Jaron M. LeGrair

Jaron’s unique voice has influenced his artistry as well as his teaching. As a budding pedagogue specializing in contemporary music styles, his research on The Comparison of Vibrato Between Classical Tenors and Gospel Tenors has been presented in various seminars and classes, including the 2014 Voice Forum at The Ohio State University.

His quest for further knowledge of the pedagogy of modern singing styles is a result of his upbringing. As a child, he sang soprano in his church’s children’s choir. He continued singing Gospel as he grew older, but branched out into musical theater and classical music in middle school as a result of attending a performing arts institution. This trend continued through his high school career and ended up being what he would study in college. Even while training in these other styles, Jaron never stopped singing Gospel.

By means of his one-of-a-kind voice and background, Jaron has been able to perform on the classical stage, the church house, and many other venues as a soloist and chorus member. Currently, he is the only male alto in Ricky Dillard & New Generation Chorale, a Grammy nominated gospel choir based out of Chicago. He has also sung on operatic stages and performed main stage roles like “Mingo” in Porgy & Bess. In addition to his operatic experiences, he has performed in many recitals, concerts, and oratorios including Magnificat in D major by J. S. Bach and Mozart’s Requiem. Jaron has also been a finalist in several national competitions including the Orpheus Vocal Competition and Kentucky Bach Choir’s Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition.

His growing experience as a teacher is a result of his unique experience and expertise as a singer and performer. He has given workshops for gospel soloists and gospel choirs, and has also been a vocal coach and consultant for artists, groups, and choirs. His most recent ventures include Akron Symphony’s Gospel Meets Symphony and Opera’s Greatest Moments.

What most don’t know about Jaron is his history of speech and communication difficulties as a child that influenced his development of the speaking voice and care for the professional voice user. Throughout infancy and elementary school, he was frequently ill which forced him to spend many nights in the hospital. Within the early years of treatment and rehabilitation, he was given steroids to aid in the healing process. As a side effect of the medicines, the frontal lobe of his brain was slightly affected, altering speech and communication. His speech was mostly incomprehensible which made it nearly impossible for him to communicate with anyone besides immediate family. As a result of these past experiences, Jaron also desires to marry his love for music and voice science to help those who have voice and speech complications as well as professional voice users.

Jaron currently holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from The University of Akron and a Master of Arts in Voice Pedagogy from The Ohio State University and is a Doctoral student at Shenandoah University where he studies Voice Pedagogy.