LSU Alumnus Credits LSU for His Successful Teaching and Performing Career

June 6, 2007 — Louisiana State University has been home to many famous faces including politicians, actors, and athletes. But sometimes it is those without the fame such as teachers, coaches, or mentors that matter the most.

LSU alumnus Bruce Kolb is one of those individuals outside the spotlight who has played a vital role in getting people where they are today. He has taught, trained, and motivated singers and actors who have performed around the world, including Tony Award winners Glenn Close and Liza Minelli.

Growing up in Mississippi and Louisiana, Kolb was always involved in his school’s choir and music classes. It was in high school when he met his choral director, Everett “Mac” McClung, and McClung’s wife Paula, who became his piano teacher, when Kolb realized that music was much more than a hobby. With their help, he competed in regional and state auditions for piano and voice and spent his time performing in high school plays.

“[The McClungs] were very inspirational and were responsible for my musical education that prepared me so supportively and completely for college,” Kolb said.

While attending Mississippi College Kolb met an LSU professor, Dallas Draper – now retired – who was conducting a choral workshop in Mississippi. Kolb decided to audition for Draper’s voice studio and the LSU A Cappella Choir. With a successful audition, Kolb decided that transferring to LSU’s Music Department would be an ideal place for him to improve and strengthen his vocal abilities and career choices.

While at LSU, Kolb became involved as a member, soloist, and assistant conductor of the LSU A Cappella Choir. With the help of Wallace McKenzie, Kolb’s music history teacher and advisor, he became a founding member of the LSU Collegium Musicum.

Kolb said he enjoyed every aspect of LSU, “but the quality of the teaching and the music program, combined with the spirit of the department, the school, and Baton Rouge,” helped him achieve the musical talent he would go on to share with the world.

After years of studying and performing at LSU, Kolb graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in vocal performance. He then jumped into a career of teaching and performing at places such as Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey and the Boston Conservatory. For the next few years, he performed in opera, oratorio, concert, and music theater, including the American Globe Theater in New York City. He later served as a music director for the company and performed internationally in Bermuda, Central and South America, and Europe.

After nine years of juggling his career, Kolb realized that as much as he loved performing, “teaching has been my calling,” he said. He took a position as voice teacher and choral conductor at Rutgers University and later opened his private studio, Bruce Kolb Voice Studios, in New York City where he still is today.

Over the years, Kolb has watched his students perform at the Metropolitan Opera and on Broadway, while his talents have also led him to teach all over the world. Many of his students have performed in music theater and concert, while others have been first-place winners in national and international competitions.

It is his passion for teaching and love for his students that keeps Kolb inspired every day. He said it is not the shows he has performed in or the stages he has performed on that have given him the greatest rewards; it is seeing his students excel in their performances and knowing it was his help that made it happen.

These days, besides teaching vocal lessons in his studio, Kolb coaches students in singing, acting, movement, vocal pedagogy, and voice therapy. Additionally, he finds himself working behind the cameras as a voice consultant and media coach for many celebrities, including NBC’s news anchors and correspondents.

Over the years, Kolb has learned from and worked with some of the most talented musicians around the country. But it was his education, preparation, and guidance at LSU that he credits the most for his accomplishments.

“My training and support from the faculty at LSU was entirely responsible for launching my teaching and performing career,” he said. “The individual professors who nourished the whole person and helped me to develop my self-esteem were critical to my success. In addition, the wonderful spirit of my classmates, with whom I still maintain contact, helped sustain me.”

Recently, Kolb has returned to LSU to teach in McKenzie’s American Music History class and perform in programs honoring both Draper and McKenzie. He said he would love to come back to LSU when he is not too busy in his voice studio or on the road teaching.

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Contact Abigail Gravois
LSU Office of Public Affairs