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| Annie Pre-show Pep talk |
This is a picture at green room of "Annie" which I directed--April 2010. That was a wonderful experience for me and I really loved creating/directing/and teaching as I worked with all ages in our cast. It was a highlight of my life for sure. Another highlight is the wonderful opportunity I have had to direct choirs in Sherwood since 2004. That has been a real joy. I've also been so amazed and appreciative of the support from my friends who have rallied with me to form and grow the Voices for the Performing Arts foundation since January 2006. It has been an exciting journey for me and I'm looking forward to much more adventure in months to come.
I am the mother of 6 wonderful kids, and the wife of an amazing, supportive husband. We have 2 sons in law, and 2 grandsons. I can hardly believe I'm old enough to be a grandma, but I have to say it suits me well! I have kids in college and 2 left at home, and I love the variety and opportunities we have together as a "large family". We can always count on a party when we get together--it's great!
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| My kids and Grandkids-minus the one in Australia! |
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| My Husband and me |
I have had a love of singing since I was a pre-schooler and accompanied my mother to her "singing mothers" rehearsals. I grew up singing in the car, and all over the house--I sang constantly I think! In 4th grade I started playing the viola and I played all the way through high school, and for one tiny little term in college. I dabbled with the violin and cello as well in high school, and that was pretty fun, except for the yearbook picture with me playing the cello in a skirt--over the knees thankfully! I sang in every choir from 7th grade through high school. Choir was a big deal, and we had 60+ kids in concert choir, and 24 in 'Chorale'. I was involved in 3 musicals--Oklahoma as a chorus girl, and Camelot as Gueneveir, and West Side Story as Maria (yes I wore a wig and lots of dark make up)! I took acting classes, and had an amazing high school experience at Beaverton High. My teachers Jerry Wesley Harris, and James Erickson had a profound and lasting influence on my life. They demanded so much from each of us, and we found that we could give it, and we were amazed at the things we could do! I attribute my ability to go to college and survive in the music program because of my exceptional high school experience.
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| Tony and Maria |
I went to Brigham Young University and studied music education. I started out in secondary ed, but learned I had an interest in elementary school music as well, so I added a few classes and got my elementary school endorsement. I sang in choir, took voice lessons and did my best to complete my bachelors of music degree in 4 years. I married half way through, and was so glad that I was able to finish at the same time my husband did, before we zoomed off to veterinary school. After college I substituted in the public schools in Washington and Idaho for a year. It was a great experience, but being a "stay at home mom" was more appealing, so I laid aside my public school teaching plans, and taught privately in my home. I taught piano and voice lessons for 11 years till the demands of 6 kids made me re-prioritize and set that aside. I also taught preschool music classes for awhile at a neighborhood preschool, while my kids were little. During this time I directed many church choirs, and had many opportunities to use my musical talents in church. I felt very happy and content with my musical involvement.
In 2003-2004 My last child entered kindergarten, and I was made aware of a need at Sherwood high for a choir accompanist. I wasn't too interested, but my husband told me not to close a door before I even looked inside. Boy, I didn't know what door I was looking in, or that it would be the beginning of a whole new phase of my life. I introduced my self to the band director made choir director, and we quickly made a nice connection. I began helping him with the choir 2-3 days a week, not so much as an accompanist, but as an associate director and mentor. He hadn't sung in choirs, and was just trying to help maintain a program and do the best he could. I volunteered for a year, and then the next year I actually got paid to volunteer--that was cool. That fall as I looked around the room and saw the many inadequacies of the facility, and learned of the whopping $200 budget for a years worth of music! I wondered if I could help. I had directed a 100 voice church choir recently for a special program, and I knew that there were quite a few talented singers in Sherwood. I concocted the idea of holding a benefit concert. My good friend Robyn was the president of the Sherwood Cultural Arts Commission at the time, and with a $600 grant from the SCAC, I bought 12 songs and recruited 32 people to sing in a choir. We found out about a Lisa Foerster who was a successful performing coloratura soprano who had graduated from Sherwood High, and was living in Sherwood again. I invited her to sing in our concert, and she sang performed 2 lovely songs. We held the concert in May, and a new Sherwood tradition was born.
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| 2005 Sherwood Chorale--What Fun! |
During the next year as Robyn and I were talking about doing another benefit concert I mentioned to her what sad pianos the school had to rehearse with. One wouldn't stay in tune, and the other was just not a great instrument. For our first concert there was no bench, so our accompanist brought hers from home! Robyn looked around and found a grant to apply for just days before it was due. She devoted a day to knocking out the grant application and drove it to McMinnville so it could be reviewed in the board meeting for the Snowman Foundation. With in another few days, Robyn was personally called and told that the board had found the grant compelling and they would LOVE to grant us a piano. She called me after 9 PM that evening, and I remember screaming and jumping up and down with excitement that she had pulled that off so quickly! We were thrilled to be invited to the 10 grands concert to see our new piano be played by Michael Allen Harrison and others. Fortunately for us after that concert the $30,000 baby grand piano was delivered to SHS just a few days before our scheduled May concert. We were amazed and thrilled at the timing. Another detail I have to add is that Michael Allen Harrison, founder of the Snowman Foundation, was so happy to send a piano our way he asked Robyn if there was anything else he could do to help us, like come to a school board or city council meeting. When she relayed that to me I said she should ask him if he would come play the piano in our concert! He said yes, and he did it out of the goodness of his heart, because we had no money. In fact he played for several more May concerts with the same arrangement. He believes in what we are doing, and his support has meant so much.
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| 2005 Concert w/ new piano and SHS Choir added to the Chorale. | | |
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I'm directing in the pit, and the SHS band is playing with us
Over the past 6 years many wonderful things have happened in Sherwood. I'm so happy about the remodel of the music department at the high school, and the hiring of staff, especially adding choir, and drama directors. I hope that eventually a new auditorium will be in the works, and that more classes will be added, and that a musical will be an ongoing part of the curriculum. We still have much to do, but we have come a long way, and I'm glad I've been part of the journey.
