About Michael

Michael Hanko, master voice teacher and certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, founded FreeBody FreeVoice in 2003.

His teaching cultivates integrated mind-body coordination, allowing singers to experience unprecedented skill and ease in their technique and performance.

Michael trains singers across all musical genres, including classical, musical theater, jazz, pop, and rock. His students have appeared on and off-Broadway, at Carnegie Hall, and at NYC cabaret venues such as 54 Below. He has taught and lectured at Juilliard, the William Esper Studio, and the American Center for the Alexander Technique and was the head of the Vocal Technique Department for Total Vocal Freedom, a professional development program for singers and singing teachers, until this program was disbanded in 2024. With a kind and gentle demeanor, Michael has a gift for cutting through the complexity of vocal pedagogy to make singing enjoyable and effortless.

Michael’s musical studies began in childhood.

After graduating from Princeton University with a degree in Music, he turned his attention to developing his voice and studied for more than ten years under eminent singing teacher Cornelius Reid. Michael’s dual passions for music and science led him to the Alexander Technique, which so impressed him with its effectiveness in relieving longstanding chronic pain and vocal tension that he certified to become an Alexander teacher himself in 2002. Also skilled in various forms of osteopathic bodywork, Michael combines a high level of anatomical expertise with a lifetime of musicality to offer students an integrated and empowering approach to singing. Michael is currently exploring deeper into how the human body/mind functions in his daily practice of meditation and Iyengar yoga.

A prolific writer, Michael has contributed to Classical Singer magazine, produced several written works for the stage, and posts regularly on the FreeBody FreeVoice blog. As a performer, he has played principle roles in Sweeney Todd, La Cage Aux Folles, Godspell and other musicals and appeared as baritone soloist in numerous classical works, including Bach’s B-minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus, and the requiems of Fauré and Brahms.

Michael lives in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City with his husband, custom clothing designer and athlete Peter Lappin.