Paloma Bruce

Paloma Bruce

Paloma Bruce is an opera singer from Wellington who is passionate about teaching singing.  She has a Bachelor of Music with first class honours from Victoria University majoring in Performance Voice. She has recently returned from the United Kingdom where she worked as a freelance opera singer and singing teacher after briefly studying at the Royal College of Music in London. Highlights were singing the role of Helen of Troy in front of City Hall in London and performing in the world première of Dove’s Mansfield Park in the Duke of Buccleuch’s Boughton House.

Before leaving for the UK, Paloma was one of four Dame Malvina Major Foundation PWC Emerging Artists with New Zealand Opera and studied leading roles with the company. Paloma was a winner of the Wellington and Napier Aria competitions and runner up in the Lockwood Aria (now the New Zealand Aria) as well as a semi­finalist in the Lexus Song Quest. Paloma was an AMP Scholarship winner as well as being supported by the Victoria League, Rotary and Garibaldi Club.

Paloma has performed leading roles in operas and operettas in both New Zealand and the UK. She has extensive performance experience, having performed solo to audiences of over 100,000, recorded for radio and television, performed pre-­match entertainment for international rugby matches and performed solo with world-class orchestras, choirs and even a dixie band! Although specialising in opera, Paloma enjoys a wide variety of music and to share that love of music with her pupils. Paloma has taught singing for over 15 years, initially in New Zealand and then in the Paloma Bruce Singing Studio in London and The Bristol Voice Studio in the UK. She has taught at secondary and primary schools in New Zealand and the UK, more recently Colston’s School in Bristol. She has coached international recording artists and given advice to international artist management companies.

Paloma enjoys helping singers that have vocal problems or who have hit a plateau in their development as a singer. She is very successful in helping people who can’t sing in tune, as well as helping experienced singers to use their voice with less tension and more control.

Common problems that Paloma helps singers with include: tongue and jaw tension, confusion over correct posture while singing, confusion over different breathing techniques, problems with clarity of diction, lack of resonance and voice projection. Paloma can help singers prepare for professional auditions, conservatoire/university auditions and school exams. Paloma focuses on teaching her pupils to become masters of their own voices and vocal development. She is interested in helping pupils to feel what they are doing technically and physically, rather than just imitating what they hear, so that they can learn to develop a strong and reliable technique that they trust and enjoy.

Paloma has studied with a variety of teachers and has experienced different techniques and methods of teaching so is able to adjust her teaching to suit each individual singer. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge in a way that will help each singer for the rest of their life.