Noel Smith has dedicated her life to her career as a singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist. Over nearly three decades, she has added voice teacher and coach to her resume, committing to guiding the next generation of musical talent.
“I do joke, ‘I don’t really have any other skills,’” Smith said with a smile.
On the surface, her talent is singing, but her role in the industry goes beyond that. Smith isn’t just helping students prepare for their high school play roles — she’s building careers.
Smith’s home studio in Lynnfield is lined with playbills from former students, many of whom now headline Broadway shows or national tours. She guides students from weekly practices in high school and filming college audition videos to joining emergency FaceTime calls with performers who need help managing a cold on show day. Her reach extends from hundreds of students in Lynnfield to seeing about 65 students at her New York City studio, most of whom perform regularly or are constantly auditioning.
Her story began in the small village of Wickford, Rhode Island, in the town of North Kingstown. After graduating from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, she moved to Lynnfield nearly 30 years ago. Smith has performed in movies, video games, and TV shows, and while she still pursues her own work, she now focuses on teaching.
“I never thought about teaching,” Smith said. “I started teaching piano because I am a pianist, but I hated it.”
Once she shifted to voice lessons, she realized she needed to deepen her understanding of the voice.
“It’s not only being a good teacher,” she said. “It’s about having that network to help your students if they need it, and having the scientific background, the technical training, the musicianship — you have to know so much about the anatomy and structure of the voice to teach it the right way.”
Smith said her “crazy” background and career give her a unique perspective that she shares with her students.
She recounted meeting the executive producer of MTV on an airplane, without knowing what MTV was. In another story, she recalled being asked to work with the famous rock band the Grateful Dead, partly because she hadn’t heard of them and wasn’t “fanning” over them.
“My career has been kind of falling into these opportunities that I’m not expecting,” Smith said.
She said her industry experience helps her teach students what it takes to make a living using their voice.
“I listen in a different way than my students because I have a very well-rounded approach,” Smith said. “I know what it takes. I know what I get paid to sing. So if I’m not going to pay you money, then I need to fix it.”
One of her favorite moments as a voice teacher was watching one of her first students, Lynnfield local Christine Dwyer, perform as Elphaba in Wicked. Another was seeing Paige McNamara, another Lynnfield local, perform in the national tour of Les Misérables at the Boston Opera House after five years away from the industry.
Smith said her former students often call her and say, “I got this role because of you. I got this role because of what you did.”
Her favorite part of teaching, she said, is seeing the growth in her students.
“I don’t have one person that I’ve ever worked with that hasn’t changed in some way… That may not mean they’re ever going to be competitively vocal… but they’re a better person,” Smith said. “You have to share what you have with other people and be kind.”
