about the studio

Welcome to Three Sparrows Studio!  It is my joy to hear your voice and help you develop confidence in your singing.  I offer my studio as a person-centered, trauma-informed, safe haven for my students to express the vulnerability of their voice and feel my partnership in supporting their growth.  This process is individualized and unique to each singer as their authentic voice is revealed and strengthened.  The magic is not in the modality, but in the relationship we build.  I welcome singers of all ages and abilities.  Come let your voice fly free!

Marisa Gray Atha

Three Sparrows Studio Owner 

With the foundation of a Classically-based vocal education, I've enjoyed performing and teaching in the genres of Musical Theatre, Classical, Pop/Rock, Jazz, Folk, and World since 2002.  I use a holistic approach that empowers my students to find and free their own natural sound, incorporating vocal pedagogy, voice science, performance practice, vocal styling, yogic principles, trauma-informed teaching methods, Alexander Technique, and mind/body integration.

Enjoying a wide variety of genres, my performance experience includes solo recitals, operatic roles, choral concerts, community outreach programs, venue gigging, and recording.  I served as a Vocal Department Artist-in-Residence at School of the Arts in San Francisco, and currently teach voice lessons online and in my private studio in Land Park, Sacramento.

My formal education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Music, with a concentration in Vocal Performance, Master of Music in Classical Vocal Performance, Bachelor of Arts in English, and Minor in Psychology.  I am a RYT-200 (Registered Yoga Teacher), CMT-200 (Certified Meditation Teacher), certified Core Singing voice instructor, and have 40 hours of Alexander Technique training.  I’ve also completed the Contemporary Voice Teacher Academy and New Science of Singing certification programs with John Henny, the Musical Theatre Coaching Course with Nate Plummer, Breaking Down the Riffs with Natalie Weiss, and the Vocal Instrument 101 with Shannon Coates.

I play piano, guitar, and ukulele, and offer beginning instruction in these instruments, as well as beginning to advanced music theory and ear training.

I enjoy practicing yoga, getting out into nature, and spending time with my family and friends. 

As a private voice teacher, I consider myself a facilitator of the mind/body/spirit coordination that must be present and functional to sing freely.  I serve as a vocal technician, providing my students with clarity and understanding of the vocal mechanism and its relevant components.  I guide my students into poise, confidence, and ease in their expression, tone, projection, and onstage craft.  

My education, formal training, performance and teaching experience, certifications, and research have focused on the function, artistry, and enjoyment of vocal performance. It is the culmination of this knowledge and experience that creates the foundation of Three Sparrows Studio for Singing.  I welcome students with interests in any genre of music.  

I consider myself a life-long academic of the voice operating within a growth mindset.  My education did not stop after graduate school, but instead, proceeds through the duration of my professional career.  As such, I continually widen my knowledge base with continued training.  Such trainings have included topics such as: vocal styling in musical theatre and contemporary styles, audition and performance preparation, acting methods, repertoire selection, Alexander Technique, integrative and holistic approaches to singing, yoga and meditation, mind/body principles, trauma-informed teaching, vocal pedagogy, functional training, vocal health, neuroscience, energetic awareness, performance practice, cross-training in the voice studio, fundamentals of voice science, young singers, neurodiverse singers, transgender and nonbinary voices, aging voices, and much more.  

As I grow, my students grow—new tools and information find their way to the right student at the right time; I am the happy messenger. 

Three Sparrows Studio is committed to providing a safe space where you can fully express yourself without fear of being made to feel unwelcome or unsafe because of your race, ethnicity, religion, sex, age, size, national origin and cultural heritage, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, mental health, physical ability, neurodiversity, or native language. All students are valued, appreciated, and respected.

NATS

National Association of Teachers of Singing

NATS Cal-Western Region

NATS California Capital Chapter

NATS San Francisco Bay Area Chapter

The SpeakEasy Cooperative

Independent voice teachers cooperative, a professional organization for co-working and continued training

Core Singing

Teacher certification

Contemporary Voice Teacher Academy

Teacher certification

VoiceSchool.com

Founding Member

Total Vocal Freedom

Alexander Technique, holistic and integrative singing

Yoga Alliance

RYT-500 Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher

Meditation Alliance

CMT-200 Meditation Alliance Certified Meditation Teacher

The Embody Lab

60 Hour Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certification

Applied Polyvagal Theory in Therapeutic Yoga Levels 1 and 2

KCRA A-List

Voted Top Ten for Best Music Instruction in Sacramento

* See listing under former studio name: Buon Canto Voice Studio