Years of international travel and performing professionally have convinced Miranda Corless that her hometown is where she wants to settle down and teach music.
“There’s always been something calling me home to Sarnia,” says the 32-year-old singer and pianist.
“Having travelled the world, I have come to really appreciate what we have here.”
Sarnia offers great weather, sandy beaches and an affordable lifestyle, and it’s where her family is and where she learned to appreciate music early on, said Corless, née McLean.
Piano lessons started at age four and vocal classes began at age 12.
“I’ve been singing my whole life. It came naturally because of my musical family,” she said.
Her father, Ron McLean, and her aunt Brenda played in a local band called Melrose for years.
Corless joined the school band when she was at Northern Collegiate. Growing up, she played sax with the Lambton Concert Band and she was frequently on stage with Bluewater Musical Productions, Theatre Sarnia, the Nightingale Chorus and Hidden Talents.
“Part of the reason I wanted to move home is because we are so lucky to have such an active musical community in Sarnia,” she said.
She started teaching piano in high school and established her own summer company called Music with Miranda at age 15.
She left to pursue music professionally, studying opera at the renowned Oberlin College music conservatory in Ohio and earning a Masters in vocal performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
She also sang with an opera program in Italy.
After graduation, Corless taught English as a Second Language briefly in South Korea and was bitten by the travel bug.
That’s when opportunity knocked with a chance to combine her love of travel and performing aboard Princess Cruises.
Extensive travel followed over the next eight years as Corless worked her way up to become cruise director aboard the Coral Princess, a Sun Class cruise ship carrying nearly 2,000 passengers.
“All that time, I was emceeing and doing my own shows on stage and I loved it,” she said.
In June, she married a fellow cruise ship employee, Kieran Corless, and the couple made a decision to lay down roots in Sarnia.
They’ve bought a home, Kieran has found full-time work in the travel industry, and Miranda is establishing her own business to teach vocals and piano beginning in September.
Music with Miranda will be taught in her home studio, which features a Chickering & Sons baby grand. She’d like to focus on beginners, both young and older, and is enthusiastic about all kinds of music.
“I am classically trained but my roots are always in rock,” she said.
Both vocal and piano lessons cost $25 per half hour.
“I will accept voice students at all levels and for all styles,” she said. “But I’ll only take piano beginners because it’s really rewarding to see their progress.
“I also want to teach proper technique, to ensure they learn to breathe correctly and understand vocal health.
“But most of all the goal is to have fun,” Corless said.
To contact Music with Miranda, call 1-548-997-3134, email [email protected] or visit the website at musicwithmirandasarnia.wordpress.com.
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