Darren Wicks

Darren Wicks is a vocalist, jazz pianist and choral director with a passion for helping people achieve their vocal potential.  His career spans 30 years and includes: work as a high school music teacher; work with community music groups; studio teaching; directing school and community choirs; musical theatre; university lecturing and teacher education.

Darren’s holds 5 degrees in music, including qualifications in jazz, choir conducting, aural training, a Master of Music Education degree and is one of a few contemporary voice teachers in Australia to hold a PhD in voice pedagogy.  Darren’s doctoral studies looked at the practices of exemplary voice teachers and how these can be used to build models of professional development for singing teachers.

Darren has studied many different approaches to singing and music education; is widely-published; and regularly presents at teacher conferences and workshops. Darren maintains a busy studio in inner Melbourne specialising in vocal techniques for contemporary commercial music and working with artists, university and high school students. He also directs the Melbourne Singers of Gospel, a 120-voice adult community choir, that has achieved national acclaim for its soulful performance style.

Darren teaches on a variety of topics, including: performance, voice technique, correcting vocal faults, musicianship, sight-singing, ear training, choral music, music education. He has a special interest in mentoring teachers, teaching musical skills to singers and supervising academic projects. His musical tastes include jazz, pop, music theatre, blues, soul, RnB and gospel.