About Us
Anne-Marie Speed is one of the most experienced teachers and trainers of the Estill Model in the UK. Her association with Jo Estill goes back to 1990 when she first encountered her work. She did the first complete course given in the UK in 1992, beginning her training with Jo Estill from that date and in 1994 was asked by Jo Estill to assist her in courses in Denmark, the first UK practitioner to be asked to do so. She has pioneered the use of the model in the speaking voice and in the teaching of actors. In 1997 she was made a Vanguard Licensee, in recognition of her contribution in establishing the Model in the UK and Europe.
She specialises in both the speaking and singing voice, particularly musical theatre and now regularly presents courses in the Estill Model both in the UK and throughout the world including Holland, Germany, New Zealand and Australia with invitations to Spain, Portugal, Bosnia, MaltaUK. and the Gulf. She is a professor in the vocal faculty of the Royal Academy of Music, Musical Theatre course. In 2001-02 she was President of the British Voice Association, the only multi-disciplinary voice organisation in the UK.
Anne-Marie and her associates, Paul Farrington and Kiereen Lock, present courses of the highest standards of teaching and breadth of experience available in the UK. They are the only teachers to be awarded the Vanguard License by Jo Estill herself and to be Certified Estill Teachers and Trainers with Service Distinction. No other courses are presented by teachers as qualified or as experienced.
However, her work is much broader than only teaching the Estill Model. She is also much in demand as an accent and dialect coach in film, theatre and TV and works as vocal consultant to West End shows such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Dirty Dancing. She has worked as a vocal consultant to many businesses including the BBC.
For the last two years she has been focusing on her work as a theatre director and in 2004 was the first direct to direct a new production of the West End hit ‘Stones in his Pockets’ for Sh! Productions for a tour of the Gulf. In 2005 she directed ‘Art’ also for Sh! Productions, both productions proved to be very successful. She also directed ‘Into the Woods’ for the Royal Academy of Music 2005.
