Bring Heidi Vass to Your Community

Vocal training. Sacred music formation. Lasting growth.

Bring your singers and leaders together for practical, engaging instruction rooted in voice science and a deep commitment to sacred music.

Who I Work With…

Parishes, Choirs & Cantors

Practical vocal training connected to the music you sing each week. Help your singers build confidence, improve coordination, and develop the listening skills that strengthen an ensemble.

Religious Communities

Vocal formation shaped around your community’s life of prayer. Support healthy, sustainable singing across generations, with attention to chant, communal prayer, and the needs of your voices.

Music Directors & Ministry Leaders

Support for the people responsible for developing singers. Build your understanding of the voice, expand your teaching tools, and develop rehearsal strategies you can use with your own ensemble.

Dioceses, Conferences & Organizations

Presentations and interactive workshops that connect voice science, practical vocal pedagogy, and sacred music. Programs can be tailored for singers, conductors, educators, and ministry leaders.

About Heidi

Heidi Vass is a soprano, vocal pedagogue, and sought-after clinician whose work brings conservatory-level training into the practice of sacred music. Her distinctive approach blends theologically informed, evidence-based vocal pedagogy with more than 30 years of experience developing singers.

She holds a Bachelor of Music from Westminster Choir College and a Master of Music from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Her teaching career includes voice faculty appointments at USC, Pepperdine University, and California Lutheran University, as well as work as a clinician at the Colburn School. As former Head of Voice at tonebase, she led a global platform for advanced vocal education and served as director and presenter for the tonebase Choral Retreat.

Her sacred music engagements include presenting for the Benedict XVI Institute and the University Series, serving as a clinician for the Church Music Association of America (CMAA), leading a workshop for the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, and teaching on the faculty of the Floriani Collegium.

As founder and first soprano of the award-winning sacred vocal quartet Seraphour, Heidi brings the perspective of both educator and practicing sacred musician. She makes rigorous vocal training accessible and relevant to parish singers, religious communities, and the leaders who guide them.

Based in Southern California, Heidi works with parishes and religious communities nationwide, bringing workshops, retreats, and residencies into their own places of rehearsal and prayer.

Workshops, Retreats & Residencies

Theologically informed, evidence-based vocal pedagogy is at the heart of every program. Together, we’ll shape the format and content around your singers, your repertoire, and your community’s needs.

A morning of sacred music formation, practical vocal training, and hands-on coaching.
We begin with the purpose of singing sacred music, then explore the fundamentals of vocal technique. A concluding masterclass brings those principles into practice through coaching for solo singers or an ensemble clinic.
Sample Half-Day Program
8:30–9:00 | Check-In
9:00 | Singing Sacred Music
Explore singing as prayer and service, connecting our musical preparation with the sacred purpose of our work.
10:00 | Fundamentals of Vocal Technique
Develop an understanding of how the voice works through practical explanations, demonstrations, and guided vocal exercises.
11:00 | Masterclass or Ensemble Clinic
Apply the morning’s learning through individual coaching with selected solo singers or a hands-on clinic with your ensemble and its repertoire.
The masterclass format and repertoire are selected in advance to serve your community’s needs.
A full day of sacred music formation, vocal training, and practical application, with space for prayer and reflection.
Building on the half-day program, a full day includes both a solo masterclass and an ensemble clinic, alongside additional instruction in vocal health and wellness. Each session connects vocal development with the purpose and daily practice of sacred singing.
Sample Full-Day Program
8:30–9:00 | Check-In
9:00 | Singing Sacred Music
Explore singing as prayer and service, connecting musical preparation with the sacred purpose of our work.
10:00 | Fundamentals of Vocal Technique
Learn how the voice works through practical explanations, demonstrations, and guided vocal exercises.
11:00 | Solo Masterclass
Selected singers receive individual coaching while participants learn through observation and shared discussion.
12:00 | Lunch
1:00 | Prayer & Reflection
Reflect on the morning’s learning within your community’s spiritual life, planned with your leadership.
1:30 | Vocal Health & Wellness
Explore healthy vocal habits, daily vocal demands, and strategies for supporting voices across the lifespan.
2:30 | Ensemble Clinic
(Mass Preparation)
Apply vocal principles to your ensemble’s repertoire, with attention to coordination, listening, tuning, and phrasing.
3:30 | Questions, Reflection & Next Steps
Gather the day’s discoveries and establish practical priorities for continued growth.
Closing | Vespers, Compline, or a Special Liturgy
Bring the day’s work into prayer through a closing liturgical celebration, planned with your community’s leadership.
The schedule can be adjusted around the timing of the closing liturgy.
A sustained partnership with your community, combining individual vocal development, ensemble training, and support for music leaders.
Theologically informed, evidence-based pedagogy guides our work together. Programs can include private vocal assessments and instruction, group voice lessons, practical practice strategies, vocal health and wellness, rehearsal observations, and ensemble clinics.
The schedule is built around your community’s life of prayer, with time to listen, understand individual needs, and develop a plan for continued growth.
Sample Three-Day Residency:
Based on My Work with the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
Day One | Observation & Leadership Conversation
Observe the community’s singing during Vespers or Compline and attend its regularly scheduled choir and schola rehearsals.
Meet with leadership to discuss the community’s goals, existing practices, and concerns. These observations help shape the individual instruction and group work that follow.
Day Two | Individual Assessments & Vocal Foundations
Offer private vocal assessments and instruction throughout the morning and early afternoon, working around Mass, prayer, and meals.
Gather for an introduction to theologically informed vocal technique and a practical group voice lesson. Connect an understanding of vocal function with the demands of the community’s daily singing.
Meet with leadership to review assessment findings and identify priorities for singers and ensembles.
Day Three | Ensemble Clinics & Next Steps
Continue individual assessments and instruction in the morning.
Work directly with the community’s choirs and schola in afternoon rehearsal clinics, applying vocal principles to their own repertoire and addressing the needs identified during the visit.
Conclude with a leadership meeting to establish next steps, practical rehearsal and practice strategies, and a plan for follow-up support.
Built Around Your Community’s Life
Each residency is customized to the number of singers, the needs of your ensembles, and your daily prayer commitments. Additional sessions can address effective practice, vocal health and wellness, and the changing voice.
Ongoing mentorship can help your leaders and singers build on the work after the visit.n text goes here

Optional Ongoing Mentorship

For communities that would like continued support after a workshop or retreat, optional mentorship offers a way to build on what we begin together.

Music Director & Leadership Mentorship

Online sessions focused on your singers and your program, with guidance on vocal technique, warm-ups, rehearsal strategies, and questions that arise along the way.

Follow-Up Group Voice Lessons

Online sessions to revisit exercises, reinforce vocal skills, and help your community apply what they learned to their regular singing.

Individual Instruction

Optional private online lessons for singers who would benefit from continued individual attention.

Customized Continued Support

Choose a combination of leadership coaching, group sessions, individual instruction, or return visits that fits your community’s needs and schedule.

Ongoing mentorship is arranged separately and can be discussed when planning your visit or afterward.

What communities are saying…

“Heidi quickly became an indispensable part of our music training conference. Her presentations were clear and relevant to so many issues that singers face. Every student who went to her left feeling as if their life had changed within the course of a single 20 minute lesson. Not only that, she is personable and completely dedicated to the musical art.”

- Giorgio Navarini (Floriani)

“Heidi is an incredibly smart singer and teacher, passionate about helping her students better understand the art of singing and how to adapt to the diverse situations and styles which make for a robust musical career. Her group sessions give motivation and high-impact take-aways for singers to implement. ”

- Dr. Jennifer Donelson-Nowicka, (founder, Catholic Institute of Sacred Music)