Welcome to Kaya’s website!
Kaya Herstad-Carney is a passionate singer, songwriter, performer and a harmony/vocal fanatic, lecturer, festival director, event producer and vocal geek with a wide range of experiences and interests on and off the stage. She has a particular love for vocal habilitation
and artist development in the Contemporary Commercial field of music including
Musical Theatre and Extreme vocal styles.
A versatile, creative and hard-working individual, Kaya has a genuine enthusiasm, not just for music but working with people and the arts. She is a positive, enthusiastic and energetic music industry professional with a student and person-centered approach.
THIS SITE IS UNDER RECONSTRUCTION. PLEASE EXCUSE AND REPORT ANY BROKEN LINKS
Quick Overview
Academic
Career
Kaya’s academic career as a cross curricular lecturer in popular music subjects that spans almost two decades in Higher and Further Education at LIPA, UoChester, ACM, Baardar and DIME amongst shorter engagements.
Choir singer,
leader and arranger
Find out more about Kaya’s choir direction, leadership, workshops, masterclasses, harmony arrangements, choir videos and engagement with other choirs.
teacher training
Singing teacher training and CPD through Vocology in Practice and BAST Training and individual lessons. Check out Kaya’s free “Style Menu”.
HCHQ Ltd
This is the legacy project after Threshold Festival. Kaya has started a new company with her husband and cofounder of the festival; Chris Herstad-Carney.
We produce, book and organise vents and festivals online and in person.

Want to work with Kaya?
You can book a vocal MOT, masterclass or workshop, a singing or songwriting lesson, audition preparation, mentoring or get in touch to book a performance, co-write/toplining or harmony arrangement.
Singing lessons or audition training
VOCAL HEALTH FIRST AID
songwriting
Vocal production
Harmony arranging
Mentoring or SInging teaching training
Performances
Kaya can perform solo, duo or in larger ensembles as well as with Science of the Lamps and choirs.
Education &
Continuous Professional Development
Qualifications:
Master in Performing Arts (Education minor) from LIPA/Hope, Bachelor (Hons) in Music (Songwriting) from LIPA, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Vocal Health Education First Aider and in training for VHE Practitioner. HE Diplomas in Popular Music & Sound Technology and Music & TheatreFE qualification Sport Science & general studies (FFA Toppidrettsgymnas/ international baccalaureate). Kaya is an eternal student and attend and present regularly at conferences, including recently attending the Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy workshop at the New England Conservatory, regular ViP Conferences, Voice Geek Conference, BAST teacher’s retreats, TaPRA and Singing Revealed masterclasses.
Professional Affiliations and membership:
Vocology in Practice Educational Director and board member, BAST Singing teacher Trainer. Member of:BVA , AOTOS, EVTA, Norsk Stemmepedagogisk Forum, Pan Americal Vocal Association

Vocology in Practice
Kaya is the educational director of Vocology in Practice (ViP). Our aim is to be “A peer-directed global network of elite voice professionals, supporting and expanding our collective expertise”.
ViP’s global network includes singing teachers, vocal coaches, songwriters, producers, music industry professionals, speech and language practitioners, ENT’s and laryngologists. We exist as a community committed to continuous professional development, education and networking via in person training, one on one mentorship, research, educational events, seminars, webinars and articles.
Our aim is to be at the forefront of vocal health, science and pedagogy in order to provide the best vocal training and 360 degree care for today’s contemporary vocalist.

Singing Teacher Training
Many singers want to become teachers but don’t know how to teach singing or build teaching business.
We provide training, education and support for singing teachers of all levels so they can build a successful business around teaching others to sing, perform and care for their voice.
BAST Training is there to help you gain the knowledge, skills and understanding you require to be a great singing teacher whether you are just getting started or have some knowledge gaps to fill.

Vocal Health First Aider
Kaya is a Vocal Health First Aider and has attended twelve hours of seminars, and passed with 89% the assessment for knowledge and understanding about vocal health and the factors that can affect vocal wellbeing.
• Practical skills to spot the signs of a range of vocal dysfunction and imbalance
• Knowledge to help someone towards recovery by
a) guiding them in self-management, or
b) passing them on to further support, whether that is specialist vocal rehabilitation coaching or clinical treatment
• An understanding of how to prevent vocal health issues from occurring in the workplace
Client Testimonials
Here’s a few things people have said about Kaya
Kaya is an incredible vocal tutor. Prior to Kaya, my training with former vocal tutors was very rigid but she’s able to tailor the training to you and your needs. It’s the most in-depth training you’ll ever received based on science!
One of Kaya’s many strengths is the ability to explain complex vocal science in a simplistic form.
Not only that, but she’s able to then showcase it through various vocal programs which in turn allows you to physically see these concepts in action and gain greater understanding. This has made my unsupervised practices more efficient as I now know why I’m doing something and how to navigate through challenging sections of my voice and pieces by myself, based on that knowledge.
This women blows my mind with her knowledge and what she’s been able to do with my voice.

Ava Fiahlo
ARTIST
instagram.com/avafialho
Kaya is a true vocal explorer. Dedicated to the highest standards and purest and most expedient vocal solutions for her students and clients. A prolific performer herself, Kaya is an excellent Vocal Coach and will not steer you wrong. Study with her. Do it.

Ian Davidson
VOCAL COACH
& SINGING TEACHER
www.ianjdavidson.com
Kaya is extremely hard-working and passionate about what she does. She multitasks on a high level, training singers from all over the world in the city of Liverpool, organising festivals, leading choirs and writing her own music as well as being a co-leader in her own business.
Kaya was my vocal tutor in my first year at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and she really opened up my world on how to approach and think about my voice

Katrine Stenbekk
ARTIST & TOPLINER www.katrinestenbekk.com
Kaya is always bursting with energy, passion and dedication to her music and sharing her musical expertise and talent.
My experience working with Kaya has always been extremely fun, easy and productive. She’s professional, communicative and I enjoy every moment performing with her, from studio to stage.

Giles Stelfox
Musician and Producer
www.gilesstelfox.com
Kaya’s unwavering enthusiasm, broad skill set and infectious creativity make her a true inspiration. Her professional approach and flexibility are matched only by her exceptional vocal abilities. Aside from being a great singer, she is one of the pillars of Merseyside’s music scene, and beats even A-ha to be Norway’s greatest export.
A true gem!

Luke Moore
Cellist, composer and arranger
www.lukemoorecreative.com
I first met Kaya when attending a singing course a t LIPA in 2007 having recently retired from teaching. I have sung all my life mostly in church or large choirs singing “classical” music. Despite the course being geared more to popular music and being the oldest in the group, Kaya’s enthusiasm & energy in spired me to ask her for a course of private singing lessons which helped me to develop more confidence and gave me the chance to explore different genres of music. Her knowledge & resourcefulness shine through in all her teaching and she is fun, hard – working, patient and adaptable, making the lessons thoroughly enjoyable whilst learning. Seven years on, I am still having the occasional lessons and also sing in the very successful a capella choir that Kaya founded, in addition to using the techniques she has taught me in a much larger choral society.
Eileen Charnock
Choir Singer
Resources for singers and singing teachers under construction

Blog posts
Kaya is slowly building up articles and resources for singers and singing teachers to better understand and master vocal techniques and vocology.
links to Social Media
Connect with Kaya on Social Media and follow professional and some personal escapades.
Links to resources
Here you will find a list of links to educational resources, partners and other useful links. (in development)

Speaking at the BAST teacher intensive, summer 2019.
Released 16th May 2021
Invisible,
Invincible
Women
by Kaya & The Science of the Lamps
A tale of appreciating the masses of women in history that made amazing things happen yet didn’t appear in our history books. After playing Invisible, Invincible Women live since 2017, it’s exciting to finally release the track in a semi-live performance that the Usherettes (Fiona Currie, Emily Zago, Mica Bernard and Victoria Bass) and I did especially for this year’s Threshold Festival recording vocals on top of the preproduction sessions we did a while back.

Gallery
A few snapshots from the past few years