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Like her three siblings, the youngest Halliday child grew up hearing classical music at home. Their father, a high school principal, played piano; she thinks ‘‘he would have loved to be a conductor.” Their mother, a teacher and headmaster before she had children, she says, ‘‘has a nice voice, but didn’t do anything with it” professionally.

Although music lessons were a de facto aspect of education in their family, Halliday recalls rejecting every instrument in turn, among them piano, violin and cello.

The self-described ‘‘very shy” adolescent found her instrument — and her niche — upon performing ‘‘I Dreamed a Dream” (from ‘‘Les Miserables”) in a concert at Hoover Intermediate School. While she always enjoyed singing and had been a chorus member, this first solo was a shock even to her own mother, she remembers. From then on, Halliday says, ‘‘I knew what I wanted. I felt like I was in my skin.”

She started private voice lessons, and proceeded to take part in productions at Hoover, and later in Churchill High School’s well-known ‘‘Blast from the Past.” Her singing also won local and national competitions.

When it was time for college, Halliday chose to split her education. She opted to seek both a liberal arts degree at the University of Maryland and the best possible musical training.

‘‘I wanted to have my liberal arts degree to keep me well rounded, and criminal justice was interesting to me ... I had no intention of going into it as a career as I knew that music would be my profession.”

After extensive research, visits to conservatories and music schools and meetings with multiple teachers, Halliday chose to study with dramatic soprano Betti McDonald, who has an international reputation as an innovative and outstanding educator. The Institute for Musical Arts (IMA), which she founded in 1983, is an intensive training center for singers in New York City. For four years, twice a month, Halliday would drive up to work with McDonald.

‘‘I wanted the best,” Halliday says.

Four years later, bachelor’s degree under her belt, Halliday relocated to New York to learn ‘‘intensively” from MacDonald — not only about her own voice, but also about how to teach.

‘‘I love performing,” she says, but her other related passion is equally strong. ‘‘I come from a family of teachers, and I have gotten something very unique that I want to share.”

While in New York, Halliday also studied acting at the William Esper Studio, did a good deal of recital and concert work, some of it abroad. A favorite memory is singing in a castle in Germany, where Bach once performed; the extraordinary artwork on the ceiling had been covered during World War II, then restored. Another memorable performance took place in a museum in Iceland, at the closing of an art show, ‘‘with the artist’s work all around me.”

Like most young artists in her situation, the young soprano did temp work to make ends meet — to pay for the expensive lessons and her residence just across the river in Hoboken, N.J.

Three years ago, Halliday decided to came home. The time seemed right because McDonald was retiring to Florida, and although ‘‘I do love New York,” says Halliday, ‘‘this [Potomac] is home.”

She felt prepared and excited about embarking on this new phase of her career.

‘‘I spent over 15 years learning to master my own instrument. I spent over eight years studying vocal pedagogy ... with an emphasis on how to teach young singers,” she says. 

Her intention was ‘‘to create a safe and supportive environment where young singers can explore their instrument — whether pursuing a career or doing so for their own personal enhancement and discovery.” The focus for students, mostly in the 13 to 20 age group, is ‘‘on developing technical and musical awareness while building a solid foundation for singing.”

Halliday’s new school, she says, is ‘‘under the umbrella” of McDonald’s IMA.

‘‘I wanted to bring something like IMA to this area,” she says. ‘‘My school mimics what IMA is all about.” While Halliday acknowledges her ‘‘high expectations — I find that when you expect the best, students give their best,” she cautions that young singers need protection. Voice strain or other damage can result from pushing developing voices too hard or forcing them beyond their limits. A good instructor, she explains, should have the technical awareness to guide students in building their muscles and strength, using breathing and vocal exercises and giving them music appropriate to their capacities.

Halliday has heard too many horror stories about voice teachers who hand out ‘‘harsh criticism, defeatists who tell students ‘You’ll never be able to do it.’”

‘‘The most talented students are often the most sensitive,” she observes, ‘‘and don’t know how to handle criticism, feedback or deal with things like stage fright and auditions.”

‘‘The key is to keep these talented young singers inspired,” while providing them with the tools to navigate the emotional minefield.

She offers an example of how one singer effectively dealt with unsolicited comments.

‘‘I think it was [soprano Dame] Joan Sutherland who would say ‘Thank you very much. You’re so sweet’ to everybody, regardless of what they said to her.”

Thus, in addition to ‘‘intense” 45-minute one-on-one instruction to her current cadre of 23 talented young men and women, Halliday offers workshops as well as master classes on technique, musicality and expression by visiting professionals — McDonald has given one, and baritone Michael Barakat is expected later this month. Her students — many from her alma mater high school as well as Wootton — have earned honors, among them the Maryland Distinguished Scholar in the Arts and the Washington Post Performing Artist Scholarship.

Halliday herself continues to compete, most recently a 2007 Gretchen Hood Vocal Competition winner, and perform, with plans for another Iceland excursion. Yet realizing her dream of creating a unique school in her hometown clearly is her priority right now.

As she describes how gratifying it is to see her students’ ‘‘faces when they finally get something,” Halliday’s own face seems to mirror their exhilaration. This soprano has been in their place and has acquired the tools to guide and nurture their talent.

For information, visit www.kristinhalliday.com or call 301-461-6774.