Mana credits her various mentors and teachers for the solid foundation in vocal music and technique that has helped her find her unique sound. She also realized early on that she was one of the privileged few who was able to access a world-class musical education, especially in Western theory and Jazz in India. With a keen awareness of the need for more such educational arenas and a view to pay her privilege forward she co-founded a Bangalore-based music school, ‘The Mela Centre for Learning’, in 2015, where she taught Jazz and Contemporary vocals to students across a range of ages. She has worked with a host of singers and voice artists across all age groups in an effort to combine Indian pedagogical concepts with western techniques to create her own unique brand of voice training. 

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As an educator it is her philosophy that no voice is the same, and thus tailors one-on-one private music lessons specifically to what her students want to achieve, honing in on their individual strengths. She marries both western and Indian classical traditions that inspire her students to make innovative choices in their vocal expression, whilst still honing a healthy singing voice. 

 

Recognizing the importance of linguistics when it comes to voice arts, in addition to teaching vocal technique Mana can provide specialized lessons in IPA (the International Phonetic Alphabet). She believes that IPA is the singer’s passport to mastering songs in various languages, and is an invaluable tool all voice artists should have at their disposal.