Interview: founders of Prague's DK vocal studio share plans

On 4 December, the students of the DK vocal studio gave their year-end recital. Meet the studio’s driving forces – its founders and teachers, Denis and Katya, who agreed to talk to Around Prague about the concert, the studio, and their plans for the future.

Around Prague: Tell us how it all began?

DK: I’ve been in this field since I was three, Denis has been working in it for eight years. We had a studio in Odesa, but in search of a better life we ended up in Czechia. The decision to move wasn’t easy, and parting with our students was hard on us. In Prague we decided to carry on doing what we’d done before, and we opened the DK vocal studio. I was prepared from the start to work with Czechs, but in the end we have a lot of Russian-speaking students. People keep coming and coming, so in future we’re planning to hire extra staff. It would be interesting to work with the Czech market – that’s invaluable experience – but for now we don’t have the energy or the time for it.


AP: Is it hard to grow here? Do you have competitors?

DK: There are competitors, but we try not to pay them much attention. The main thing is to deliver our services at a decent level.

AP: What are your plans for the near future?

DK: We’d like to start offering acting classes, because standing on stage without basic knowledge of that craft is difficult, even impossible. We also want to open a choreography class, since that’s an essential part of any modern vocalist’s performance. Our students are very active and want to take part in various creative events, so we need to expand on every front too.

AP: Organising concerts on a commercial basis? Is that possible?

DK: Of course, we’d like to do that. Today we took the first step in that direction. Our students are working hard, and as soon as we see they’ve reached a certain level, we’ll start booking them for paid performances. In fact, after New Year we’re organising a big vocal competition that will bring in both our own students and outside contestants. It’ll be an excellent test for our students, one that will show what they’re really made of.

AP: Tell us about today’s event.

DK: It’s essentially a recital that shows what our students have learned. Many of them performed for the first time and were nervous, but we think they all did pretty well. What’s more, more people came to watch than we expected – some visitors couldn’t even get into the main hall. I consider that a success, since we’ve only been working in Prague for two years.


AP: Tell us a bit about the vocal training itself. If someone wants to sing but has never trained professionally, where should they start?

DK: If you want to train, you don’t need to prepare in any way. None whatsoever! A lot of people watch videos on social media and try to copy them, thinking they’re doing it right, but they’re not. Unlearning bad habits is harder than learning from scratch. Do you want to start singing? The best thing is to do nothing on your own and go straight to a specialist, who will guide you and teach you everything. It’s better to start with a clean slate than to fix mistakes later.

AP: Where do you start?

DK: We start by training the voice. The voice is like a musical instrument: before you can perform masterpieces on it, you have to tune it. That’s exactly what we do. The first part of the lesson is devoted to vocal warm-ups and exercises, and the second to the songs themselves. A lot of our students come to us completely “from scratch,” and we always tell them to forget everything, stop thinking about anything, just relax and listen carefully.

AP: Is there some kind of milestone? When do the first results become visible?


DK: It’s hard to say, it’s different for everyone. As a rule, within a few months there are already noticeable results that the student can hear for themselves.

AP: Do you need talent?

DK: Of course you need talent! Who doesn’t need talent? But hard work can achieve a great deal. We’ve met plenty of people who, through sheer effort and persistence, achieve excellent results. Besides, many people don’t reveal their abilities right away.


AP: Do you have any wishes for your students?

DK: Some people, once they’ve reached a certain level, think that’s the ceiling, the maximum, and they stop coming to class – and after a while they lose what they’d achieved. The thing is, you need to reach a level where muscle memory locks in the skill, and after that you’re just polishing it. Diligence, effort and a system – that’s the most important thing. If someone works systematically, everything will fall into place and they’ll succeed.


After such a pleasant conversation, we decided to talk to the real stars of the event – the students of DK studio. How long have they been training, what do they like, what would they change, their impressions of the concert, and their wishes for Denis and Katya – these are the questions we put to the budding performers.


AP: How did the performances go? Did your classes at the studio help you prepare for tonight? Why did you decide to get into music?

Maria: Tonight I performed two songs: “The Show Is Over” and “I’ll Stay.” It was my first performance, and I was nervous. Training at the studio with everyone helped me enormously. I go to both the ensemble and vocal classes, and I love absolutely everything about it. I came to DK studio because I wanted to perform a song at a friend’s wedding and needed help, and then somehow everything just took off from there… Now I work with Denis and Katya all the time, I’m happy with everything, the progress is simply incredible, and tonight was my first performance.


AP: How did your passion for singing begin? How long have you been training at DK studio?

Nastya: I’d never studied music before. I’d wanted to since childhood, but my parents never took it seriously. I went to various studios, but it was only at DK that I felt a change from the very first lesson. I’ve been training here for almost a year and a half, I’ve learned a lot and want to learn a lot more. I really like that we move straight on to songs right after the warm-ups – at some studios the exercises took up almost the whole lesson, leaving very little time for the songs.


AP: How long have you been singing? How did you end up at DK studio? Does working with the studio help you reach your goals?

Dasha: I’ve been singing since I was three. I used to perform constantly in my hometown, but moving abroad meant a break. In Prague I decided to enter the Voice competition organised by Katya and Denis, won it, and decided to carry on training at the studio. I really want to keep moving in this direction, find like-minded musicians and put together something of my own – those are my immediate plans. I’m thinking of trying out for the Czech “The Voice,” but I haven’t grown into that yet. I’m happy with everything about the classes, the atmosphere is easy and pleasant. I come to vocal class and just relax, forget about everything. I really like that Katya listens to what her students want: if I want to sing jazz, we sing jazz. It would be great if we performed at concerts or in clubs, and Katya has actually mentioned plans like that.


AP: How long have you been doing music? Did you have performing experience before? How long have you been at the studio? Any wishes for Katya and Denis?

Tamila: I’ve been doing music and singing for a long time, but I’m self-taught – I learned to play and sing on my own. I understand that I need to keep growing, which is why I joined a vocal studio. I perform often, I’ve even had my own concert, and I’ve taken part in competitions on Czech television. I’ve known Denis for a long time, and Katya has been on the judging panel more than once when I competed, so she knows me, and we get along easily. When it came to choosing a vocal studio, I had no option other than DK. As for wishes, I’d like events like this to happen more often. Concerts like tonight’s help you pull yourself together, get into the right frame of mind, overcome your nerves, stop being anxious and, of course, gain invaluable experience.

Photos from the DK vocal studio’s year-end event: