August was a bittersweet month. One of my students, Ellie Rhoades, has moved on to bigger and better things and is off to college at BYU Provo. She recently auditioned for the choir program, so we wish her all the best in her new musical adventures and we will miss singing with her.
On the bright side, some of our students are preparing for solo recitals! This is going to be a new experience for PVA because all of our recitals will be live streamed. I am especially happy that these recitals are happening even though we have to be physically distanced. We have recitals lined up every month through December. It is so important for singers to perform and the fact that they still get to in a time when all other performances are cancelled is an incredible opportunity. I am very excited for these students and am really looking forward to them sharing all of their hard work with everyone.
Our very first recital will feature Ms. Arya Kamath on Sunday, September 13th at 3:30pm. The streaming details will be posted on the PVA website soon.
A quick word about auditions: I will dedicate an article to this on our website, but I just wanted to touch on it briefly. Even though we are in the midst of a pandemic, companies, schools, and summer programs are still holding auditions for future events. If you are a singer in high school, college or very early in your professional career, and are serious about further musical study, I highly recommend looking into these programs. They are in the summer and often led by industry professionals who want to mentor young singers. They are amazing opportunities to grow as a singer and meet new people. As I said, a full article about this is coming, so stay tuned! Until then, songbirds…