Meet Cathy Riso | Private Voice, Piano, Speech, Public Speaking, Acting Coaching, and Confidence Building

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cathy Riso and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cathy, other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?
I chose to become a Private Voice, Piano, and Speech Teacher that can also provide Coaching for Acting and Public Speaking because I wanted to be the teacher I always wanted to find for myself. Most Music Teachers provide ONLY instruction from their education. They teach fundamentals and the students must supply their own sheet music and/or tracks to practice with.I provide, not only a 200+ Page Vocal Curriculum, but also all the sheet music and Custom Vocal Exercises to practice between our Lessons. I’ve actually experienced all the practices and techniques I’m teaching because my Professional Singing Career took me everywhere from Broadway to touring internationally with Pop, Classical, and Gospel singing stars to performing in many commercial and film projects.. This allows me to teach from experience as well as education and to provide students with practical tips and tricks for their own performing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I was a performer from birth; I used to sing and dance on the water meter in our front yard and bow to the traffic driving by. I had an older sister and by virtue of her “seniority”, she got to sing soprano in our duets and I had to, not only play piano but also read and sing the alto line of each song. From there, I sang in my high school’s small group while being mentored by the chorus’ accompanist in Classical Opera music. Once in college at the University of Georgia, I began my musical theater career by being hired for Atlanta’s Equity Theater, Theater of the Stars’ summer stock productions. Once I moved to New York, auditions abounded and I did everything from performing my own show on Cruise Lines to “Annie” (Grace Farrell) on Broadway. From there I moved to Los Angeles where all my touring came along, as well as most of the commercial and film opportunities. I’ve been very Blessed to have had wonderful opportunities throughout my life and terrific people to work with, too. Don’t get me wrong, my career wasn’t all success after success; rejection is an absolute in this industry but I believed in myself and my talents so I pressed onward and was very lucky to land some phenomenal work over the course of my life. My Mother used to always say, “Can’t never could and never will be able to; can always wins.” So, I never believed I wasn’t good enough or “Right” for any job. Amazingly, I always sang the same song for every big job I ever got. It was “My Man” from “Funny Girl” and I even still recommend it to singers today because it’s so timeless. I think much of what i learned through the school of “hard knocks” is what I try to impart to my students today. Rejection is, absolutely, an unavoidable component to EVERY person’s career track but, just like being nervous is a natural feeling for EVERY performer that you HAVE to learn to USE instead of thinking they will go away, rejection should just make you stronger! I absolutely had to do this! Use it to build your confidence rather than letting it defeat you. You CAN do it and the more you practice auditioning, the stronger your chances will be for success. You have to look for things to encourage you other than the actual audition itself. I found other performers along the way who I could talk to and bounce ideas off of since I knew they were experiencing the same things that were coming up for me. It was difficult if not impossible for me to find Voice teachers on the road or in cities where I’d be performing for longer than a week or a month but I knew I needed to find someone to avoid getting into bad habits. This is why today I offer touring Professionals Zoom Lessons to anywhere in the world. I’ve had students in Japan and Kenya that I was able to assist. Another challenge I encountered moving around the country and the world was my southern accent. This is why today I teach accent remediation from my degree in Speech Pathology. I really do try to be the teacher I was always trying to find.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I can’t claim to be the definitive Los Angeles guide but here are some of my personal favorites in and around Los Angeles. If you were coming to visit me, I’d recommend some of the following: for breakfast or lunch, in Pacoima, “Myke’s Cafe; in Newhall, “Egg Plantation”; in Valencia for “Eggs and Things”; for lunch or dinner, “King’s Mongolian BBQ in Reseda; “Johnny Pacific” in Pacoima; “Mel’s Diner’ in Hollywood; ‘Philippe The Original” where the French Dip sandwich was invented, on the edge of Chinatown in Los Angeles; “Pinocchio’s” in Burbank on Magnolia; “El Cholo” on Flower Street in LA; “Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles” in LA; “Musso and Frank’s” in Hollywood, a historic restaurant from the Golden Age of film making in Hollywood; “Pink’s” hot dogs on La Brea in LA; “The Polo Lounge” in Beverly Hills; “Yamashiro Hollywood” in the Hollywood Hills on Sycamore; and “Dodger Hot Dogs” at Dodger Stadium. For dinner and Entertainment, I recommend either “Dan Tana’s” on Santa Monica in West Hollywood; “The Catalina Bar and Grill” on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles;”Herb Alpert’s Vibrato” on Beverly Glen in Los Angeles on Beverly Glen Circle; or “The Magic Castle” in Hollywood. I don’t really know any people in particular I would introduce to the Los Angeles visitor aside from my family but they’re all wonderful characters so everyone would have fun. For places in Los Angeles that I would recommend, for daytime, I would take them to the ocean in Malibu and work my way down as far as I could go. However, due to the disastrous fires of last year and this year, I might also just recommend taking a train up to Santa Barbara to see the beach and the little zoo there. There are beautiful restaurants in Santa Barbara, too. Back in Los Angeles and to the Santa Monica Pier and Third Street Promenade and in towards Los Angeles by way of Beverly Hills and Hollywood, we’d visit Beverly Hills’ highlights such as Rodeo Drive and The Beverly Hills Hotel (complete with The Polo Lounge) into Hollywood. Unfortunately, Hollywood is not a safe place to be walking around a lot at night, but during the day you can see the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Mann’s (formerly Groman’s) Chinese Theater. Moving into Hollywood, you’ll see the “Sunset Strip” where the “Whiskey a Go Go”, The Paladium”, and other famous landmarks are, as well as “The Comedy Store”, but the shows there are at night. Moving back toward Beverly Hills, you could visit “The Grove”, a shopping and eating area which includes the city’s Farmer;s Market or visit one of the city’s major film and television studios such as Paramount or Sony. Many times tickets for shows filming can be picked up from street vendors on Hollywood Boulevard. The Getty Museum on the 405 Freeway (or another much smaller one over on PCH (the Pacific Coast Highway) are AMAZING and definitely worth seeing. I believe The Getty is only open during the daytime. Obviously, there’s only one Disneyland in Anaheim and there are INCREDIBLE museums, tours, and activities, but these are the ones I would definitely try to include for any visitor. For evening activities, I would recommend a concert at Disney Hall downtown; a show at The Comedy Store in Hollywood; possibly a dinner and a show at The Magic Castle; a visit to the world-famous Griffith Park Observatory at night is a special treat though the Observatory is also open during the day as well. A trip to LA wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Hollywood Bowl or The Greek Theater for a mesmerizing concert. Other terrific nighttime festivities include a Play or Musical at The Pantages or Ahmanson Theater; The Pantages is an architectural wonder with Gothic stylings and plush velvet interiors. Last but not least, there are all kinds of amazing tours from Celebrity Graves Tour to Stars’ Homes. If you can think of it, probably someone has created a tour for it in LA. One of my favorite nighttime treats is going to “Hollywood Forever” for movies al fresco. You can bring a lovely picnic and watch a movie under the stars. To get the best view of Los Angeles at night, go to the Mulholland Overlook; you can get directions from Google. It’s the perfect way to cap off a tour of Los Angeles!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are two people and one group of people I credit with encouraging and inspiring me to teach and to customize my Lessons for each individual student’s needs and goals. These two individuals are a dear friend, Linda Rand, who unfortunately is no longer with us, and my youngest daughter, Isabella. Linda was an incredibly talented Playwright/Actor/Singer who I had known for years as a person “in the background”. It was only after she came to me for Vocal instruction that I got to really know her and be transformed by her encouragement and talent. Linda really showed me how to mentor others as she recognized my knowledge and helped me harness all my experiences into usable “bites” of information that I could share with others. Isabella is my heart; she’s, literally the reason I’m still alive after a protracted illness in 2011; she stayed by me and stayed with me during some very challenging times and I love her with all my being. The last GROUP of people I’d like to thank are my students.. Through them, I’ve continued to learn and grow and appreciate music, singing, speech, and life in general. They enrich my life in so many ways that I could never have even imagined and I’m so grateful.

Website: https://SingitForward.net

Linkedin: Cathy Riso

Facebook: SingitForward

Other: Blog: https://cathyriso.blogspot.com

Image Credits
Margie Russomano