Meet Our Students: Karina Bes

Netherlands native Karina Bes is a passionate director, performer and coach in Musical Theatre. She received her PGCert in Voice Pedagogy with Distinction from the Voice Study Centre in 2023.

It was after graduating in Psychology and Criminology (Leiden University; MSc & BLaw) that Karina decided to pursue a career in Musical Theatre. She graduated as a Musical Theatre Performer at De Kunsthumaniora (Antwerp), and shortly after was accepted at the Professional School of the Arts (Utrecht), obtaining an MA in Creative Development (specialising in Musical Theatre). She also graduated in Theatre and Education from the Utrecht School of Performing Arts (BFA in Theatre, with Honours).

Karina is the co-founder of F*K Theater, which has curated successful performances in the Netherlands, New York and Sydney, and also the co-founder of The Internationalists, a worldwide directors’ collective with which she directed Lucky (LPAC) and Wrath (Public Theatre). Besides directing and performing in many successful national and international productions, Karina had been teaching Musical Theatre students for almost 20 years before beginning her PGCert Voice Pedagogy journey. Many of her students have found their way into the professional world of Musical Theatre.

Always dedicated to keeping abreast of the latest developments in voice pedagogy, she saw the Voice Study Centre’s programme as “a great opportunity to research the voice in a more structured way and to spark new interests”, especially as her studies could combine seamlessly with her current role as Director of Performing Arts at the iStage Academy in Shanghai, China.

Karina describes the Voice Pedagogy programme as “a must for all voice teachers out there” and relished the opportunity to delve deeper into her topics of choice such as Musical Theatre and belting through “a great variety of lectures and short courses with such great pioneers in voice research and practice”. She also broadened her horizons with a “newfound spark for voice science and vocal acoustics”.

Her studies have both helped her to become a teacher that is more aware of each single element that shapes the voice and enabled her to try new things in her classes that she otherwise wouldn’t have been able to try. Though her eagerness to keep learning, researching and developing will continue to drive her on further still, and she’s considering future PhD study to go alongside her inspirational Musical Theatre work as director and teacher.

Find out more about what Karina is up to at http://karinabes.com/