Margaret Wyatt

Background and Training

Ms Wyatt studied voice under Miss Blanche Thebom and Mr Thomas Hayward. She enjoyed a career in both opera and musical theatre, working throughout the United States with various regional Opera Companies and locally with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre and Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Her piano studies were with Mrs. Ida Johnson Hemenway, a highly regarded teacher of piano, known throughout the state of Arkansas.

Many of her students have been awarded scholarships to colleges and universities and have been cast in leading roles in musical theatre productions.

She has taught piano and voice in Little Rock for over 25 years. All lessons are private, all levels are welcome.

Memberships: Music Teachers National Association. Arkansas State Music Teachers Association. Music Teachers Association of Central Arkansas. American Guild of Musical Artists ( AGMA)

Testimonials

Kelley Ponder

Margaret Wyatt is one of the best private voice teachers in Little Rock. She is completely committed to her students and the art of singing. I studied with Margaret over a period of approximately 10 years, and I would not hesitate to call her for help with any vocal issue that I might have.

John Willis

Miss Margaret first entered my life as an elegant, commanding presence that would occasionally grace the piano bars I frequently played in my twenties. It was through this association that she eventually asked me to come work as accompanist for her studio. Throughout the two-year relationship playing for lessons and recitals, I saw the younger students I accompanied grow and mature from week to week, often returning after a weekend having nailed an audition or merited high marks at a competition. I watched Miss Margaret guide her students with a keen balance of motherly compassion and understanding on the one hand and on the other an uncompromising, assiduous commitment to bringing forth her students' best in performance and in musical integrity.

As a lifelong musician - a classically trained pianist and a self-styled singer/songwriter, I came to a point in my own musical development that I wanted a voice teacher. I had shied away from vocal training in the past due to the ill-conceived notion that vocal instruction was only for classical singers and because, as a struggling musician, I was afraid I could not afford to take private instruction. As I continued to work for Miss Margaret and started to experiment with some of what I picked up from her instructing other students, I realized that, if I wanted to succeed as a performer, I could not afford not to learn how to sing as well as I possibly can. I asked Miss Margaret to be my teacher in the summer of 2012, and thus began one of the greatest periods of growth and flowering in my life, both as an artist and as a person. The power to sing with ever-lessening inhibition or restriction, of learning to apprehend adequately and trust the breath, the access to vocal colors and spaces that were hitherto off-limits, and the confidence that rests not in "Am I good enough?" or "Am I doing it right?" but in "I can and I will," these are some of the first fruits of studying with Miss Margaret. On a more particular note, the jaw and neck pain I experienced during and after performances for years has disappeared, my posture has improved in ways that yoga and strength training had failed to correct on their own, and I have the stamina for performing longer sets that I never had before. Finally, after years of being "the accompanist" or the "piano player," I am being sought out as a vocalist, something I have always dreamed for

Matthew Ponder

I have taken piano lessons from Miss Margaret for 10 years, and it's been such a blessing. For all that time the skills I've learned have brought joy to myself and others. She is an expert and a devoted teacher, and I wouldn't have those skills without her.

Kate Redden East

It was a lifelong dream of mine to perform in a musical. When Margaret Wyatt told me she could teach anyone to sing I didn't believe her, but had to give it a try. Three years later and she has not only enabled me to audition and be cast in two musicals, but the techniques I have learned improved my communication skills, confidence and ability to speak in front of groups of people. She expects hard work and diligence, and in return provides excellent guidance, encouragement and instruction.

Polly Hall

I began taking lessons with Miss Margaret Wyatt when I was 14 years old. I had been taking violin lessons since I was a little girl and a friend who knew I loved to sing referred me to Miss Margaret. She took me under her wing and through our weekly lessons my voice got stronger and so did my confidence.

I loved singing in Miss Margaret's recitals as well as at other performance opportunities she secured at churches and community events. I also sang in my youth group, at churches and in school musicals.

When I graduated and went away to college, I stopped taking lessons with Miss Margaret, but she never stopped being my teacher. I would talk to her while I was away at school and visit her when I came home on break. She always had wonderful advice for me and is still a strong presence in my life.

In college, I continued to study music and I performed regularly in singing groups as well as on my own and in bands. After leaving college I continued to study music in graduate school and have since became a professional composer and producer of music for commercials and television as well as a performer of songs for children and families. I have lived in New York and now in Los Angeles and I take the lessons I learned from Miss Margaret with me wherever I go!

Haley Duhart

I have been a piano student of Ms Wyatt for 5 years and her lessons are always enjoyable. She sees your true potential before you even see it yourself. She is also a very patient person. Not only does she teach you how to play the piano, she teaches you many skills you will need throughout life such as practicing to improve your craft and that nothing will come out well without putting forth your full effort.