​Edrie Means Weekly Co-Founder Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute

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Edrie Means Weekly, Co-Founder of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute, is an associate professor of voice and voice pedagogy at Shenandoah Conservatory.  She is a recognized expert in training singers in all vocal styles and an active professional singer.  She is the recipient of the 2021 Van Lawrence Fellowship Award.  She was a Master Teacher for the NATS Intern Program in 2013.  Her students can be heard on Grammy Recordings, Movies, Broadway, National and International Tours, Regional Theatre, TV (including The Voice and American Idol, Kidz Star USA).  A leading researcher in functional voice training, Edrie has presented numerous papers and workshops at the Voice Foundation. She has authored several research publications in The Journal of Voice regarding the teaching of the Broadway voice. Edrie’s first publication in the The Journal of Voice (2003), led to establishing the Shenandoah University’s CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute.   She is a contributing author for four books; The Vocal Athlete: Application and Teaching the Hybrid Singer 2nd Edition, Training Contemporary Commercial Singers,​ Teaching Singing in the 21st Century entitled "Making The Song Authentic:  It's a Matter of Style" and The Voice Teacher’s Cookbook: Creative Recipes for Teachers of Singing entitled "Hearty Country Jam".   She has been on faculty of Care of the Professional Voice, the ground breaking scientific conference on voice care worldwide for several years.  She has also presented at NATS National Conferences, NATS State and Regional Chapters, Pan-American Vocology Association Symposiums, the Southeastern Theatre Conference,  and universities throughout the United States.   Edrie is on the Advisory Board for the NATS National Musical Theatre Competition and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Voice Foundation.  Edrie is the biological daughter of The King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin.

Edrie also maintains a private studio in the Washington, D. C. area and New York City.  Edrie was one of six NATS members appointed by the past NATS President Donald Simonson to explore and help the creation of the NATS sponsored National Music Theatre Competition held at the 2012 Conference in Orlando, Florida where she served as a judge.  She is currently on the Advisory Board for the National Music Theatre Competition as well as on the Advisory Committee for the NATS Student Music Theatre Auditions. She has also authored some exciting revisions to the musical theatre categories for the Mid-Atlantic National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Region.  She is also a member of the Voice Foundation, Pan-American Vocology Association, the Southeastern Theatre Conference, MENC, MTNA, NVMTNA, VMTA, Opera America, AGMA and AEA.

Many of her performances have been broadcast internationally on radio and TV, recorded by Decca and Koch.   She has appeared in leading roles with the Houston Grand Opera, Washington Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Cleveland Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Mid-Michigan, Opera Grand Rapids, Pittsburgh Playhouse, State Opera of Cairo, Egypt to name a few.  Guest artist with symphony orchestras including Houston, Cleveland, Corpus Christi, Victoria, and the National Symphony.  She has sung lead roles in musicals and operetta, including Follies, My Fair Lady, Carousel, The King and I, West Side Story, Show Boat, The Sound of Music, Merry Widow and Zorba.  Standby for Broadway stars Patti LuPone, Elaine Paige and Linda Lavin.  Recently sang with Jonathan Pryce and Cloris Leachman in My Fair Lady at the Kennedy Center.