Don Grayden

The death of vocal coach Don Grayden left the musical theatre industry with a gaping hole. In a special tribute, JENNIFER WHITE looks at the life of a man who shaped many careers...

“Come to the edge,” he said
They said “We are afraid”
“Come to the edge,” he said
They came
He pushed them
And they flew.
~ Guillaume Appollinaire (French philosopher)

Don Grayden was a gentle giant of a man with extraordinary talent, heart and wisdom. I first met him in 1989, when as a young 19 year old in my early days in this industry, I was looking for a new singing teacher and was told Don was the one to see if you were really serious about your voice.

Don had moved to Sydney from Melbourne 6 years prior, and had already established himself as a master singing teacher, with a long waiting list of people seeking his talent and expertise. What greeted me at my first lesson was a gentle giant with a booming voice and strong presence, and at the same time, a warm giving spirit and cheeky sense of humour. And, ah, how he loved to tell a joke!

It could have been easy to feel intimidated by this man - not only by his stature and basso profundo voice, but his credentials. He was the singing teacher Cameron Mackintosh hired to coach his Australian productions, including Les Miserables, and his list of students is a who’s-who of the music industry, including David Campbell, Tim Draxl, Monica Trapaga, Normie Rowe, Tim Finn, and many more.

Don was not only a singing teacher, he was also a vocal miracle worker. In 3 months, he healed Normie Rowe of numerous nodules and a bleeding throat and saw him through to securing the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, with the vocal strength to perform that demanding part 8 times a week. This sounds like an extraordinary feat, but not to Don. Vocal freedom and health was normal and easy and straight forward. Years later, when he heard about Julie Andrews’ vocal problems, he tried desperately to get in touch with her and advise against any operation as he could help heal her voice. He had healed voices on countless occasions. Sadly her agents never put them in touch, and that upset Don as he knew he could’ve helped save her voice.

I have never met another singing teacher like Don Grayden. He was an extraordinary bear of a man who made singing the simplest and most joyous of experiences for me. He often said to me “I don’t teach singing, I teach psychology”. And he did. He focused on psycholinguistics - how the unconscious words we use in our minds affect our vocal freedom and self expression. In basic terms, he taught singers to get out of their own way and out of their heads, and to simply hear and feel and do. A lesson with Don was a lesson in learning to let go and be free.

During my degrees at both Nepean and NIDA, Don was a supportive mentor and I had the privilege of interviewing him for my research papers at each institution. My NIDA research paper Singing & Acting - The Connected Voice was dedicated to Don for teaching me “to have faith and belief in the power of my mind, my voice and myself”.

Years ago, I took a white stone from the front garden of his Darlinghurst singing studio - as a keepsake to remind me of the special place it was. I still have that stone to this day and I treasure the memories it holds of my weekly lessons with Don.

For years Don Grayden was a stone - a rock in my life - and I can never repay the many gifts and lessons he taught me over the 18 years we knew each other. He opened up and changed not only my voice, but my life and my heart. I am freer and wiser for having known him. He was my very dear teacher, mentor and friend - and I’m so blessed that he took me to the edge, pushed me and taught me how to fly.