Staff: Jessica Doyle-Mekkes
Those who believe silence is golden have never heard Jessica Doyle-Mekkes.
Jessica Doyle-Mekkes, center, speaks during the women’s leadership conference at ECU in March. (Photo by Steven Mantilla)
The teaching assistant professor in East Carolina University’s School of Theatre and Dance strives to give her students a strong, healthy voice both on and off the stage.
“You don’t really think about your voice until it’s not there,” she said, “and so the other part of that is for people to recognize the power, the tool that a clear, confident voice is and also how to take care of it.”
As part of research work, she found a connection between proper sleep and voice quality, something she emphasizes to her students.
“Sleep and hydrating and eating and exercising and getting some sunshine — all those are important,” she said.
Doyle-Mekkes calls students in the musical theatre program she directs a tight group and takes pride in watching them perform.
“I don’t ever make it through a show here without crying,” she said. “We’re a specialized program, and so I get to know all of the students really well. I get to really see their growth from year to year, and it is the highlight.”
She said she has one major goal for her students.
“My goal is that when you leave here, you don’t need me anymore. That’s my goal,” she said. “I hope you always check in with me, but that you know how your voice works. You know how to choose songs that suit you. You know how to take a piece of music and turn it into a performance. Not that you shouldn’t ever have a voice teacher after that, but the goal is that you really feel like a master of your craft in that way.”
She cringes when she hears people talk about natural singing talent.
“Great singers — like great, basically, anything — make this incredibly nuanced thing look easy when in reality it takes years of training to get to that point,” Doyle-Mekkes said. “Even naturally gifted singers like Jennifer Hudson work so hard to keep their voice in shape and able to do what it needs to do. To say otherwise, that they’re just born that way, is doing a disservice to them as artists.”
She encourages students, staff, faculty and the public to see the work of her students in the production of “Sweeny Todd” Nov. 20-24 and in “Wild Heart” Feb. 19-22 in ECU’s McGinnis Theatre. She said “Wild Heart” is of significance because it will be the first production of Chelsea Marcantel’s Joan of Arc musical adaptation anywhere.
“It’s exciting for us to do that here,” she said.
A native of Big Rapids, Michigan, Doyle-Mekkes grew up singing and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater from Central Michigan University. She worked in Hawaii and South Korea, where she became interested in coaching voice and apprenticed with a voice coach in Los Angeles. She returned to Michigan to open her own voice studio and then got her Master of Music in opera/vocal performance from Central Michigan University.
She didn’t tell her husband Don that she had applied for a teaching job at ECU, thinking she would not get hired, but she did and the couple moved to Greenville in 2016. They have two children, Tallulah, 6, and Jolie, 2, and a dog named Sebastian.
“This is my dream job,” said Doyle-Mekkes, whose parents are both college professors. “I love coaching voice. I love working with singers. I wanted to work at the collegiate level with pre-professional singers. I wanted the lifestyle of the school year, so it just made a lot of sense for us at the time.”
Doyle-Mekkes still enjoys performing. She was in ECU’s production of “Mamma Mia!” in 2022 and sings with the Greenville Chorale Society.
Beyond the classroom, she served as a panelist during the women’s leadership conference at ECU in March. She’s also an author. Her book — “I’m Speaking: Every Woman’s Guide to Finding Your Voice and Using it Fearlessly” — helps people use brain science to create positive changes in their voices and offers tips on how to use that voice professionally and personally.
“I believe all women’s voices are essential and should be treated as such,” she said. “Imagine the world where the voices of Maya Angelou, Gloria Steinem or Ruth Bader Ginsburg never existed. The thing is you don’t have to look on such a grand scale to find the power of women’s voices. Imagine the world without the voice of your mother, your best friend, your hairstylist, your midwife.”
Doyle-Mekkes wants everyone to understand the importance of a strong voice.
“I want women, and all people, to know that their voice is powerful,” she said. “In the way they speak to others and the way they speak to themselves lies the power to change their entire life and the lives of those in their family, their community, this country and the world.”
Fast Facts
Name: Jessica Doyle-Mekkes
Title: Teaching assistant professor and director of musical theatre program
Hometown: Big Rapids, Michigan
Colleges attended and degrees: Bachelor of Fine Arts in musical theater and Master of Music in opera/vocal performance from Central Michigan University
Pirate Pride
What I love about ECU: The students! Our students in the School of Theatre and Dance are such smart, talented, and — most importantly — kind human beings. Working with students who are so passionate about learning, creating and collaborating is very rewarding. The arts are essential to our well-being as a human race, and it’s so exciting and motivating as a teacher to see the path each student takes and the impact they have in North Carolina and beyond.
Research interests: Teaching women how to harness the power of their voices in their heads and out of their mouths.
What advice do you give to students? The one who does the work, does the learning. I stole that from my dad, who is one of the leading researchers and writers on how the brain learns in the United States.
Favorite class to teach? Musical theatre studio: On Fridays, the entire musical theatre program gets together with me and music director Dan Rutzen to sing for each other and give and receive feedback. I’m constantly amazed by the talent and the care the students show for one another.
Quick Quiz
What do you like to do when not working? I love being on the water. We have a boat and love to spend the day out on the water in little Washington or at the beach. It’s my absolute favorite thing.
Last thing I watched on TV: “Love is Blind UK”
First job: Dairy Queen
Favorite meal: Dessert — anything chocolate and peanut butter