor having taught at the Ohio Performing Arts Institute in addition to maintaining a sought-after home studio in four states with students spanning ages 3-93.
Marcia teaches that the most important thing is vocal and physical health which begins with the breath and its support of the vocal instrument. She uses breath, placement, focus, ear training, stance, and interpretation to bring out each student’s individual personality and vocal style. She encourages her students to explore a variety of genres and languages, as well as, to expand their storytelling through the use of costuming and props whenever possible.
She has been the music director/pianist for summer youth theater productions of Annie Warbucks, Once Upon a Mattress and The Pirates of Penzance. Abridged college versions of South Pacific, The Music Man and The Sound of Music. Community theater productions of Oklahoma and Seussical the Musical.
Her performance credits include the musical theater roles of Mrs. Mae Peterson (Bye Bye Birdie), Mrs. Anderssen (A Little Night Music), Mabel (Pirates of Penzance), Nimui (Camelot) and Sister Margaretta (The Sound of Music). Opera highlights as Lucy (The Telephone), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), the First Spirit (The Magic Flute) and Antonia (Tales of Hoffman). Classical concert work as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols and the Faure Requiem.
Marcia believes in the accessibility of music to build community and create a safe environment for students of all ages to find their voice.
