We started out the year preparing for the Gold Cup Festival put on by our chapter of the National Federation of Music Clubs. At the Festival scholarship competition evening, Kate Bascio was chosen as the district winner for piano, and Jack Ferry and Stella Gilfoil were awarded full scholarships for summer camps! The following students also received a superior rating for their performances in the April festival:

Piano Solo Superiors - Luke Coffman, Cecilia Gilfoil, Mentari Havard, Thara Iyer, Trisha Iyer, Ishika Kanjerla, Anisha Konduru, Kevna Konduru, Vinay Konduru, Elliot Murray, Amey Parwal, Arya Patel, Raina Patel, Sophia Prost, Vihaan Punjabi, Maya Southard, Morgan Statzer, and Erin Stemme

Piano Duo & Concerto - Mentari Havard

Vocal Solo - Art Song - Jennifer Ferry, Thara Iyer, Trisha Iyer

Vocal Solo - Musical Theatre - Rayna Aathreya, Jennifer Ferry, Lacey Fowler, Medjine Gibson, Morgan Hanson, Thara Iyer, Trisha Iyer, Samantha Key, Lavanya Kolluru, Rachael McGowan, Arya Patel, Riya Siddabattula

Vocal Duet - Musical Theatre - Jennifer Ferry, Lacey Fowler, Thara Iyer, Trisha Iyer, Samantha Key

Also in April, Jennifer Ferry appeared as the Nightingale of Samarkand in her high school's production of Once Upon a Mattress. Jennifer also competed at the Missouri State Solo and Ensemble Festival and received a 1 rating for her solo!

In May, Morgan Hanson went silver from head to toe for her role as Neleus in DaySpring Arts' production of Mary Poppins. Later in the month, Kate Bascio did a wonderful job representing our Federation chapter at the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs statewide competition.

Stella Gilfoil and Jack Ferry both participated in the Jim Widner Big Band Camp at UMSL in June. Stella attended on scholarship from Federation. Even though it was her first year at camp, Stella got placed in the level 2 band. It was definitely a challenge, but she worked hard and did a fantastic job at the performance at the end of the week!

June always brings one of my favorite events of the year - Broadway Camp! I had such a fun week leading a Moana themed camp with Miss Kathy. Just thinking about it makes me excited for this year's camp!

Jack attended the University of Central Missouri Summer Piano Institute on scholarship at the end of June. I was unable to attend the end of week performances, but the video his parents took had me blown away with his progress in one week of camp. Summer camps are a great opportunity to make big strides in a short amount of time.

August and September are quiet months of lessons as everyone heads back to school and begins their fall activities. It's also the time of year I start thinking about Christmas music! It's never too early to start it, you know. :)

In October, Morgan Hanson appeared as Flounder in her high school's production of The Little Mermaid. She was the only Freshman cast in a leading role! Also in October, Lacey Fowler performed in Variety Children's Theatre's production of The Wizard of Oz. In addition to being in the ensemble, she was also a member of the Lullaby League. Variety is such a unique and special event - if you've never been to one of their performances, I would definitely recommend it!

I attended my first former-student wedding, so I'm officially old - haha. Congrats to Reece & Caleb on their marriage! Reece was one of my very first students back in 2007.

We closed out the year with our annual Christmas recital, which I couldn't have pulled off without my mom (hi, mom!) taking care of all the refreshments. 2017 was a year to remember for sure, and 2018 has already had its highlights! Looking forward to making lots of memories this year!