Name: Ailie-Jane Reid
PhD Title: Strategy to aid adult classical singers with dyslexia in their self-regulated rehearsals when learning and memorizing a new song.
Department: Music
Supervisors: Prof Raymond McDonald and Dr Graeme Wilson
E-mail: s1362948@sms.ed.ac.uk
Biography
Ailie-Jane Reid was born in Northumberland and trained from an early age to become a classical singer. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music with a B.A. in Music, majoring in performance, and went on to tour and sing professionally both in the U.K. and internationally. Ailie has worked with Ben Zander of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, U.S.A. and has sung as a soloist with various orchestras and conductors, her most notable recent performances were a solo performance for the King and Queen of Norway and a recital with the Northern Sinfornietta at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland. She has worked as a singing coach for several years both in the U.K. and Norway and gives regular masterclasses in vocal technique and performance. Ailie’s passions lie not only in performance, but also in the pedagogy of singing. Her current research hopes to focus on strategies that professional and semi-professional classical singers with dyslexic can utilise in order to excel in their chosen field.
Ailie has recently completed her Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Travelling Fellowship, and has completed courses in the following music methods:
- Kodaly – Master Singers Course and Music Pedagogy Courses, Edinburgh and Hungary
- Dalcroze – Pedagogy Course, St Andrews, Scotland and Switzerland
- Suzuki and Singing – Teacher Training Course Vantaa , Finland
- Orff – Pedagogy Course, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.
- The Gordon Music Learning Theory Course – Buffalo. U.S.A.
- Kodaly/ Gordon- Teacher Training Course – Wichita Falls U.S.A.
- Suzuki – Masterclasses Observations, Matsumoto, Japan.
Research Interests
- Pedagogy of professional classical singers
- Rehearsal and performance techniques of classical singers with dyslexia.
- Deficits and strategies of classical singers with dyslexia
- Dalcroze, Kodaly and Suzuki, Orff, and the Gordon music theory methods
- Multisensory methods of teaching music to adult dyslexics
- Learning and memorizing strategies of classical adult singers with dyslexia.
Musical Interests
- Ailie is an International Soprano and has performed in Scandinavia and Scotland.
- Classical music/opera Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini with a passion for Mozart and Puccini.
- Traditional jazz and big band music.
Publications
Current strategies available to aid young adult classical singers with dyslexia, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship Report 2014/2015.
Invited Lectures & Conference Presentations
2018-A Positive Approach to Singers with Dyslexia-Cargilfield School Edinburgh. 7th June 2018
2013- Masterclass- The art of singing and performing – Ford/Etal, Northumberland
2014- The Science Festival Edinburgh, The science of acoustics and singing. Rosslyn Chapel.
2015- The Science Festival Edinburgh, The science of singing. Rosslyn Chapel.
Performances/Recordings
Funding Awarded
Vacation Travel Scholarships 2015, Gwen Clutterbuck & Kenneth Leighton Memorial Scholarship
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship 2014/2015
The Finzi Trust
The Radcliffe Trust
Teaching
A professional ‘Bel Canto’ vocal coach in Edinburgh and Northumberland, teaching students with and without dyslexia
Other
Online Blog dyslexicopera.com