Lessons
Lara is currently teaching all private lessons through online platforms. To study in-person please register through Nevada School of the Arts.
With several years of private teaching experience, Lara Vivian Smith currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada where she teaches locally and online at-a-distance. Currently she teaches at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas teaching Jazz and Commercial Voice Lessons, Vocal Styles courses, and directing UNLV’s award-winning Jazz and Commercial Vocal Ensembles: Studio Scarlet, Marlyand Parkway, and Harmon Avenue. In addition to her university teaching, she teaches private voice lessons for kids, teenagers, and adults at the Nevada School of the Arts, located in the historic fourth-street school in Las Vegas. She is a highly-qualified voice teacher and voice specialist holding a Masters in Jazz and Commercial Music Performance from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, succeeding her Bachelors in Classical Voice Performance from the Lionel Hampton School of Music. In 2022, she finished her Certification in Vocology from the National Center for Voice and Speech’s Summer Vocology Institute at the the Utah Center for Vocology, University of Utah. Additionally, Lara is certified in the esteemed LoVetri Institute’s Somatic Voicework™ I, II & III, Dr. Trineice Robinson’s Soul Ingredients™ I, and Heather Lyle’s Vocal Yoga™ HLVYM-I. In 2021 she completed the Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah Conservatory, completing work in Bridging Classical to CCM Training; Discovering Your Roots; Inside Out: an Artist's Journey to Authenticity; Musical Theatre Repertoire Intensive; Musical Theatre Styles; Teaching Pop and Rock Styles; Teaching Young Singers; The Fundamentals of Functional Training; The Injured Singing Voice: Tools for Every Singing Teacher; The Vocal Athlete's Guide to Vocal Wellness and Fitness; Training Original Artists; and Voice Science Bootcamp. On top of her avid teaching and performing careers here in Las Vegas, Lara Vivian Smith is a doctoral candidate at Shenandoah Conservatory from where she plans on graduating with her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Pedagogy: Voice Science in 2025. Her current research focuses on the integration and accessibility of singing for all persons, as well as applications beyond the professional vocal schema.
Her experience teaching spans a variety of genres and contexts. Lara has served as a private voice teacher for over half a decade, while also coaching professional performing groups and young artist development ensembles including the Palouse Project, Vinyl Skies, and Siren. Currently teaching at both the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Nevada School of the Arts, she continues to prioritize the needs of her students modeling student-centered learning and artistic development. Her philosophy of teaching is to “cultivate a safe environment for every unique voice to explore and develop healthy vocal technique directed by the interests of the student”. She has experience performing and teaching within several vocal and musical styles including Contemporary Commercial Music (Pop, R&B, Gospel, Country), Jazz, Classical and Cross-training vocalists, as well as teaching kids and changing voices (adolescent).
Lara is currently accepting limited new students on a case by case basis online, and in-person through the Nevada School of the Arts. For professional coaching and travel-to lessons on set or in-studio, please contact for availability. For information regarding working with her at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, please visit UNLV School of Music website, and follow @unlvjazzcomvocal on Instagram.
Lara Vivian Smith is a member of the Jazz Education Network, The Voice Foundation, Society for Ethnomusicology, Association for Popular Music Education, Pan American Vocology Association, National Association for Teachers of Singing, Somatic Voicework Teachers Association, and Performing Arts Medicine Association.
Student Resources
Resources for current and prospective students.
Pricing and Scheduling
Please submit a contact form or email lara@laravivian.com to schedule your first voice consult/lesson for $25. All lessons, including initial meetings, are currently being conducted online due to space limitations. To study in person please contact Nevada School of the Arts @ (702) 384-2787 .
Pricing:
1/2 Hour Lesson: $40
1 Hour Lesson: $80