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Healing Through Singing
September 2-3, 2000 L.A. Times

Glendale resident coaches voices of the stars, trains cast members for theater. - Katherine Tolford

GLENDALE - Edward Sayegh puts the song into people's hearts. As a voice teacher to the stars, the Glendale resident has coached such famous performers as Linda Ronstadt and Matthew Broderick. He's also been retained to coach cast members from such major theatrical productions as "Phantom of the Opera," "Les Miserables," "Miss Saigon" and "Beauty and the Beast" and he's served as a consultant to Oliver Stone, Steven Spielberg and David Foster.

Originally trained as a pianist, Sayegh studied in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Europe.

"I was trained in pop, theater and classical music by the greatest teachers in the world. I sought them out," Sayegh says.

By the age of 21, he had won 22 piano competitions throughout the United States. He has performed as a pianist with the L.A. Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. In 1995, he was invited to perform for the King and Queen of Jordan.

But Sayegh says he always loved the voice and knew he wanted to be involved with it. In the mid-1980s, while on tour as a concert pianist, he got the chance. Administrators at UC Berkeley offered him a job teaching voice. Then he got a call to coach members of the "Cats" production in
San Francisco.

"I ended up working with the whole company. From there, it just snowballed. I started working with the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Met operas. I realized this was my calling. I've been doing it for the last 20 years," says Sayegh, who maintains studios in New York, San Francisco and
Los Angeles.

Sayegh keeps singers and actors in good vocal and physical shape with a technique he specializes in called the Vocal Intensive.

"I take students through a series of physical and vocal exercises which create a range and a sound that is beyond belief," Sayegh says.

He says voice is a very empowering thing and that you don't have to be a singer to experience the healing that can occur through singing, sound and vibration.

"I think I help change people's lives on a daily basis," Sayegh says. I can be a base for my students when they're discovering the colors, the levels of their voice. I can help them find empowerment through their voice."