ABOUT MEISNER IN MUSIC
Helping singers and teachers build self-trust, truthful performance, and deeper presence through the Meisner Technique.
Meisner in Music was created to bridge the gap between beautiful singing and truthful acting.
For years, singers have been taught how to produce sound, shape phrases, and execute vocal technique, yet many still step into performance feeling trapped in self-analysis.
Meisner in Music was built to answer a simple question: How do we help singers stop monitoring themselves and begin living truthfully inside the song?
By applying Sanford Meisner’s principles of curiosity, truthful response, and the reality of doing directly to singing, this work helps performers move beyond control and into self-trust, presence, and honest connection.
THE MiM TEAM
FOUNDER & TEACHER
JILLIAN PAIGE
Jillian Paige (she/her) is a second-generation Meisner teacher and designated by The Meisner Institute.
Jillian received her master’s in music theatre from Oklahoma City University, her bachelor’s in classical vocal performance from Belmont University, and studied Meisner under Terry Martin (a direct pupil of Meisner’s), and Ted Wold. She recently made her Off-Broadway debut as the villainous Madame DeFarge in A Tale of Two Cities with the Village Light Opera Group and has performed with companies such as Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Nashville Opera, and Kentucky Opera.
With a Certificate in Neuroscience and Voice, Jillian is passionate about helping singers maintain beautiful singing while achieving emotional freedom and impulsivity in the moment.
SENIOR TEACHING FACULTY
ADAM WHITE
Adam White (he/him) has a Bachelors of Music Theatre from Oklahoma City University and is a graduate of the MiM Teacher Training program and Maddie Tarbox Vocal Studio's Evidence-Based Voicework Certification program.
As an academic artist, Adam applies his research on mindfulness, the psychology of emotions, embodiment practices, and trauma-informed leadership in his teaching.
He believes that his role as a teacher is not only to aid students in finding freedom in their work, but to find greater freedom and worthiness within themselves.
ASSOCIATE TEACHER
JONATHAN HELLER
Jonathan Heller (he/him) holds a Masters in Musical Theatre Vocal Performance and an Advanced Pedagogy Certificate from NYU Steinhardt and a Bachelors in Vocal Performance from Eastman School of Music.
Jonathan has performed on the Cats National Tour and is currently touring with The Tina Turner Musical National Tour. He has been a semifinalist and finalist in the Lotte Lenya competition & is a Vocal Mentor with the National Children's chorus.
A Meisner student of the Ted Wold Studio for several years, Jonathan loves sharing his love of Meisner and expertise with classical voice and dance with other singers.
OUR COMMITMENT TO PEOPLE & THE PLANET
At Meisner in Music, we are committed to caring for others and taking action toward accessibility in the arts. Through our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Scholarship, trauma-informed practices, and flexible payment options, we strive to create a space where artists feel supported, valued, and welcome.
Our mission of care extends beyond people and includes our planet. Meisner in Music is proud to donate a significant portion of all net profits to Citizens' Climate Lobby, helping support meaningful climate action and a more sustainable future.
THE STORY OF MEISNER IN MUSIC
Told by the Founder, Jillian Paige
CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE
As a kid, I got labeled “hyper” a lot. I grew up in a consistently messy, often unpredictable, sometimes violent environment, which manifested in pent up energy that I didn’t know what to do with. I would attend a birthday party, get too excited to be out of my own house, and accidentally break something in someone else’s. In playing with friends, I’d frequently go too hard in roughhousing and end up hurting someone without meaning to. I wanted desperately to be a good kid but started to internalize that my impulses weren’t like other people’s - they were too much and too harmful.
I started to push the dark parts of myself away and only give attention to the light.
As I grew up, this infiltrated into performing. I loved playing comedic roles and making people laugh soon became one of my greatest joys. As I studied acting and singing more seriously, I didn’t let myself fully invest in powerful pieces of emotional depth, for fear of what they’d bring up in me.
I successfully pushed the dark parts of myself away and only gave attention to the light.
In 2013, I was given a role that I couldn’t turn away from. I began grad school and there dated Michael Schafer, a buoyant tenor with an unparalleled smile. After a year of dating, Michael began complaining to me about a nagging canker sore on his tongue. He finally got a long-awaited appointment with an ENT, who solemnly said that they needed to biopsy it but that he was almost positive it was cancer. It felt like my greatest nightmare was coming true.
I decided to push the dark parts of myself away and only give attention to the light.
The journey was bleak. Though there were tiny bits of hope along the way, Michael’s cancer battle was arduous and felt downhill from the start. Despite what the doctors told us, Michael and I became nearly obsessed with medical miracles, reading and trying everything that we could. We got married eight months after his diagnosis with the belief that he would get through to the other side. He died 11 days after our wedding.
Having moved to Dallas to be with Michael’s family as he got treatment, I was isolated in a city far from my loved ones with no idea how I was going to get through the rest of my life without Michael, let alone the next moment.
I had to push the dark parts of myself away and only give attention to the light.
I needed to busy myself. I had heard a little about the Meisner technique so…
...I stepped into my first Meisner class.
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My teacher, Terry Martin, had studied directly with Sandford Meisner and his thoughtful, caring instruction of the Meisner technique allowed me to do three things:
safely tap into the darkness and grief...
that I had been holding in and find acceptance for all aspects of myself, allowing them come into my work,
get out my analytical head...
like never before, leaving no room for my technical self to judge a move before making it, and...
most importantly...
sing not only with the emotional, but the vocal freedom
that I’d been trying to drill into myself for so many years.
I was hooked and eager to share Meisner with other singers. After a year in Dallas, I moved to New York and in September of 2017, I workshopped the idea of Meisner in Music with a few friends over a month in a sweaty studio in Ripley-Grier. I had no idea what we were getting into but the idea took flight. We are now in our 9th year of classes, residing in a beautiful space in the garment district (where Meisner's family business was!), and helping singers ranging from Broadway professionals to recent college grads to find both an acting technique and a path to falling back in love with singing.
