Della Henry - Voice, Piano
Della Henry is an international award-winning soprano, master educator, recording artist and producer with proven track record with 30 years of experience in well over 500 stage performances and a decade teaching female voice, piano, and violin. Della's musical education began at home, as per the family tradition, at age 5 at the piano bench - seated on a phone book. Then at age 8 she started private lessons on the violin - she had already gained confidence and strong abilities through these early, wonderful years of rehearsals and recitals by the time she was chosen to be an original member of the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra. Next she began formal voice training at age 15, won the state NATS competition, then Della studied at Oklahoma City University.
Music led her to New York City where she studied voice with Juilliard's “Connect with the Breath” Legend, Oren L. Brown and Broadway Coach Stephanie Samaras, along with acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. Due to these great teachers, and many others through the years, Della has been teaching since the 90s in New York City and has continued to teach piano, violin and voice to students from every walk of life, in three languages, ages 5 to 75 during her postings to Uruguay and Brazil. This broad spectrum of styles and ages makes her an empathetic, patient, yet sturdy mentor/teacher.
As a performer she herself is constantly learning. So far, she has performed lead roles in 20 operas, an Off-Broadway show, at the National Theatre of Brazil for Carmina Burana, plus many other symphonies, oratorios, orchestral concerts, 2 CD productions*, television, commercials, and magazines in places ranging from Oklahoma to Alaska, New York City to Buenos Aires, Brasília & Rio de Janeiro to London & Paris. *Her 2004 classical recital CD, entitled “Sonoras” became the single highest selling independent CD in Brazil and she was awarded the Maria Inês Wit Award and was made an Honorary Member of the Academia Internacional de Cultura.
Della brings a wealth of real-world experience that demonstrates how an appreciation of developing core technical skills will exponentially improve a student's results. She knows that we are able to create and be more than the sum of our parts, from this depth of knowledge and experience and inspires her students to develop their own hidden abilities - through music.
Ms. Della teaches at our Bellaire studio on Thursdays.
Why Choose AMA?
At the American Music Academy, we believe that everyone should experience the joy of making music. Our goal is to provide an environment of education that is welcoming to all ages. Coming from generations of musicians, founders Wyatt and Laura Coleman have hand selected a team of professional and passionate musicians to bring quality music education to Houstonians. Our faculty has instrument-specific degrees from acclaimed universities all around the country. Our teachers tailor their music lessons to each student based on their individual goals. We offer the most comprehensive lessons in Houston, which include theory, ear training, sight reading technique, performance skills, and repertoire. Our brand new, state-of-the-art facilities located in Meyerland include a comfortable lounge with free Wi-Fi, water, magazines, and toys for children to play with as they wait for their lesson to begin. Spacious studio rooms are equipped with quality upright pianos, music stands, and mirrors to monitor progress. The American Music Academy takes pride in supplying our students with the best upright pianos to practice their modern or classical repertoire. Students will be able to use the full capabilities of a piano including dynamics, pedaling, musical phrasing, and dramatic interpretation. Students will be able to participate in seasonal recitals at one of Houston’s many venues. Recitals, included in their tuition, display each student’s personal achievements in their instrument. Our students have the option to perform piano, guitar, violin, viola, voice/singing, cello, and drums!