Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in musical education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Oscar Diaz Jr., Director and Voice Instructor of Performer's Music Institute, located in Miami, FL, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I am the Director/Voice Instructor of Performer's Music Institute, and I specialize in teaching students VOICE & Piano lessons virtually (via Skype & Zoom) from their locations anywhere in the world. I hold degrees in Music (with teaching private VOICE instruction being my main focus). My professional singing engagements have included twelve years with the Florida Grand Opera, the Dallas Opera, and the Fort Worth Opera, and I have been featured as a soloist in leading roles with the Arlington Opera and Coral Gables Opera.

As an instructor of voice, I have built a reputation for achieving the highest musical standards possible in each of my students. My students perform in operas & musical theater throughout the world, but I have also had many successful artists in the popular music world. This includes Lina Gaudenzi, who was part of "TEAM CHRISTINA (Aguilera)" on NBC's Season 5 of THE VOICE, and I have also trained Lele Pons, who is considered one of the most influential young people (in the world) –she is a singer, an actress, and a comedienne and has over 50 million followers on Instagram. Ms. Pons began her vocal training (with me) as a teenager and has often commented (in interviews) on how much she values her "classical" training and how she considers it the basis for other singing styles - including popular music. A more recent popular music phenomenon whom I teach is ROBI - recently, he was awarded a nomination (at Premios Juventud 2022) - in the "Best New Generation-Male Vocalist" category.

I also am well known for my successful work with the guidance of young voices and for the success rate of students accepted into leading conservatories, including such notable schools of music as the Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University, Cleveland Institute of Music, and New England Conservatory, amongst others. My professional affiliations include: the National Association of Teachers of Singing (South Florida chapter past president), the National Guild of Piano Teachers, the American College of Musicians, the New World School, the Florida Opera, and the Music Teachers National Association. Accomplishments also include having been listed in WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA and WHO'S WHO IN THE WORLD.

Tell us about yourself

Since 1988 I have been the Director of Performer's Music Institute in MIAMI, Florida. PMI is a small select private music school that has built a reputation for achieving the highest musical standards possible in each of its students. We specialize in the teaching of VOICE and Piano and offer PRIVATE (one teacher to one student) lessons, which are taught at the PMI STUDIO. As far as motivation: my motivation is both my students' progress and my mentoring philosophy that what I do is simply attempt to instill my passion for the art form of singing in my students. This "passion for music" has completely influenced my artistry, my approach, who I am, and how I teach voice. I try to "pass forward" the teaching methods and "bel canto" style of teaching voice that MY mentor/voice teacher, Professor Gerald Tate, with whom I studied at the University of Texas at Arlington, passed down to me. A term that is oftentimes considered important in the art of teaching voice is "LINEAGE."

For us, singers and voice teachers, the so-called father of voice pedagogy (the teaching of private voice & its physiological aspects) was a Spaniard by the name of Manuel Garcia. There was during the 1800s a point in time when just about everyone in the ENTIRE world who was having a major singing career had studied either with Manuel Garcia -or with someone who had studied directly with him. Therefore this dedication to the memory of Gerald Tate. It is this particular singing method -based directly on Manuel Garcia's LINEAGE- simply referred to as "bel canto" (which means "beautiful singing")- that I humbly attempt to pass down to my past, present & future students. Mr. Tate received his Masters's Degree/Diploma in vocal performance from the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with H. Maurice Jacquet, who was considered a French Master of Singing. H. Maurice Jacquet accompanied students/and also studied voice with Mathilde Marchesi. Marchesi had been a direct student of Manuel Garcia and was the "PRIMARY heir-apparent" to passing-down Garcia's teaching methods. I thank my mentor, Mr. Tate, for this LINEAGE and for sharing his knowledge with someone who had only a burning desire to learn the mechanics of the art of bel canto.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

This is easy -when I can see in a student's eyes/face that they are excited because they have just learned/felt something new, and this new understanding then makes them move forward in their knowledge and success.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

I would say that I have never worried about the "business" aspect of what I do. When you are involved in the arts -and as "cliches" as this sounds- you do have to do things 1st (at least this has always been my philosophy) for the art form, and if you do this (and you are good at what you do, obviously) then the "business" aspect might not make you rich but you'll be good financially. In the arts, if all you want is fame and fortune -you will most likely be very disappointed, while if instead you do what you do for how it makes you feel inside (and again, obviously, you do have to be good at what you do & work hard) -then you might be pleasantly surprised!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Be consistent -people often change things just for the sake of changing. Don't reinvent the wheel if the wheel is turning & works.
  2. Love what you do, or you are in the wrong field, and "clients" can tell you are not passionate about the field you are in.
  3. Don't necessarily try to please all of the people all of the time -if you know what you are doing (& you know your "field of expertise"- you don't necessarily always have to be like everyone else & do "what's in." Some things are "always in style"!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: http://performersmusic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/performersmusicinstitute/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pmimusic_odjr/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscar-diaz-jr-5b4684102/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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