Tara Sampson, M.S., CF-SLP

Tara's passion for voice and performance began in the sixth grade, after she made an appearance in her first musical, Oklahoma!. This passion further developed through choir and private voice lessons with Broadway veteran, David Gaschen. Years of studying music, acting, and voice led to her major in Musical Theatre at the University of Miami under world renowned musicians and directors including Julie Danao-Salkin, Dennis Krausnick, and Bruce Miller. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2016 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre.

Tara has been a part of countless productions all over the nation including Man of La Mancha at Oceanside Theatre Company as Aldonza (Broadwayworld.com Regional Award Nominee for Best Actress in a Musical - professional), She Loves Me at Scripps Ranch Theater as Ilona (Broadwayworld.com Regional Award Nominee for Best Actress in a Musical - professional), The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Moonlight Amphitheater with David Burnham (recently seen as Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway), and Fly By Night at Coronado Playhouse. She has begun Vocal and Music Directing shows as well, including Vocal Directing Sweet Charity at Oceanside Theater Company in early 2020. In addition to performing professionally, she has been teaching and coaching for ten years.

In late 2017, Tara endured a vocal injury. Following the injury and clearance from her ENT, she began voice therapy. Since then, Tara has been devoted to researching and implementing ways to heal and prevent vocal injuries. She has worked with Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs), vocal injury specialists, and voice therapists to gather as many tools as possible to help her students use their voices in the most healthy, sustainable way. Tara is now back and better than ever, and recently earned her Masters of Science in Communication Disorders at Emerson College. Tara is now a vocal injury specialist and working as a Clinical Fellow-SLP to receive her certificate of clinical competence (CCC) as a Speech-Language Pathologist.

Today, Tara lives in Murrieta, California with her husband and two puppies. Tara currently studies voice with Mary Jo DuPrey and acting with Hannah Ryan (resident director of Hamilton Broadway). Tara continues to perform professionally in theaters all over the San Diego area, and teaches privately in person Temecula Valley and virtually via Zoom.  Tara has experience instructing students of varying skill sets with ages ranging from children to adults to seniors. While Tara has a deep passion for performance, there is nothing that brings her more pleasure than helping other talented artists succeed.