Cognitive vocal pedagogy • Bel canto • Research • Rehabilitation

A singular vocal method where personal experience, ancestral tradition, artistic excellence, scientific discovery and individual fulfillment meet.

The Sarkissian Method® is a cognitive approach to sung and spoken voice created by French-Armenian mezzo-soprano, pedagogue and researcher Mariam Sarkissian after a long post-traumatic vocal, mental and physical self-reeducation following a serious car accident. It draws on bel canto principles and trains the voice through mental neuroscientific tools intended for singers, actors, teachers, business people, professional speakers and curious amateurs.

Discover reviews Explore VCS®

Rooted in bel canto tradition

Born from personal vocal, mental and physical reconstruction

Developed through teaching, transmission, books, and research

Why it stands out

Not a generic “voice coaching” offer, but a cognitive method with its coherent ecosystem.

The method links professional vocal technique, artistic education, workshops, research, certified teachers, trainings, books, and Vocal Cognitive Stimulation® in one clear universe.

Art Opera, theatre, chamber music, cabaret, pop, jazz.

Care Reeducation, rehabilitation, voice wellbeing, cognitive comfort and emotional balance.

Research Bel canto tradition, holistic tools, cognition, pedagogy, neuroscience.

Proof Institutional partners, student success stories, testimonials and reviews, books, CDs, critical acclaim and awards.

FAQ

The essential questions, answered clearly

Discovering the Sarkissian Method®.

The Sarkissian Method® is the first cognitive vocal technique method for sung and spoken voice created by Mariam Sarkissian after a long post-traumatic self-reeducation following a serious car accident. It belongs to cognitive pedagogy and neuroscience, and is structured around a central pedagogical tool: the Sarkissian Triangle®. The method identifies separately technical thought and creative thought, so that vocal training action can be concrete and conscious, in order to create effective executive automatisms to serve optimally the creative thought and allow autonomy.

The method is intended for singers, actors, teachers, speakers, children, adult amateurs and professional voice users, as well as people in periods of vocal rebuilding and neurodivergent students (dys desorders, ADHD, autistic spectrum profiles) of different ages and levels.

The method proposes a common technical language between teacher and student, with simple mental algorithms that train the executive mechanisms of vocal action. Thanks to its main pedagogical tool, this is the first method to be transmitted in its original form to everyone who practises it.

The Sarkissian Triangle® (also called the Balance Triangle or vocal Triangle) is the central educational tool of the method. It brings together the main elements of professional vocal technique and places them in a coherent relation of interdependence. In practical terms, it serves as the executable mental algorithm of technical thought, helping the student understand how to organise action in order to realise effectively an artistic, musical or verbal intention.

In the method, creative thought refers to the original artistic or verbal idea: what one wants to express. Technical thought refers to executive mechanisms needed to realise the creative thought physically. The method identifies them separately in order to build, balance and connect them more effectively.

No. The method is rooted in the bel canto tradition, but its technical base is valid for all styles, because the key elements that define style relate to creative thought.

Yes. The method is intended not only to form and optimize the vocal instrument, but also to reeducate it. This applies to sung and spoken expression. Its origin in post-traumatic self-reeducation is central to the way it frames rebuilding, reliability, clarity and progressive technical retraining.

Yes. The student is meant to acquire simple, precise mental technical tools that can be trained and reused independently. The method presents technique not as a mystery dependent on physical condition, the weather or charisma, but as something that can be understood, practiced and controlled through repeatable cognitive work.

It is possible for non-beginners who are able to distance themselves from technical instructions that are incompatible with the method, that has its own coherent logic. In other words, compatibility depends on the student’s level and on whether technical frameworks conflict.

Yes. The method can help when intonation and rhythm problems are linked to a disconnect between musical thought and technical executive mechanisms. In that framework, the issue is not reduced to the ear alone, but to the coordination between intention and execution.

VCS®

Vocal Cognitive Stimulation®

A branch of the Sarkissian Method® that uses the voice as a practical tool to strengthen cognitive functions, regulate emotional states and reconnect purpose, intention and action.

A voice practice for more than performance

VCS® was conceived by Mariam Sarkissian as a holistic practice based on listening, imagination, vocal exercises and guided attention. VCS® supports clearer thinking, better emotional balance, stronger focus and a more coherent relationship to concrete goals.

It can be practiced in individual or group sessions through both passive listening and active guided vocal work, mental and physical. It belongs to a wider educational and artistic ecosystem while opening toward vocal wellbeing, emotional balance and mental hygiene.

Core idea

The position of the voice reflects the position of vital energy.

Central tool

The Sarkissian Triangle® connects technical thought, physical execution and creative aim in a trainable framework.

Use cases

Creation, public speaking, mental clarity, emotional regulation, achieving goals, increasing efficiency, improving confidence, and more grounded day-to-day action.

Author

Mariam Sarkissian: artist, pedagogue, researcher

The strength of the method comes from a trajectory of its author: rigorous professional musical training, rich stage and pedagogical experience, personal vocal, mental and physical reconstruction, research and unique educational tool development, publishing and transmission.

An artistic path with substance

Mariam Sarkissian is a French-Armenian mezzo-soprano based in Paris, first trained as a flautist at a special school for professional child musicians before graduating in classical singing from the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Her biography highlights opera roles, chamber repertoire, recordings, international critical praise and distinction by a Golden Orpheus.

A personal turning point that became a method

A serious car accident led her to rebuild her voice, her body and her mental balance through years of personal rehabilitation and an in-depth study of the principles of the great masters of bel canto. This process subsequently gave rise to the Sarkissian Method® and naturally paved the way for Vocal Cognitive Stimulation®.

Her teaching method draws on her extensive experience as a professional artist, who has faced significant challenges and obstacles and has used this experience not only to rebuild her own vocal technique—a success recognized by the international specialist press—but also to explore her discoveries in greater depth and share them with her students and the teachers she trains.

Testimonials

Voices of experience

Professional singers, actors and teachers describe the tangible effects and changes after practicing Sarkissian Method®.

Damien Pass

Dagmar Saskova

Florian Bisbrouck

Ninon Valder

Xavier Flabat

Cécile de Kervasdoué

Vincent Eveno

Leïla Galeb

Corentin Bournon

Bobae Kim

Tarik Bousselma

Irène Candelier

Anne-Elly Tévi

Gwendoline Druesnes

Yoann Le Lan

Ania Wozniak

Marie-Cécile MARTIN

Mezzo-soprano. Graduate in musicology (Université Paris Sorbonne). Teacher of costo-diaphragmatic re‑education for singers and speakers.

"Mariam Sarkissian's method guarantees vocal authenticity and longevity because it relies on a natural balance, free of harmful compensations. It also allows spectacular sound projection and great ease of emission. I quickly read her guide Je pense, donc je chante and I must admit it answered many technical questions I had been asking myself for years."

Philippe BROCARD

Baritone in the Chœur de l'Armée Française, artistic director of Les Estivales de Puisaye.

"I was lucky enough to have a 'natural' voice which, up to my mid‑thirties, allowed me to do a lot, mostly on sheer stamina. At forty, the body reacts differently and stamina works less well. In one year of work with Mariam Sarkissian's method, I have found serenity, suppleness and a feeling of ease in sound production that I had never experienced. The phonatory gesture gradually becomes systematic, automatic, and allows me to approach the job even on off days."

Marie NICOT‑CHAGNOLLAUD

Actress, singer, harpist and composer. Music teacher for the City of Paris.

"Although I graduated in classical singing from a conservatoire and had met many voice teachers before, it is only thanks to Mariam Sarkissian's method that I discovered a coherent vision of singing and experienced a vocal freedom I had not known before. In addition to a constructive, documented and experienced discourse on the voice, the method gave me a true re‑education of the vocal gesture, which has been and still is beneficial to me. I strongly recommend this method, both for beginners and advanced singers, to establish a healthy vocal practice at every level."

Jeanne DE LARTIGUE

Opera singer and voice teacher.

"I began lessons with Mariam Sarkissian in March 2021, after twenty‑five years of vocal study, with no intention of starting a new approach. I quickly understood that I had found in Mariam the teacher who would help me finalise what was still missing in my technique. I particularly appreciate her approach, at once very gentle and highly demanding, professional and structured, and the trusting and caring atmosphere she creates. I also teach singing, and Mariam's teaching has given a new impulse to my own, even though we do not work with the same kinds of students."

Cyril VERHULST

Tenor in the Chœur de Radio France.

"I had effortless, insolent high notes when I was thirty. Then everything gradually deteriorated… I had to learn to sing properly in order not to brutalise my vocal folds and to regain my top notes. This method is truly disconcerting at first when, like me, you have built your technique on the job, without really working or researching. It provides a strict framework for sound emission, based on simplicity: you must 'do nothing' – and that is the hardest part."

Julie PRAYEZ

Actress, singer and voice teacher.

"Day after day, the Sarkissian Method brings me real well‑being, because it helps me erase old bad habits and cultivate only a balanced, harmonious gesture. Thanks to the Triangle of Balance, I have finally integrated mentally the structure of singing. This gives me true confidence, both as a singer and as a teacher."

Marie GAIGNARD GAIRET

Singer and composer.

"The daily training proposed by Mariam Sarkissian has helped me a lot: I was able to establish a routine, essential for my vocal development. I am like an athlete – I do the same exercises every day and this training gives me good vocal health, which I consider essential in our work as singers. The method has made me aware of the high placement, especially thanks to the work on the 'moïto', which was a major revelation for me. Through the work on breath, I am discovering a new balance and greater freedom in singing."

Jean‑Baptiste ALCOUFFE

Baritone in the Chœur de l'Armée Française.

"Mariam Sarkissian's teaching helped me understand the importance of 'vocal placement' in the nasal and cranial resonators, and to raise my placement. Thanks to her method, I have gained suppleness and clarity; my singing voice feels younger, my low notes are more rounded, focused and free of throatiness."

Donatienne MILPIED

Actress, singer, certified voice teacher and artistic director of Mots en Musique.

"Mariam Sarkissian's method respects each person's voice and you can trustfully let yourself be guided. In just a few lessons I understood how to improve my vocal placement – at my last recital I was serene, because I had clear technical tools to support my emission. I highly recommend this method."

Constance MALTA‑BEY

Actress and lyric soprano.

"I immediately felt the benefit of Mariam Sarkissian's technical approach: her method offers clear, precise answers to the various problems encountered across the whole range. It has allowed me to connect and unify elements learned from different teachers or that I had naturally, by giving them a coherent common basis: the Triangle of Balance. The book Je pense, donc je chante has helped me consolidate and deepen this technique."

Yanis BENABDALLAH

Tenor, choir and orchestra conductor.

"Mariam Sarkissian's method has played a fundamental role in the progress and stabilisation of my technique. The work on timbre and, above all, on mentally visualising its 'place' has had a considerable impact on the clarity, brilliance and ease of my emission. The method emphasises 'thinking the sound in its place' before producing it, then letting the breath flow to that place. It is especially valuable because it puts all essential elements in interdependence, whereas most teachers focus on just one aspect. The Triangle shows that lyrical singing is a question of balance, specific to each person."

Chloé CHAUME

Chanteuse lyrique, soprano.

"I have been fortunate to work with Mariam Sarkissian's method since September 2016. It is the only method that offers a truly cognitive approach to vocal technique, through a clear vision. It helps me find a high vocal placement through an increasingly healthy gesture, which keeps freeing me from effort."

Geoffroy HEURARD

Chanteur lyrique, artistic director of Ensemble Perspectives.

"The voice is an instrument as wonderful and powerful as it is fragile. Mariam Sarkissian's method and teaching synthesise the essentials of this magical clockwork, always guiding us back to the heart of singing, to its simplicity and self‑evidence. This method has allowed me to rediscover that my body and my personality are a single filter, meant to let the breath freely gather the timbre so that the voice can blossom and resonate."

Alicia HATÉ

Opera singer, mezzo-soprano.

"I often heard people say that a singer is like an athlete and has to prepare. In principle, I understood what that meant, but in reality, I did not know how to 'prepare' myself. I was capable of going to an audition having simply repeated the difficult phrase of the piece five or six times, until it finally 'worked'. With Mariam Sarkissian's method, I learned a real working method. It made me autonomous in my technical work: I established a daily exercise routine and I now know what each exercise is for. I feel strong, and I have regained confidence in my instrument and in myself as the one using it."

Lucie EMERAUDE

Opera singer, soprano.

"The Sarkissian Method enables me to refine my technique and move forward along the long and winding path of learning classical singing. I immediately connected with the work Mariam Sarkissian proposed and practised conscientiously every day for twenty minutes, as she advised. A few months later, I felt I was beginning to develop real automatisms through the method. When I sing, I do not really think about what I am doing; the method allows me to correct certain vocal gestures I do not consciously think about."

Jocelyn RICHE

Opera singer, retired from the Chœur de l'Armée Française. Artistic director of the Atelier Lyrique Angevin, choir director of the Chœur Lyrique René d'Anjou.

"I have been a professional singer for thirty years and have had the opportunity to work on vocal technique with many renowned singers and respected teachers. I have always sought to perfect and maintain my voice. It was with this objective in mind that I began vocal work with Mariam Sarkissian's method. In two years of work, I learned to place my voice in a high position. The phonatory gesture, repeated many times, has become systematic, and sound production no longer depends on a random vocal shape."

Schools

The method welcomed by institutions

In Atelier Sarkissian in Paris and through the training organisation Opera Off, Mariam Sarkissian trains numerous artists and teachers in her method.

Vocal technique for all profiles

Since 2015, the Method has been taught by Mariam Sarkissian and her 18 certified student-teachers in 17 public and private institutions in France and Belgium, as well as in workshops and masterclasses and with choirs and vocal ensembles, working with both neurotypical and neurodivergent students.

Mariam Sarkissian teaches at the Atelier Sarkissian in Paris, as well as on courses and in masterclasses, either on her own or accompanied by her students, who have been trained to teach her method.

Illustration for neurodivergent and mixed profiles

Atelier

The Atelier Sarkissian in Paris

Based near Denfert-Rochereau in Paris, the Atelier Sarkissian is a place for advanced vocal training, cognitive refinement and sustainable artistic development through the Sarkissian Method®.

A place for voice, thought and artistic balance

At the Atelier Sarkissian, singing lessons and vocal technique sessions are rooted in the Sarkissian Method®, the first cognitive method for spoken and sung voice. The work connects creative idea, technical mechanisms and vocal practice so that the voice becomes a concrete path toward expressive freedom.

In a time shaped by AI, screens, acceleration and mental overload, the Atelier offers a calm space of reconnection with our humanity through the voice: a place where technique serves not only the high performance, but also mental appeasement and emotional balance.

Who it welcomes

The atelier works with lyrical and non-lyrical singers, actors, speakers, teachers and other intensive voice users, from beginners to professionals. It also welcomes people with vocal fragility as well as neurodivergent profiles, including dys disorders, ADHD and autistic spectrum profiles.

How the work happens

Lessons are built around the Sarkissian Triangle, the central educational tool of the method, which helps students to identify and practice the technical elements so that they can use them effectively to give shape to their creative thinking. Sessions take place individually or in small groups.

What makes it distinctive

The strength of the Atelier lies in its structured cognitive teaching approach, its focus on building a solid technical foundation, and the natural integration of VCS® into every lesson. Professional vocal technique — which leaves no room for chance, whether in its teaching or its practice — becomes accessible to everyone.

Books

Books that embody the method in language, memory and form

These books do more than accompany the method: they give it narrative depth, conceptual clarity and a distinctive authorial voice.

Autobiography • Pedagogy • Cognitive vocal method

I think, therefore I sing

Both autobiographical narrative and vocal technique manual, this book explains how Mariam Sarkissian rebuilt her voice after a serious accident and gradually developed the Sarkissian Method®. It introduces the central tool of the method, the Triangle de l’Équilibre®, as a way to organise creative thought, technical thought and physical gesture.

The book presents transferable mental frameworks for vocal work while also linking technique with attention, memory, organisation and creativity. In that sense, it already shows Vocal Cognitive Stimulation® in action through pedagogy, lived experience and structured transmission.

Synesthetic notebooks • Memory • Inner reorganisation

In Search of B-flat

This later book extends the universe of the method into a more intimate and poetic register. Through synesthetic notebooks, memories of Soviet Armenia, training years in Moscow and Paris, colours, sounds and bodily sensations, the recurring B-flat becomes at once a note, an emotional landmark and a mental anchor.

Its sensory writing gives an inner view of what Vocal Cognitive Stimulation® seeks to support: the reorganisation of inner space through the voice, the easing of post-traumatic chaos and the reopening of creative access. It strengthens the conceptual world of the method by showing its lived, perceptual and emotional dimension.