start your musical journey with da capo

Our mission is to offer quality musical instruction in the heart of Northwest Washington, D.C. We want to bring the incredible gift of music to the community by teaching conservatory-level techniques backed by both scientific evidence and insider knowledge of the music industry. Do you ever wish you could learn the right way to master your instrument? Come to us and we will help you uncover the truth.

Esther tonea

Esther won the 2022 Metropolitan Opera National Laffont Competition and is a recent graduate of the Adler Fellowship, San Francisco Opera’s elite training program for tomorrow’s star singers. She has premiered and workshopped operas by American composer-librettist duo Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer with Houston Grand Opera, Opera San Jose, and the Merola Opera Program and recently premiered a work for soprano, chorus, and orchestra by Jonathan Leshnoff with Santa Rosa Symphony. This season she performed the one-woman opera Another Sunrise with Atlanta Opera and performed the soprano solos in Carmina Burana with the Charleston Symphony and Richmond Ballet as well as Haydn's The Creation with the Washington National Opera Orchestra and City Choir of Washington. She was a 2024 finalist and semifinalist in the Elizabeth Connell and Tenor Viñas international competitions in London and Barcelona.

Esther holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (MM Voice) and the University of Georgia (BM Cello Performance, BM Vocal Performance).

Dashiell waterbury

Dash is a rarity among American voice teachers: a singer and teacher with a direct lineage to one of history’s greatest vocal experts: Arturo Melocchi. Dash is a 4th generation Melocchi student, having studied under Spanish tenor Rafael Vazquez, who studied under Metropolitan Opera star James McCray, who studied under world-famous tenor Mario del Monaco, Melocchi’s greatest student. Dash’s technical approach also descends directly from the original bel canto master, Manuel Garcia. The techniques of these two vocal giants created the greatest voices of the twentieth century, and have been nearly lost. In the United States, there is hardly anyone offering this training.

Dash brings the expertise of these bel canto greats into the studio, helping students master of the most difficult aspects of voice building:

• Building legato line and breath support

• Increasing cut and developing squillo

• Dramatically increasing range

• Identifying fach and approaching repertoire

WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT ESTHER AND DASH

“Esther is a fabulous cello teacher! She’s been a great fit for both of my daughters.”
“I highly recommend Esther. Her knowledge of vocal pedagogy is very clear, and she’s great to work with.”
“Her lessons are very clear, educational, and she’s a hands-on teacher. Great pacing and teaching style.”

“I will carry what I learned from Esther into the years ahead.”

“I couldn’t have gotten into my university program without Dash’s help.”
“Dash is incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated to teaching. He is a joy to work with!”
“He taught me so much. His teaching style is clear and he’s so passionate about the music.”

call or text 530-209-2964 today!