About Martín

A Life in Performance. A Commitment to Teaching

For more than 30 years, I have built a career as an actor, singer, and educator across Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, opera, television, and film. Performing has taken me into extraordinary rehearsal rooms and allowed me to work alongside artists who continually deepen my understanding of storytelling, technique, and the demands of a professional career.

Teaching gives me the opportunity to share what I have learned while helping each student discover what is uniquely their own.

I believe strong technique should create freedom—not restriction. My goal is to help singers and actors develop healthy, reliable tools while building the confidence to communicate with honesty and individuality. I meet each artist where they are, adapting our work to their experience, goals, and way of learning.

Because I remain active as a professional performer, I also bring a current understanding of what is happening in today’s audition rooms, rehearsal halls, stages, and studios. I understand the vulnerability of learning something new, the discipline required to sustain a career, and the importance of having a supportive place in which to take risks.

Professional Career

My Broadway credits include Buena Vista Social Club, How to Dance in Ohio, On Your Feet!, The King and I, La Cage aux Folles, Coram Boy and Man of La Mancha. I have also performed at The Public Theater, The Old Globe, New York City Opera, and leading regional theatres across the country.

My television and film work includes appearances in Netflix’s Archive 81, FBI, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Hostages, The Many Saints of Newark and other projects.

These experiences allow me to offer students more than technical instruction. I can help them understand how technique, preparation, professionalism, adaptability, and artistic instinct work together in a professional environment.

For more about my career as a performing artist, visit MartínSolá.com.

Education and Vocal Training

I earned a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Florida State University, where I had the good fortune of studying with the late Roy Delp, and a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Illinois, where I studied with the late William Miller. These two extraordinary teachers established the technical foundation of my singing. Their lessons in technique, musicianship, discipline, and exploration became the groundwork upon which I have continued to build throughout my life as a performer and teacher.

At Florida State, another important figure entered my life: Dr. André Thomas, my choral director and mentor. His guidance reached far beyond music and the rehearsal room. He encouraged and believed in me during an important period of growth, and our relationship developed into a friendship that continued for decades after my graduation. I remain deeply grateful for the role he played in helping a young artist begin to find his way.

FSU also gave me two friendships that have traveled with me throughout my life. Dr. Eric Tucker, now at Central Michigan University, Professor Eric Van Hoven, now at Lafayette College, and I were fellow students drawn together by a shared fascination with singing and the human voice. We spent countless hours in practice rooms experimenting, questioning, trying new techniques, and learning from one another. More than 35 years later, those friendships—and that shared fascination with the voice—remain very much alive. We continue to exchange ideas, explore different approaches to vocal technique, and learn from one another, just as we did as young singers at FSU.

Looking back, I realize that my education at FSU was about much more than earning a degree. It gave me extraordinary teachers, mentors, colleagues, and lifelong friends—and established a spirit of exploration that has remained at the heart of my work ever since.

Voice Training

After moving to New York, I continued my vocal development with Dr. Robert White of The Juilliard School; Arthur Levy and Mark Oswald of the Manhattan School of Music; Fred Carama of Stony Brook University; and Myra Vassian of The Juilliard School. I also spent several years studying voice and the Alexander Technique with Katherine Keyes of New York City Opera, and continued my vocal studies with James Pierce, a dear friend and colleague from New York City Opera.

Among the many gifted teachers I encountered during those years, Dr. White, Myra, Katherine, and James hold a particularly special place in my development. Each went well beyond the traditional role of teacher, generously sharing their time, knowledge, encouragement, and care. As both a teachers and fellow artists, they brought the perspective of trusted colleagues and friends to our work together. Their support came at important moments in my journey, and their generosity has remained with me throughout my career.

My studies also took me beyond New York. I traveled to Montréal to work with the wonderful Adrienne Savoie, who taught at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and the Université de Montréal. Her teaching had a lasting influence on my development as both a singer and an artist.

Each of these teachers brought a different perspective to vocal production, musicality, physical awareness, and artistic expression. Together, they expanded the foundation established by my earliest teachers and helped shape one of the principles at the heart of my own teaching: there is no single approach that serves every voice.

Acting, Voice and Speech Training

One of the most important relationships in my development as an actor began during The King and I on Broadway, where I shared a dressing room with James Saito. At the time, I was still finding my way as an actor, and James generously took me under his wing. He attended my rehearsals, coached me for auditions, shared his experience and insight, and became both a trusted mentor and a dear friend. His generosity and belief in me had a profound influence on my growth as an actor and on the direction of my career. Eventually, James encouraged me to study with his own teacher, the renowned Carol Rosenfeld at HB Studio, continuing a lineage of training for which I remain deeply grateful.

Another pivotal mentor in my development was the late Charles Tuthill of the Atlantic Theater Company. Charles took a personal interest in me and my growth as an actor. He coached me through countless auditions, challenged and encouraged me, and played an instrumental role in helping me gain admission to The Public Theater’s prestigious Shakespeare Lab. His guidance continued until his passing, and losing him meant losing not only a gifted teacher, but a trusted mentor and friend.

After Charles passed, I went several years without finding a true home for my acting study. That changed when I met Rob McCaskill of McCaskill Studios. After my very first class, I knew I had found the teacher for me. Rob has since become invaluable to my continued growth—as a teacher, coach, mentor, and friend. He has guided me through many of the most important auditions and bookings of my career, while continuing to challenge me to deepen the work and grow as an actor.

Looking back, I feel extraordinarily fortunate that James Saito, Charles Tuthill, and Rob McCaskill came into my life at different moments in my journey. Each offered something unique, but all three gave generously of themselves and took a genuine interest in my growth. Their mentorship has shaped not only the actor I have become, but also the kind of teacher and mentor I strive to be for others

My broader acting training has included the late Freddy Kareman at Carnegie Studios, and study at The Barrow Group. My voice and speech training for the actor has included work with the late Robert Perillo, Keely Wolter, and Julie Congress. My classical training has included Shakespeare workshops with renowned actor and teacher Dakin Matthews. In 2012, I was selected to participate in The Public Theater’s prestigious Shakespeare Lab - a rigorous seven-week classical acting training program led by Barry Edelstein and Ron Van Lieu.

Teaching Experience

From 2021 to 2024, I had the privilege of teaching voice at Yale University through the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater. Many of my students came to me with little or no formal vocal training, but they brought tremendous curiosity and a willingness to work. Through individual voice lessons, I watched them develop greater technique, confidence, and artistry, with many going on to take leading roles in Yale’s vibrant campus theater community. Watching that growth was one of the great rewards of my time there.

From 2022 to 2024, I taught group voice at the Institute for American Musical Theatre (IAMT). This presented a different and valuable challenge: learning how to guide an entire class on a shared vocal journey while still recognizing the individual needs of each singer. Balancing ensemble work with attention to smaller groups and individual voices taught me a great deal and expanded my own approach as an educator.

My time as an Artist-in-Residence at Lafayette College from 2012 to 2013 allowed me to work across several disciplines. I taught private voice as well as Acting Shakespeare in the Theater Department, participated in the development of the new play On Aging, and presented Amor y Desengaño, a concert exploring the music of Puerto Rican bolero singer Gilberto Monroig. That experience brought together many of the things I value most—singing, acting, teaching, collaboration, and the development of new work.

Alongside my institutional teaching, I have maintained a private studio serving established professionals, emerging singers, dancers developing their voices, and college-bound performers.

Whether someone is preparing for a first audition, seeking admission to a college or conservatory, stepping into a leading role, or maintaining vocal health through an eight-show week, I approach the work with patience, curiosity, and respect for the individual artist.

Academic and Teaching Experience

For a more detailed overview of my teaching, training, directing, and professional experience, you are welcome to view my teaching CV.

Where My Students Work

My students have built careers across Broadway, national tours, television, film, opera, and regional theatre.

TV/Film:

The OA (Netflix), Madam Secretary (CBS), Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon), Hostages (CBS), Off Duty (NBC pilot), Lights Out (FX), Blue Bloods (CBS), It’s Complicated (starring Meryl Streep), Seeds - feature film

Broadway:

Buena Vista Social Club, Yellow Face, The Notebook, A Wonderful World, Percy Jackson The Lightning Thief, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, A Bronx Tale, Anastasia, On Your Feet!, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, Little Me

West End: Paper Dolls

National Tours: The Notebook, Wicked, The King and I, On Your Feet, Pacific Overtures, Flower Drum Song, South Pacific, Porgy and Bess, Ragtime, The Wizard of Oz.

Regional Theater:

The Public Theater, Kennedy Center, Madison Square Garden, Berkeley Repertory Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, The Denver Center, Arena Stage, North Shore, The Signature Theater, The Shakespeare Theater (D.C.), The Muny, Portland Center Stage, The Pioneer Theater, The Walnut Street Theater, Theater Under The Stars, The Olney Theater, The Human Race Theater, American Musical Theater of San Jose, NYMF, The Fulton Opera House, Media Theater, Bristol Riverside Theater, New York City Opera, as well as many other regional theaters, off-Broadway shows, and Cruise lines.

The Work We Share

The greatest reward of teaching is watching artists begin to trust themselves. Technique provides the foundation, but confidence, curiosity, and the freedom to communicate are what allow an artist to connect with an audience.

Wherever you are in your journey, I would be glad to learn more about your goals and welcome you into the studio.