Diane Haslam

Mezzo-soprano, Choral Director, Vocal Coach

Diane Haslam, was born in Mansfield, England. After graduating with honours from the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, Diane sang with the BBC Northern Singers and as soloist in concerts and recitals around Britain. With the London-based touring opera company Opera Round-about she sang principal mezzo roles in opera and operetta, performing in small venues all around the London area. She subsequently joined the chorus of the Netherlands Opera Company where she sang as a full-time member for 7 years, during which time she also performed as soloist on Dutch television and radio, and with the Netherlands Opera Studio.She moved to Cincinnati, USA, in 1990 where she developed a private voice studio, sang as soloist in recitals and opera, and was a founder member of the a capella septet, VoiceBox, with whom she toured the Midwest and made a commercial recording. She was creator and director of a Words and Music recital series at the historic Mercantile Library in downtown Cincinnati. On moving to South Carolina in 2004, Diane taught as Professor of Voice at Newberry College and at the University of South Carolina, teaching applied voice lessons, and creating and leading courses in Vocal Literature, Vocal Diction, Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy. She was also conductor of the University Women’s Choir and director of Opera Workshop.

A passionate advocate of choral singing, Diane was founder (in 2005) and musical director of Aiken Singers, a community choir in South Carolina, Belles Canto teen girls choir, and Bellini girls (ages 7-12) choral group. She was also Music Director of South Boundary Singers men!s vocal ensemble from 2016-20. Each of her choirs performed 8-10 public concerts a year, as well as regularly singing for Nursing Homes and in Retirement Communities. In collaboration with the Aiken Civic Orchestra, Diane directed the orchestra along with her choirs in several combined choral/orchestral concerts. Diane’s personal philosophy of singing led her to write a book on singing, The Heart of Singing: Steps on the Path to Becoming the Singer You Want to Be, which was published in 2011 and is available on Amazon in print or on Kindle. Her book has been used as the basis course text for singing performance courses in higher education, most recently at the Long Island School for the Arts in New York. In her private voice studio, Vocal Dimensions, Diane has taught hundreds of students ages 8 - 85, both professional and amateur. As well as private tuition, she offers classes, workshops, and seminars in vocal technique and performance for both beginners and advanced students. She has led vocal Master Classes and Choral Workshops in both the USA and England and has developed a Singing for Well Being class for adults, and a Vocal Initiative Workshop for young singers, using exercises specifically developed by Diane.