Tom McKinney

The Entertainment Arts Project was founded by performing star and veteran vocal coach Tom McKinney.  If you haven’t heard of Tom, maybe you’ve heard of some of his clients such as up and coming pop stars like Natalie, Mario, and Ray J.  He’s trained American Idol finalists RJ Helton and Will Makar, lent his skills to music legend Johnny Nash “I Can See Clearly Now”, and now he’s the vocal and new talent development consultant to Beyonce’s company Music World. Tom is a regular judge on NBC's Channel 2 Houston's Gimme The Mic talent search series.

Tom has spent more than 40 years as a professional performer and teacher.  He’s starred in more than , 60 musicals, 25 operas and performed in concerts around the world from Broadway to Europe.  He has performed with such great artists and celebrities as: Kaye Ballard, Milton Berle, Placido Domingo, Jose Ferrer, Linda Kay Henning, Ann Jefferies, Van Johnson, Jerry Lewis, Roberta Peters, Vincent Price, Burt Reynolds, Beverly Sills, and Forrest Tucker. Television Special Guest appearances have included The Merv Griffin Show, and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and was named the National Metropolitan Opera Winner in 1971.

Tom currently has more than 250 students operating out of studios in NYC, Houston, Dallas, Milan and Munich. Many of his students’ tour nationally, play on Broadway and have signed with major recording labels. Tom’s unique vocal technique "Sing with the Ease of Speech", has been used to win 138 Grammys, 12 Tony's and 7 Metropolitan Opera Audition Winners.

Colleen Ashton-McKinney

 Tom’s partner in the Entertainment Arts Project is his wife Colleen Ashton-McKinney.  Colleen has more than 30 years of professional performing credits as an actress-singer-dancer, in all areas of entertainment.  Her work experiences include Broadway, Off-Broadway, National Tours, Las Vegas Cabarets, Regional, Repertory, Stock, Dinner Theatre, concerts, as well as film, television, soap operas, and commercials.  Colleen has a BA Degree from St. Cloud University in Minnesota in acting and performance; with post graduate work in theatre performance at Penn State University.  

She continues to pursue her own performing career, and teaches beginning and advanced acting, audition preparation, and performance skills.  In her spare time, she enjoys performing as a Gospel Dramatist and directing.  She is Studio Manager and Co-Owner of Tom McKinney Vocal Studios and The Entertainment Arts Project. She is a member of The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Actors Equity Association. Both Tom and Colleen now call Houston their home.