As an award-winning music director, vocal technician, and vocal coach, Andy Kust specializes in the multi-faceted training of the contemporary singing actor.
With his studio located in chanhassen, Andy’s clients include professional actors, and select high school students that are auditioning for college and university musical theater programs.
Due to Covid-19, Andy is teaching exclusively online via FaceTime and Zoom. To learn about his college audition coaching, go to TwinCitiesMTTraining.com
Andy has been active as a vocal technician and coach for over a decade, with clients that perform professionally across the country and around the world. With a Master of Music in Theater Music Direction from Arizona State University, and his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Luther College, Andy served on the BFA Musical Theater faculty of the University of Minnesota Duluth and held a faculty associate position with the Lyric Opera Theatre at ASU. Andy has worked as a music director across the country including in the New York City cabaret circuit and at the Kennedy Center. Currently, he serves as the Resident Music Director at The Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, and has served at other theaters including The Ordway, The Hennepin Theatre Trust, The Guthrie, Theatre Latté Da, The Duluth Playhouse, The Phoenix Theatre, and Stray Cat Theatre.
PROJECTS
As soon as it is deemed safe to return to performances, Andy will continue music directing THE MUSIC MAN at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, directed by Michael Brindisi and choreographed by Tamara Kangas Erickson. Following THE MUSIC MAN, Andy will be music directing RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN’S CINDERELLA
This season, Andy will be serving as the Associate Music Director for the Spotlight Awards, produced by the Hennepin Theatre Trust Spotlight Education Program. The program celebrates excellence in the high school musical theater programs around the state of Minnesota.
In the fall of 2020, Andy is leading the College Audition Intensive, presented by Twin Cities Musical Theatre Training.
In December 2020, Andy will be Music Directing SONGS OF THE SEASON, a holiday cabaret at the NorShor Theatre, directed by the new Artistic Director of the Duluth Playhouse, Phillip Fazio.
VOCAL TECHNIQUE
As a vocal technician, I work with my clients to help define, identify, and develop a functional and sustainable vocal technique that can be applied to their artistry as a singing actor and vocal athlete. I am committed to teaching based on the most current advances in vocal science, anatomy, physiology, and acoustics. I am also a member of The New York Singing Teachers Association, and the Musical Theater Educators’ Alliance. Together, we can….
Collect an arsenal of personalized exercises to encourage strength, flexibility, and efficiency in all parts of the vocal instrument.
Develop technical mastery in the development and blending of the vocal registers.
Coordinate the relationships between the breath, the voice, and the resonances.
Identify and apply the differences between the various kinds of mixing and belting.
Employ sustainable practice habits, performance preparedness, and vocal hygiene.
Strategize solutions for coping with the problems that arise from challenging vocal roles.
Develop and maintain professional-level musicianship when learning music.
Practice efficient and effective memorization techniques.
Build a repertoire that challenges, stretches, and reinforces our technical goals.
Provide you with MP3 warm up tracks for when you’re on-the-go.
VOCAL COACHING
As a vocal coach, I work with my clients to find and excavate songs that showcase their type, their brand, and their talents. I keep a busy schedule as a professional music director, audition accompanist, masterclass presenter, and national tour substitute keyboardist, which allows me to keep my fingers on the pulse of the trends in the business of musical theater. Together, we can….
Build a book of repertoire from my library of over 1,000 musical theater scores and hundreds of pop anthologies.
Break down songs dramatically, beat-by-beat, to allow for clear, purposeful storytelling.
Identify and employ the style tags that differentiate and define the eras of musical theater.
Navigate the ever-expanding world of pop/rock musical theater styles.
Create professional-quality accompaniment tracks for practice, auditions, or performances.
Find audition-specific repertoire to focus your goals on upcoming shows or roles.
Refine your audition package so your product is consistent, and your successes are planned and purposeful.
Record your video auditions for online electronic submissions.
Prepare and polish your college audition package.
Provide you with MP3 warm up tracks for when you’re on-the-go.
THE RESULTS
During my career, I have had the privilege to work with hundreds of excellent singing actors, including many that are enjoying healthy careers in the business.
My clients have been seen on Broadway and in the national touring companies of Wicked, Dear Evan Hansen, Frozen, Spring Awakening, and Mean Girls, and have been cast at regional theaters across the country, including The Guthrie, Phoenix Theatre, Goodspeed Opera House, Papermill Playhouse, Asolo Repertory Theatre, The Kennedy Center, The MUNY, The Ordway, The Children’s Theatre (Minneapolis), and Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.
Additionally, as a college audition coach, my clients have been accepted to the musical theater programs at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, University of Michigan, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Ithaca, Syracuse, Florida State University, Arizona State University, Baldwin Wallace University, Drake University, NYU Tisch, NYU Steinhardt, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, Texas State University, Shenandoah University, and the University of Minnesota Guthrie Program.
RATES
$60 for a 60-minute work session.
Contact Andy at andrew.d.kust@gmail.com with any questions or to set up an appointment.