Justina Golden
My Bio
I have been teaching, singing, writing music and conducting in the Pioneer Valley since 1986. I work with adult singers just starting out to choral singers to professional soloists, providing vocal coaching and music instruction. My passion is seeing and hearing the whole person, and guiding them towards singing with an ease that is beautiful, virtuosic and deeply in tune with how our bodies work. I love cutting through the noise and getting to the heart of what singing is all about - joy and fun.
Credentials: Amherst College, B.A. cum laude, 1983; Yale School of Music, M.M. 1985.
My passion for singing and teaching singing comes from my love of transformation - we are changed as we open and deepen our relationship to ourselves, and those who listen can be transformed by the stories we tell.
- Justina Golden
Learn More About Justina
From 1986 to 1998 Justina toured nationally as half of the duo “Justina and Joyce,” appearing at coffeehouses, concert halls and music festivals in addition to producing two CDs, “So Strong” and “Rhythms, Rhymes and Tides.”
In 2005, she released “Flos Regalis (Royal Flower),” a live recording of music from Hildegard to composers of the 17th century utilizing well known singers from the contemporary folk world. As part of its release, she performed a concert in the Fringe Music Series as part of the Boston Early Music Festival with her Amiable Consort. The Boston Secession featured her in two of their concerts in the 2007-2008 season, performing both early music and folk music selections.
Also, from 2005 to 2007 Justina played guitar, tin whistle and sang with the contemporary Celtic music ensemble Selkie. In the summer of 2006, Miss Golden performed the role of Fidelm in Women In Arms by Rosemary Caine. She was also onstage with the band. The play was performed at the Dundalk Theater Festival, County Louth, Ireland. In addition the play was performed seven nights in Deerfield, Massachusetts presented by Old Deerfield Productions.
In March of 2013, she was invited to Mexico City to be part of an international choir performing the Bach St. Matthew Passion with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional. The two performances were televised in Mexico. In December of 2013 she appeared for the third time as the Alto soloist in the Friends of Music of Guilford, Vermont’s yearly Messiah sing.
From 2012 to 2015 Justina was on the staff of Umbrian Serenades, a summer program that brought professional singers and talented amateur singers to Spoleto, Italy to perform choral programs under master conductor Joseph Flummerfelt. As part of that program, she performed solo art song and duet repertoire at Casa Menotti, the former home of composer Gian Carlo Menotti, accompanied by the incomparable Laura Ward on piano.
In January of 2020, Justina was asked to lecture on early vocal music for the prestigious Learning In Retirement program here in Northampton. Choosing “From Monody to Melody: Vocal music from single lines to polyhony,” she gathered her Amiable Consort to perform the musical example part of the presentation. She has since been invited to deliver this program two more times to different groups in the area.
In addition to performing with her own Amiable Consort, she is a member of the Illuminati Vocal Arts Ensemble. She has performed as a soloist with the Arcadia Players, the Brattleboro Chamber Singers, the Da Camera Singers, the South Hadley Chorale, and the Smith College Orchestra and Chorus.
Since 2012, she has had the honor of being the Voice Faculty for Dar Williams’ summer retreat series,“Writing a Song that Matters,” drawing beginning to professional songwriters from all over the United States.
