Deborah Shulman

Growing up in Los Angeles, Deborah Shulman had the great fortune to be nurtured by a family with a very deep passion for music. Her late parents, both singers, lived in the back of their little music store at Carnegie Hall as newlyweds; her father had aspirations of joining the Metropolitan Opera before WWII intervened in his plan. Considering the family tree includes vaudevillians, a Broadway actor, and music lovers of all stripes, it's easy to believe the Shulman family lore which says baby Deborah was singing before she was talking. When Deborah visited her grandfather, the renowned violin collector Nathan Posner, at his home in Beverly Hills, she would sit surrounded by the magnificent instruments and sing her heart out. He made her feel like the world's greatest singer, though he quietly hoped she would become a violinist. Today, Deborah Shulman is a successful singer and recording artist with an eclectic, international resume. The nurturing Deborah received paid off in a more unexpected way for the music world as well: as a vocal coach, Deborah is in demand by the dozens of professional and aspiring singers who come to her for guidance in overcoming large and small vocal challenges.
Deborah developed and refined her coaching skills throughout the history of her own training beginning at age eleven, under the deft tutelage of her father (Irving Shulman). At age thirteen, Deborah Shulman became the youngest student ever accepted to The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California where she studied opera with an esteemed faculty. In the idyllic Central Coast setting, with guitar virtuosos Pepe, Celin and Angel Romero in residence, Deborah grew enamored of the sound of classical guitar, and developed her attraction to song cycles, while enjoying the camaraderie of great artists and students. She also unsuspectingly began to lay the foundation of her own success as a teacher based on her fathers style wherein simple, joyful instruction supplants doubt and apprehension.
Deborah jumped into the marketplace while still a student, and sang and auditioned at every opportunity. She hopscotched from operatic soprano and recitalist to pop songstress, musical theater comedienne and back again. She loved Schubert and Judy Garland, Schumann and Barbra Streisand.
At 15, she attended the Musical Theater Workshop at UCLA with classmates Bonnie Franklin, Judy Kaye and John Rubinstein, and then returned to her roots soon after in the opera program at Cal State Northridge. At the age of 23, when Deborah met the successful actress and singer Ann Jillian at the Civic Light Opera Workshop at the Music Center, she had already been studying professionally for ten years. The two formed a musical partnership that seemed like just what the doctor ordered for a young woman weary from a decade of intense musical study: a way for Deborah to make a living in music, travel the world and blow off a lot of steam that had accumulated. The two singers played clubs for years in London, Sydney, Manila, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco under the name Jillian and Shulman and often opened for stars Johnny Ray, Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence, delivering the wholesome brand of torch that was their specialty. When Jillian left to strike out on her own, Deborah quickly retooled the act as a solo, donned an army issue parka, and took off for the Aleutian Islands on a USO Tour.
Later, back in the lower forty eight, Deborah began to pursue more theatrical and musical roles, appearing in many productions with The Actors Alley in Los Angeles. Among her musical theater roles, she portrayed Jellylorum in the second National Company of CATS at the Schubert Theater in Los Angeles. She found success in many other areas of the business as well, including as a librettist for four childrens operas and co-producer of the critically acclaimed L.A. production and National Tour of All Night Strut. She began her coaching career with the help of her friend, voice coach Seth Riggs. Her reputation as a generous, skilled teacher became well known and her vocal clientele has grown to include Bette Midler, Linda Ronstadt, Jennifer Warnes; Deborah received a platinum album for her work with David Lee Roth on his recording SKYSCRAPER.
Recently, Deborah Shulman found herself to be a startled divorcee and a grieving orphan within the span of a few years. After the unexpected end of her first marriage Deborah comforted herself by listening to standards; the lyrics spoke to her and she was drawn by their truth and tenderness. For Deborah, it was the beginning of a journey forward by calling on the past for strength. In 2004 she teamed up with pianist Terry Trotter, in a collaboration which has produced two sophisticated, elegant recordings: 2004s “2 for the Road,” and “My Heart's In The Wind.” Trotter, the jazz pianist known for his interpretation of Sondheim scores, gently coaxed Deborah to use her considerable musical knowledge in a new way. They began to record piano vocal tracks, and Deborah's mother and father were able to enjoy the beginning of her reinvention before they passed on within six months to the day of each other. Deborah's liner notes described her inspiration for 2 for the road:
This is my story, my journey, a divorce I never thought would happen; grief, the kind I had only read about; a strength I never knew I had, and a new love, a new beginning and a new marriage.
Trotter and Shulman recorded “2 for the Road” in Los Angeles in the highly regarded company of guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Tom Warrington, and drummer Joe LaBarbara. On 2007's “My Heart's In The Wind,” the same personnel appear, with the exception of the bassist; instead we are treated to the talent of Kenny Wild. Deborahs affinity for song cycles is celebrated throughout the pacing of the repertoire on both recordings. Rob Lester described Deborah's debut online at TalkinBroadway.com, “Silky, subtle, sophisticated and shimmering, Deborah Shulman is pure pleasure to hear if you love a love song sung with an adult been-there, done-that sensibility. She can explore a sad lyric without over-doing the sorrow or skimping on the pure musicality. “2 for the Road” is a thoroughly classy affair, beginning with the albums rich, romantic embrace of its Mancini/Mercer title song, to its closer “Some Other Time” from On The Town, this is an album with so many impressive, detailed moments.”
On “My Heartss In The Wind,” Deborah continued her embrace of classic American Songbook, with selections like A Sleepin' Bee, and My One And Only Love. Yet she skillfully expanded her repertoire to include under sung jewels like Mandel's “The Shining Sea,” Dave Frishberg's “You are There,” and “Shiver Me Timbers” by Tom Waits.
In support of her recordings, Deborah has been performing in a variety of California clubs, including Spazio's Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, Holly Street Bar & Grill in Pasadena, Club 10/20 at the Bel Age Hotel in Los Angeles, Tom Rollas Gardenia, The Hollywood Studio Bar and Grill, and Peters in Palm Springs. She recently made her New York debut at Barnes and Nobles Lincoln Center Location, featured in their Any Wednesday series of live performances by emerging and established artists.
Deborah is on the faculty of Joe Malone's Performing Arts Center, where she designed and teaches voice classes for professional dancers. Her successful curriculum utilizes the basic tenets organic to her style: simplicity and joy in learning. As in her private lessons, she uses her technique to build on an individuals knowledge and gifts.