Bachelor of Fine Arts (York University)
Katie Thurman is a singer, pianist, accompanist, and teacher based in Toronto. Her passion for music has been with her since childhood, and she is excited to have recently completed her undergraduate degree in music at York University.
Trained classically in piano, she continues to explore other styles including pop and jazz, as well as write her own compositions. Her vocal training is in both classical and musical theatre styles, as well as lengthy choral experience both in and out of school.
Katie spent 6 years singing with WIBI A Cappella, a collegiate-based group, during her time at York, and is proud to have competed with them twice in the ICCA (the very competition the Pitch Perfect films were based on!). Currently, she sings with the Toronto-based That Choir.
Katie loves all types of music, but spends most of her time listening to pop, indie, and alt-pop records.
Katie also writes her own songs and is working towards putting together an EP. Aside from music, Katie’s other passions include baking, film, and psychology. She loves teaching and is always pushing herself to grow pedagogically and musically!
Get to know Katie…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: baking, watching movies/TV, writing, yoga, hiking
Musical influences: Classical: Natalie Dessay, Maria Callas/Pop: Arcade Fire, Lana Del Rey, BANKS, Florence & the Machine, Rhye
Favourite food: Pasta
Least favourite food: Seafood
Favourite music: pop & alt-pop, indie/folk, dance, and all things Celtic
Favourite song: currently “Favourite Boy” by Half Moon Run
Favourite movie: Eighth Grade
Favourite movie music: A Single Man, music composed by Abel Korzeniowski?
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Les Misérables
Best quote from your teacher: Vocal teacher: “Just go for it! We want to hear ‘Katie-and-a-half'”.
Favourite quote: Motivation comes from work
Favourite book: The Handmaid’s Tale
Best thing about teaching at ABC: I like sharing my knowledge with students, and I learn from them too!
Latest Homework from Katie
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Assignments for the Week of April 5, 2025
Shakira
Focusing on reading Lead Sheets – another strategy for reading written music.
Unlike the written music on the grand staff that we’ve been working on (Treble clef and Bass clef showing all notes and rhythms for both of our hands), music written on lead sheets provides us only with our melody and chord symbols. Depending on how/where they are written this can give us information about our rhythm and exact chords we will need to accompany our written melody.
Using our strategies for working through lead sheets as discussed on the following songs:
- Abide with Me
- Amazing Grace
- Scarborough Fair
Clara
Technical Exercises:
- Continuing with D and A Major scales – 1 octave
- Practicing hands separately as blocked hand positions and stepping
- Practicing hands together – Watching for finger 3’s together
- A Major Triads – RH focus – finding triad shapes (root position, 1st inversion, second inversion)
- Practicing finding chord inversions on their own (ex. all of the A Maj. root position triads bottom to top)
- Then practicing moving between chord inversions slowly (ex. moving back and forth between root position and 1st inversion – watching RH finger 1 move between A and C#)
- Watching fingerings – always using fingers 1 and 5 on our outside notes, make sure you know if we need finger 2 or 3 for inside notes.
Bartok – Exercises #7-8
Trampoline – Still thinking about our 3/4 time signature – make sure we don’t accidentally add any extra beats
- Remember: whole rests can either mean we are resting for 4 beats, or we are resting for the whole measure (could be 3 beats, 7, 100, etc.)
- Focusing our RH practice on our large jumps and 2 note chords at the end – watching finger 5
Bluebottle – Now that we are fitting this quite well hands together, we want to make sure we are comfortable fully with our counting.
- Tapping our LH and RH rhythms on our lap (instead of playing on the keyboard) will let us focus on our counting.
- Counting out loud/writing in our counting so we can notice all of our rests (breathing in on rests helps us focus on them when playing!)
- Working on not stopping or hesitating when the pattern between our hands shifts
Preferred Books for Katie’s Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
Faber & Faber Piano Adventures
The 2nd Edition Primer Lesson Book introduces the keyboard, note values, and the grand staff. Students play in C 5-finger scale patterns, develop recognition of steps and skips, and learn letter names independent of finger number. Musicianship is built through the use of dynamics and coloristic experimentation with the pedal. The book is organized into units which represent the major concepts and skills. As new units are introduced, earlier concepts and skills are constantly reviewed.
Alfred's Adult Basic All-In-One
Alfred’s Basic Adult All-in-One Course is designed for use with a piano instructor for the beginning student looking for a truly complete piano course. It is a greatly expanded version of Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course that will include lesson, theory, and technique in a convenient, “all-in-one” format. This comprehensive course adds such features as isometric hand exercises, finger strengthening drills, and written assignments that reinforce each lesson’s concepts. There is a smooth, logical progression between each lesson, a thorough explanation of chord theory and playing styles, and outstanding extra songs, including folk, classical, and contemporary selections.
RCM Voice Repertoire
A Comprehensive Voice Series serves as the official resource for voice assessments of the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program. Featuring an outstanding selection of voice literature and supporting materials, this series offers a truly enriched learning experience to help ensure student success. As in previous editions, Resonance encompasses a rich and varied selection of Repertoire, Vocalises and Recitatives that students of all ages and voice types will find appropriate to their musical interests and level of technical ability.
Vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer
The vocal workouts in this much-anticipated follow-up to Peckham’s The Contemporary Singer are based on Berklee College of Music’s highly effective vocal method. This volume will help vocalists develop the voice through good vocal health, warm-up exercises, advanced techniques, stage performance advice and more. Includes companion online audio for ultimate interactive education!
Alfred's Teach Yourself to Sing
Learn to sing and open up a brand new world of musical knowledge with this exciting method from Alfred Music. Beginning with the fundamentals, you will learn about equipment used by singers, vocal health, and getting acquainted with reading music. You will then move right along to breathing, vocalizing, proper warm-ups, and singing songs, lesson by lesson, all while continuing to increase your knowledge of reading and understanding music. You will learn to sing an array of musical styles including pop, jazz, classical, and musical theater. Near the end of the book, you will be introduced to the idea of individual interpretation, which will help you color your songs with your own unique style. The book features a chord and scale chart for reference during and after your lessons.
