Biography
Amanda (Pogach) Panaccione has always been a strong ally of the LGBTQ+ community. Her background as a classically trained professional singer gives her a unique advantage for teaching voice feminization and masculinization techniques to transgender and gender nonconforming individuals.
Amanda is originally from Northwest Indiana. She began her career receiving her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance from Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities, respectively, in Nashville, TN. Since 2005, she has been singing leading roles with professional opera and musical theatre companies around the world. She also enjoys singing repertoire from various musical genres for concerts and events.
Amanda began teaching voice (singing as well as healthy speaking techniques) and beginning piano in 2009 in Nashville, and relocated her studio to New Haven, CT in 2012. In 2013 she was inspired to develop a unique approach to voice feminization and masculinization and added Gender Expression Voice Training to her teaching specialties. In 2019 Amanda relocated her studio to Melbourne, FL, where she continues to teach Gender Expression Voice Training, singing, healthy speaking techniques, beginning piano, and musical skills locally at her studio, as well as virtually to students world-wide.
For further information regarding lesson types other than Gender Expression Voice Training, please visit APMusicStudios.com.
Mission and Inspiration
My mission is to help transgender and gender nonconforming individuals discover and express their authentic voice. Shortly after moving to New Haven, I was contacted by a transgender woman who expressed a desperate need for help with voice feminization. She shared that she feared for her safety walking down the street having a feminine appearance and a masculine-sounding voice. While my heart went out to her, I had no prior experience with voice feminization.
After doing extensive research, I realized that every bit of information I discovered was founded on the same principles I had been using throughout my own career—performing professionally, as well as teaching singing and healthy speaking. The fundamentals were all the same: breathing, pitch, resonance, diction, registration, articulation, volume, phrasing, vocal quality, etc... With this realization, I agreed to teach her. As she developed the ability to express her authentic voice, I gained invaluable insight into the vocal struggles of transitioning individuals. Soon after that, I found several more individuals with similar struggles. Through the unique program I had developed, they each made tremendous progress in expressing their authentic voice.
During my years in Connecticut, I was also able to connect with and help many individuals who I met at the New Haven Pride Center. I enjoyed being an active supporter of the community there and participating in various events and activities. One of my fondest memories was performing at the Pride Block Party (see above photo).
My passion lies in being able to use my training and skills to help improve the lives of my students, and I hope to continue to extend my outreach here in Florida, as well as virtually, around the world.