Malden Music School Owner Hopes To Help Students Find Their Own Voice

MALDEN, MA — Ann-Marie Iacoviello never thought her time participating in school musicals and choir would eventually turn into a career in music. However, after about a decade of teaching, she has recently opened a studio of her own.

The Malden resident officially opened Maplewood Music in the heart of Maplewood Square on 6 Maplewood St. earlier this month. Her school offers private lessons, artistic consulting, and practice space rentals.

“I found music a little later in life than many musicians do,” Iacoviello told Patch. “As a middle and high school student, I always enjoyed participating in school musicals and choir, but I never saw music as a potential career path.”

That changed when Iacoviello was about 16 years old and an opera singer came to perform for her high school choir.

“She sang for us, and afterward, my choir teacher introduced us and insisted that I take lessons with her,” Iacoviello told Patch. “It took just one lesson for me to become hooked on opera. For one of the first times in my young life, I felt like I truly belonged.”

Iacoviello said her voice felt right at home singing opera, while her interest in learning languages also tied into classical singing. She later earned degrees from Ithaca College and Boston University, which ultimately led to a professional career in music.

The coloratura soprano made her professional opera debut as Flora in DC Public Opera’s “The Turn of the Screw” and has performed with organizations including Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, Opera51, the Seagle Festival and the Opera Company of Middlebury.

Iacoviello has also been teaching for about a decade and said finding music later than many other musicians, along with her interest in anatomy, naturally drew her toward vocal pedagogy, or the study of how the voice works.

“Our voices live within our bodies, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach to vocal technique,” Iacoviello said. “Teaching requires constantly solving puzzles, thinking outside the box, and finding what works for each individual singer. That challenge is something my brain really thrives on.”

Iacoviello said she has always enjoyed one-on-one teaching with students of all ages, where she has the time to work with each student and help them achieve their goals.

Those goals have ranged from students preparing for a leading role in their school musical and singers hoping to be accepted into the Massachusetts All-State Choir to professionals looking to improve their public speaking skills for their corporate careers.

“For me, teaching is a way to share the knowledge and tools that helped me find my own voice and give students the opportunity to discover their own potential — whether they want to be a professional musician or not,” Iacoviello told Patch. “No matter what career path I would have chosen, finding my voice as a musician has helped me in so many other parts of my life.”

Maplewood Music’s private lessons focus on helping students become more confident and effective communicators through music while finding an authentic sound in both practice and performance.

The studio also offers artistic strategy and consulting, drawing on Iacoviello’s background in public relations, marketing and social media management. Practice spaces equipped with a piano or keyboard are also available to rent by the hour starting at $15.

Iacoviello has lived in Malden for six years and said she has really enjoyed being a resident. The local feedback has been strong thus far as she has started welcoming students into Maplewood Music.

“The community has had an incredible initial response to Maplewood Music's opening,” Iacoviello told Patch. “I've been meeting and speaking with new and interested students every day over the past couple of weeks.”

One of her favorite reactions came from a young singer after the two finished a lesson.

“As we left the lesson room to meet her mom in the studio lobby, she ran out of the room and immediately said, ‘I love music lessons! When can we come back?!’” Iacoviello told Patch. “That absolutely warmed my heart.”

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