Marty Kolls
Office: TC232
Email: mkolls2@uwo.ca
International musician and teacher Marty Kolls established her career working overseas. As a performer in hotels in Asia for several years, she maintained students in voice and piano while teaching music classes at various international schools. A music graduate from the University of Western Ontario, she pursued her interests in classical voice studies, taking her to Spoleto Italy to study opera. But upon moving to the Middle East to start her career as a teacher, she decided to return to her pop music passion and continue performing jazz and pop music for a wide range of audiences. Having toured internationally as a singer/dancer as a teenager, she wanted to return to the connection she’d had with audiences who enjoyed these genres, and began writing her own music in the folk and pop genres. After her return to Canada, she continued with her songwriting and completed her first recording with the support of FACTOR music funding. Her family life brought her back to London Ontario, where she continued working on her songwriting while teaching music and conducting choir at the Montessori Academy of London. This philosophy of working with students from an experiential angle along with her touring experience as a young person deeply influenced her style of teaching. Using a practical approach to her teaching, she engages her students in hands-on work where they commit to writing lyrics and songs at a consistent and high level. Her personal experience as a songwriter working with various producers and writers as well as her success with acquiring funding from the London Arts Council, offers her an opportunity to guide her students in a practical format.
