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06 Between the Lines 5:470:00/5:47
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Same Old Blues 5:270:00/5:27
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04 Melancholy Mood 6:340:00/6:34
A fan recently called her a “multi-dimensional artist” and it's a perfect description of Jennifer's lifetime journey through disciplines of art expression.
Voice Teacher | Cole Vocal Method
I’d like to guide you deeper into embodying your voice, so it can express freely, honestly, and with ease—the sound that is uniquely yours.
I teach the Cole Vocal Method, a holistic approach to singing that integrates body, mind, and soul. I believe the voice is an expression of the soul, and because of that, it can feel vulnerable even in its strength. When we create safety in the body with a strong technique alleviating fears and tension, the voice can respond with freedom and trust.
I started performing when I was six years old and have enjoyed a lifetime as an internationally touring professional performer first in Musical Theater and now as a singer-songwriter for my Jazzy Blues band Lil’ Red & The Rooster. My teaching reflects the real demands placed on a working voice. I support singers who are building a foundation for touring and recording, as well as those whose voices are tired, strained, or worn from overuse or misuse. I am especially drawn to working with singers who feel stuck, frustrated, or disconnected from their voice and aren’t sure why.
For many years, I thought of my voice as “broken”. I built tensions in my vocal cords and compensatory muscles from trying to sound like what I thought I should sound like. I had pain at the end of gigs and lived in a constant fear of not knowing if my voice would be there for me. Through the Cole Vocal Method, I’ve built up the strength and endurance to tour and no longer think of my voice as “broken”. In fact, I actually like the sound of it now. I’m free of fear, knowing how to maneuver my voice through challenging environments. This work guided me to my authentic sound—with the gift of monthly surprises, and I’d love to guide you into this freedom.
I hold a BFA in Musical Theatre from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, an MFA in Contemporary Performance from Naropa University, and studied with the Roy Hart Theatre in France. Technique isn’t singing—technique is the foundation that allows expression to move through the voice with strength, flexibility, clarity, and reliability.
My intention is to help you come home to your voice and let it speak with honesty, resilience, and soul.
Thanks to modern technology I can teach you in person or through Zoom.
If you'd like to study with me, fill out the form and I'll contact you to schedule a lesson or answer any questions you may have.
SINGER − SONGWRITER − TEACHER − ACTRESS − DANCER − ARTIST - her long journey home …
Jennifer Milligan born in Columbus, Ohio grew up riding horses and playing in the creek until she discovered the arts. Privileged with parents who loved the arts, she was signed up for any class she took a shine to - drawing, flute, piano, guitar, tap dance, gymnastics, diving, swimming, basketball. She was never home. She first learned music playing handbells and singing in the church choir. The she discovered the old Holywood Movie Musicals and fell in love with the music and dancing especially Bojangles and Gene Kelley. At 13, she started studying The Luigi Jazz Technic which took her directly into that world of bending her body to time and space. Fort Hayes High School of the Performing Arts gave her a strong foundaiton in theatre as well as her constant presence in community theatre shows like Morales in Chorus Line until She landed her first professional production at 17yrs old in “The Boy Friend”. This lead to being accepted in the top Musical Theatre program in the world at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. First audition there she was cast as Snooky in 110 In The Shade as a freshman and went on to playing Judy in Chorus Line, Jeanie in Hairand finished in her favorite as Roxy in Chicago. She also spent a summer performing on The Showboat Majestic as Ado Annie in Oklahoma, Joan in Dames at Sea and the emsembles of Cole & Cotton Patch Gospel. She was known for her sparkle, infectious laugh and powerful belt. The conservatory was brutal. They held these young performers to the highest standards. Her class of 21 graduated at 12.
NYC was calling her name and she packed up her life and moved to sleeping on the floor in a studio apartment. At her very first audition, she blew the director away, but before he could sweep her up she's already been cast in a National Tour of Hair as an alternate to Sheila and eventually took over the role. Returning back to her new city home she snagged a studio apartment in what she thought was Chelsea, but turned out to be the edge of a not so great neighborhood. She barly got unpacked when she was off for summer stock season - JC Superstar at American Stage in New Hampshire and Sweet Charity and South Pacific at Candlewood, CT. JC Superstar seemed to be calling her name because she was cast as the tormentor, again, at Walnut Street Theatre where she earned her Actors Equity Card then off to a European Tour of Superstar. Eight months later she was back home auditioning for a National Tour with Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson & Denis DeYoung and was brought in six months later. By this time she could sing the entire score from memory. In the middle of all this she was married and divorced and tired of not actually living in her favorite city so hopped off the tour and found an apartment in Times Square where she could walk to dance class with a bagel in hand and around the corner to work as a bartender. She appeared as a day player on the Soap Opera Guiding Light and put her focus into to landing more TV and film work. She had many “jobs” to pay the rent between performing gigs including cater waitering, paralegalling, dancing as a Troll in the Macey's Parade, dancing for bar mitzvahs, making costume jewelry and delivering for the New York Post.
She was offered an amazing role as Suz in Suburbia that took her back home to Columbus, Ohio for a summer. She had an amzing time and wondered if it was time to join her actor brother in LA. Packing up a UHaul truck with all her posessions she waved goodbye to her presicous NYC. Arriving in Westerville in time for Thanksgiving, her brother announced he hated LA and was moving home. She didn't want to move there alone so she unpacked into an apartment with her brother in Columbus. They dove deep into the local art world. She picked up her old guitar and started learning Tom Waits songs and even wrote a few songs of her own. With friends she formed a dance improvisation group called Insitu, was a founder of the Live Arts Stage at ComFest, toured in schools for Columbus Junior Theatre, and became the choreographer for musical theatre producitons including an Emmy Award winning production “Once I was Young, Now I'm Wonderful”. She called this her “early mid-life crisis” questioning her place in the arts and searching for a way to express her voice and not just the voice of others. Theatre still grabbed her heart and she was cast as Jackie Kennedy in a new musical called “Jackie Oh”, they had her choreograph the production as well. This lead to new adventures founding a theatre company Stage 5 Rep where she costumed, choregraphed and played Janet in their production of Rocky Horror. By this time her brother had moved to NYC to attend Juilliard and her city called her back.
In early 2021, she was back in NYC, this time with her brother in Green Point. Challenges left their scars on her voice, but could never stop her spirit. It hurt to sing and she wanted ot do films anyway, so she “quit” auditioning for musicals. Then 9/11 happened and everything got more challenging. The “rent jobs” started drying up and even with an agent who adored her, it was hard to get any auditions. She turned her expression to the underground music world and made her mark as Agent “00 Sex” for a band called the Sex Slaves, then went on the sing for Cheap Thrills and was part of a writers group called Naked For Now that performed monthly. It was an exciting and liberating time for her, but financially she wasn't making it. A friend recommended graduate school and it sounded appealing.
Again she packed up her NYC life and moved back home to Ohio to make money before heading to Boulder, CO to get a MFA in a brand new Contemporary Performance program at Naropa University in Boulder, Co. Wow this was a different world from the conservatory. Two years of deep somatic study changed her, healed her, formed her and freed her. She created her own show for the Boulder Fringe Fest and upon graduation followed her bliss to France to study to teach voice at The Roy Hart Theatre. Splitting her time between the Center and Paris she began teaching voice and movement improvisation and View Points at Canal Dance in Paris. Life in Paris living in a friend's place in St. Germain was a complete bohemian adventure for her, but teaching was not at all livable and money was running out. She went back to the Center and started teaching. On a weekend trip to Paris, she stumbled into the famous jazz club Le Caveau de la Houchette and danced her way into the heart of her French husband Pascal Fouquet. This began her second carreer as a singer-songwriter for their Blues band Lil' Red & The Rooster. Since 2010, she's been singing her way around the globe headlining festivals to filling cafes with joy.
In 2019, they made it to the finals in the International Blues Challenge and then appeared on the PBS TV series “Songs at the Center”. But trying to keep up with Pascal exhausted her voice and In 2020 she thought her voice was broken. Hanging on by her finger tips to get through concerts, she lived in constant fear of her voice not being there for her. Then the pandemic hit. Locked away, she discovered Cari Cole and The Cole Vocal Method. Slowly with patience and dicipline and this solid technique her voice came back stronger than ever. Over several years the fear went away as concert after concert her voice was there with no pain and no cutting out. She believes so strongly in the technique that she's studied with Cari Cole to become a certified teacher.
She's living proof that vocal technique is the foundation to a long career and stands firmly behind The Cole Vocal Method. Whether you're new to singing or a veteran of the stage, this technique will bring your voice out stronger, healthier, more flexible and with a richer tone.