I started as a children's choir director at the age of 16. For six years, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minnesota-excluding one semester when I was away-I was head of a choir of four to seven years old. I was in charge of choosing music, holding weekly rehearsals, and having them perform monthly in their church congregation. My small choir, called Praise Kids, had anywhere from 10-25 children over the years. It was a wonderful experience and there that I developed my love of leading music. We learned songs through games, clapping rhythms, and other various activities.
At 20, I began teaching voice lessons myself after having been trained by an opera singer, a former King's singer, and a few others throughout my high school and early college career. At 21, I was offered a position by Sing Out Loud to co-found and direct a middle school girls choir. Though I felt under qualified, and was a bit nervous, I accepted with eagerness and excitement. I lead that choir for three years from 2012-2015. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I have ever had. I truly loved and bonded with each of the girls and it taught me so much about teaching, about how much young people teach me, and about how to run an organization. I believe that music has the power to bond individuals and that is what I taught the girls. I instructed them on how to use their voice properly both vocally and to help those around them. Each year we chose a new outreach program. One year, we chose to do acts of service for people in our communities, schools, and homes. Pictured above is them pointing to their box at the end of the year. They decorated it with flowers containing fingerprint petals and every Sunday they dropped in, anonymously, what they had done for other people. Rehearsals were once a week for two and a half hours. The choir consisted of 30-38 girls each year. We had a couple of sleepovers during the year, went caroling around Christmas, participated in PIPFEST 2014, traveled to schools to sing and recruit new singers, did a kick off retreat every year at a camp nearby, and did group building activities during break time in choir. I chose music, kept attendance records, sent weekly emails to parents and guardians, and lead all rehearsals. I will forever cherish my time with those girls. They taught me some of the most humbling lessons I have ever learned. Besides those two choirs, I have lead three adult church choirs in different church congregations over the years. I continue to teach vocal lessons via Skype and in my home. Music is, and always will be, a big part of my life. |
"Sing a song, it'll make a way…"
For the past fourteen years, I have worked with children from four years of age to adults teaching vocal lessons, piano, and conducting 5 different choirs. I have a passion for teaching proper and healthy vocal technique, music theory skills, and creating unity through music.