I Empower actors and Performers to acquire accents or dialects with embodiment and authenticity.
Meet Nikki
Nikki Zhao (she/her)
Nikki Zhao (MFA Voice, B.Bus, B Aviation Management) is a Melbourne-based voice pedagogue and accent coach whose work spans screen, stage, education, and podcasting. She brings a diverse range of industry experience and a highly adaptable approach, tailoring her coaching to meet the specific creative, linguistic, and performance needs of each production.
Her work bridges traditional voice training with a culturally responsive approach, drawing also on principles of play from clown and mask work. She supports performers to develop strong, adaptable technique while expanding their expressive range across accents, languages, and styles.
She works with artists, actors, educators, healers, and EAL speakers through one-on-one coaching (in person and online) and in studio and classroom settings. Nikki is an educator at the Victorian College of the Arts, as well as a performer and presenter.
In her spare time, Nikki likes to read fiction novels, attend Clowning and Mask workshops, care for her plants, and kungfu tea-ing.
Based in Melbourne, she works with clients across Australia and internationally.
BIO
Nikki is the host of the Mandarin series for the ABC Kids Soundwalks podcast, co-host of ABC First Generations, and served as Taika Waititi’s Mandarin coach on the feature film Place to Be. Her voice and dialect coaching credits include productions for Red Stitch Actors' Theatre (Caught; FLAKE), Griffin Theatre Company (Sex Magick), SBS (Appetite), CLOC Musical Theatre (Come From Away), CentreStage (Come From Away; &Juliet), and the Victorian College of the Arts (She Kills Monsters; The Government Inspector; The Other Shore; Great Expectations).
Her stage work includes Assam Laksa for Slanted Scribbles Scratch Night; Shanghai Pearls—a contemporary interpretation of 1930s Shanghai’s jazz era—with Nikki contributing as both singer and lyricist; and for Melbourne University Chinese Musical Group: December Rains (dir. Bang Xiao), Mulan: The Original Musical (dir. Ching Ching Ho), and What Binds Us (dir. Virginia Lin).
Professional Development
Nikki is a certified Lessac practitioner, having completed the Lessac Body and Voice Intensives with the Lessac Training and Research Institute. Her ongoing professional development includes advanced training in clowning, Fitzmaurice Voicework (one-week intensive), and Embodying the Character workshops in Melbourne.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nikki undertook international teaching engagements in Singapore, working with performing arts, dance, and acting students at LASALLE College of the Arts and the Intercultural Theatre Institute, and observing training at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Chowk Productions. In Australia, she has contributed to the Creative Victoria Creative Learning Partnerships program (2022), collaborating with Ching Ching Ho and Abbotsford Primary School.
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In-person and remote options
Located in Melbourne, Nikki can work with you in person by appointment only (this will incur additional travel and/or studio hire fees).
Want to do this at the comfort of your own home? No worries – I’ve got you covered with tele-consultation and tele-training.
Not sure what a production voice coach does?
Download a copy of HOW TO USE A VOCAL COACH: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR DIRECTORS