ABOUT ELLEN

Ellen Taft, ADVS
(Advanced Diploma of Voice Studies, Central School of Speech & Drama, London, England)

Voice, speech, dialect, communication skills and Shakespeare teacher, Ellen Taft received the Advanced Diploma of Voice Studies from the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England in 1989, where she trained with David Carey, formerly of the Royal Shakespeare Company and attended workshops with Cecily Berry and Sally Grace. In addition, Taft has taken workshops with Kristen Linklater and Arthur Lessac. In 1986, Taft founded the acclaimed Philadelphia Shakespeare in the Park. As a graduate student, Taft, directed two plays in German for the University of Minnesota. In Seattle, Taft has taught privately, coached accents at many theatres and directed shows in Spanish for Polyglot Players and is editor of The Actor’s Handbook-now a website.

Ellen is married to an Englishman, Arthur Champernowne, and lived for three years in the U.K. in Yorkshire in the North, Bristol in the West and in London. A member of the Women's Choir at St. Mark's Cathedral, she sang for five years in the St. Thomas Choir in Medina and ten years in the St. Joseph's Choir in Capitol Hill and Immaculate Conception in the Central District.