All his life my artist friend Kevin wanted to sing, write songs, and play guitar; but he couldn't because he was dyslexic, and he couldn't perceive pitches correctly. After recovering from those so-called deficits through the Tomatis Listening Method, which included "Earobics," daily exercises to improve his listening skills, Kevin began voice coaching and songwriting sessions with me.
I was fascinated by Kevin's story. He cried with joy the day he could finally hear music and speech the way they really sounded. All his life, he had been unaware that he was not hearing the full spectrum of sound from music. He knew he couldn't sing in tune because people told him so. Only his left inner ear and brain were coordinated in listening, instead of both ears and hemispheres.
Such mismatching results in communication and memory problems; a myriad of "learning disabilities" like auditory processing syndrome, ADD, ADHD, autism, depression, and more. Children with these problems are put into "special" classes in school with the stigma of "classified." They suffer academically and socially. And there has been no effective treatment; that is, until people discovered the ground-breaking work of Alfred A. Tomatis, a French Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist, who designed a listening program to overcome difficulties with speech, singing, memory, attention and more. To find out about The Tomatis Method and how it can change one's life, Google it. Hundreds of search results will greet you.
My friend Kevin loaned me a book about Tomatis' work, When Listening Comes Alive, by Paul Madaule, a Tomatis client. As I read, it became clear that my 12-year old voice student was unaware she could not sing in tune. In a song, she would skip in and out of many keys—with an air of total confidence. I suspected a brain problem early on when I would play a major scale leaving out the last "do," myself feeling the tension…the desire to resolve to that last "do." On the edge of my seat, I asked Casey, what she wanted to hear. She looked at me mystified. Like I was crazy--"What do you mean?" I would resolve to the home note, then, retry the test. And there was no "teaching" how to hear the "do."
Casey had a listening problem. An organic brain/ear problem.
Otherwise...Casey has a lovely voice and seems "born for the stage." She can act, dance, has no performance anxiety, and is full of confidence about her singing—because, she has been unaware of her deficit. In 40 years of training singers, this was my first experience of a talented person with great aspirations to whom it was a mystery why she was not auditioning well and winning roles.
I told Casey and her mom that the causes of her vocal problems were her inner ear, bone conduction, and a problem in her brain. Only then, did her mom tell me Casey was in special classes in school with special accommodations; diagnosed with auditory processing problems, communication problems, and generally, doing poorly. Her mother hadn't made the connection between the auditory processing problem and poor singing. Years of special accommodations in school, and standard psychotherapy had not helped Casey's academic and social problems.
It was only a month earlier that Kevin came to me with new enthusiasm for singing. He sang well, was a good guitar player and was writing terrific songs. Kevin appeared with the Tomatis information at just the right time for me to help Casey and her mom. I put his mother in touch with Kevin. I told her about how Sting used the method to help with his singing after experiencing hearing loss from loud music. Casey and his mother are hopeful and motivated to work the program. There are Tomatis practitioners all over NJ.
Funny how some things, and some people on their own, just come together at the right time.
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
