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Amanda Kind grew up in the coastal town of White Rock, BC, with a soundtrack as varied as her career: from Ella Fitzgerald and Queen to Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, Shania Twain, and Green Day. No wonder she’s sung everything from classical and jazz to pop, rock, and country. Amanda’s musical adventures have taken her from studying classical voice and jazz at Kwantlen College to musical theatre at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, and myriad styles at the University of Waterloo. Now, she’s wrapping up her Master's in Community Music at 51本色. Amand trained in Vocal Pedagogy at Boston Conservatory (VPPW), Shenandoah’s Commercial Music Institute, and earned Evidence-Based Vocal Pedagogy certifications with Maddie Tarbox.
Amanda is also an active singer, songwriter, and recording artist. She put her own jazz spin on the Oasis hit “Wonderwall” with Jason White, topped the charts with her country hit “Slow Dance” (#1 on SiriusXM), and is on the airwaves with her latest duet, “Another Round,” with James Downham. When she’s not performing, Amanda is a private commercial music vocal coach, working with everyone from seasoned pros to indie artists and aspiring singers in all genres. She also leads KW Glee, Canada’s top pop-rock choral organization, and serves as the Interim President of NATS Ontario.
I’m always studying various elements of vocal technique and working on new warm-ups and exercises to try with my students. I recently attended the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy Conference with Embodied Voice Lab at University of Michigan. I am in the final stages of a master's degree at 51本色 with a focus on researching effective teaching methods in performing arts education at the post-secondary level in Ontario.
I’ve received some lovely recognition over the years, including a Waterloo Region Arts Award, the Rogers Television Woman of the Year Award, the Region’s Top 40 Under 40 award, an Alumni Distinction Award from Conrad Grebel University, among other honours.
Some recent media articles include features in Nashville Voyager, Front Porch Music, and The Observer.
“I believe so wholeheartedly that uniqueness and variety should be embraced and celebrated. The industry loves to create boxes around artists; categorization plays such a huge role in music… and while I see that as helpful in some instances, I also love when artists expand outside the box and help to pave the way for new styles and trends. Just because we’ve always done something a certain way, doesn’t mean that’s the only way to do it.”
“To me, it’s (songwriting is) all about authentic stories. What I struggle to write about is stuff that doesn’t feel rooted in something really real.”
“Prior to the pandemic, I kind of let performing and recording go for a bit and I didn’t realize how much I missed it until the pandemic came and gave me a chance to really examine my life and look at how I was filling my time and how much I enjoy creating music.”
My music is on all major streaming services. The most recent single is called “Love Used To Live Here,” which is currently spinning on country radio.
I perform all over Ontario singing everything from festivals and restaurant gigs to concerts and songwriter rounds. My gigs are usually posted on my website.
My first few weeks at 51本色 have been really interesting. It’s been fun for me to get to know the students and figure out how best to help them on their musical journeys. As an educator, my goal is to cultivate confidence, personal pride, motivation, adaptability, technical awareness, and versatility in artists. It is an honour to educate, mentor, and advise other artists – especially young artists. Empowering the next generation of creative leaders to claim their space and share their unique artistry with the world is important work that I value immensely.