With Lexi & Analiesa after the semifinals for the STL Teen Talent Competition!
Winter
2023 - what a year we had as a studio! In February, Analiesa Hollowood and Lexi Lloyd advanced to the semifinals of the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition. Both girls performed beautifully and received some great feedback from the panel of judges.
Spring
Spring is always a busy season for musicians, and this year was no different!
Top: With Analiesa after the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs’ State Competition; Bottom: With Natalie, Aubrey, and Analiesa at YPT’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
In March, Analiesa, Lexi, Emma Williss, and Alyssa Riegerix took part in our Federation Scholarship & District competition. All four girls received Superiors for their performances! Analiesa was named the District winner and went on to win First Runner Up in the State competition in May. Both Analiesa and Emma were awarded college music major scholarships, and Alyssa was awarded a summer camp scholarship. Also in March, Lexi received a 1 on her solo at District Solo & Ensemble and advanced to the State competition.
April saw the return of an in-person National Federation of Music Clubs festival weekend at a new venue, UMSL. To help our piano students get ready to play for a judge in person again, studio alumn, Jack Ferry, came back to judge for a practice “festival” at the studio. It was so fun having Jack judge, and his comments were very helpful for everyone who took part. 47 students from our studio participated in the big festival at UMSL, and for the fifth year in a row all of our students earned Superiors for their performances!
In addition to competitions and festivals, spring was full of shows! Aubrey Simpson (“Sally Jackson”) and Zane Stephens (“Poseidon”) appeared in Francis Howell Central’s production of The Lightning Thief. Lexi played “The Sour Kangaroo” in Fort Zumwalt South’s Seussical, while Olivia Brown was a “Bird Girl” in Miss Patti’s Musical Theatre’s Seussical. Alyssa (“Lavender”) performed in St. Charles West’s Matilda. Ava Henson was in the ensemble of her middle school’s production of The Wizard of Oz Jr. To cap off the spring show season, Analiesa (“The Toymaker”) and Aubrey (Ensemble) were in YPT’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!
Summer
Left: With Charlotte after Oklahoma!
Top Right: With Ava after Newsies Jr.; Bottom Right: With Lexi after ACTT
Our show season continued into the summer! Charlotte appeared in the Ensemble of LifeLight Youth Theatre’s Oklahoma in June.
Several of our students took part in performing arts summer camps this year. Ava played “Les” in Wenztville Christian Church’s Newsies Jr. Alyssa (“Miss Honey”), Shreeya (“Lavender”), and Sarah M. (Ensemble) were in St. John UCC’s sold out run of Matilda Jr. Genevieve (Ensemble) and Olivia (Ensemble) performed in LifeLight’s The Sound of Music: Youth Edition. All of these summer camps are only a week or two and it’s always amazing to see what these talented and hardworking casts and crews are able to accomplish in such a short time!
This year’s Mid America Music Festival was in Kansas City. Shreeya & Yash traveled to represent our studio and Shreeya received Superiors for all three of her entries!
In August, Lexi performed with the Arch City Kids Theater Troupe in their yearly Broadway revue benefiting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. ACTT’s production is entirely run by students!
Class of 2023
At the end of the summer, we had a recital for our high school voice and piano students and said goodbye to our graduating class:
Emma is majoring in Music Education at UMKC Conservatory! She is passionate about music education and I’m excited to see how she grows as a musician in her time at the conservatory.
Analiesa is attending SLU and double majoring in biology & music, with plans to continue on to medical school. Ana is a gifted singer and I’m so glad she’s continuing her vocal studies in college!
Stella is majoring in biology at Mizzou and plans to continue on to veterinary school. Stella took lessons with me for 14 years(!), so it‘s a bittersweet adjustment not seeing her every week! She said she’s already played the piano at the dorm a few times - I know music will be a lifelong companion for her.
Maya is at Missouri S&T majoring in biological sciences, with a minor in bioinformatics. Maya has always been such a pleasure to teach and I’m excited to see where her microbiology career takes her!
Tanvi is in the six year B.A./M.D. program at UMKC. It’ll be a busy and challenging college career for her, but she is a smart and determined student and I know she’s got this!
Clockwise from Top Left: Emma, Analiesa, Tanvi, Stella, Maya
Fall
Our studio has been bursting at the seams for a few years now, so at the beginning of the school year we added a teacher to our studio - Jennifer Ferry! Jen’s education, experience, dedication to music, and love for children made her the perfect addition to our studio. Thanks to Jen we have warmly welcomed even more students into our studio family!
Many students in our studio played in their school bands this year, and two students played piano in their school bands. Ethan Williss was back at the keyboard in Francis Howell Central’s Spartan Regiment, and Sarah J. again played for her school’s jazz band. I love that our piano students are able to use their talents at school!
Left: Jen awarding Nora her 1st Gold Cup
Right: With Olivia after Beauty & the Beast
In October, Lexi was selected for the Metro 8 SATB Honors Choir, Jaida Neufarth was selected for the Metro 8 SSAA Honors Choir, and Sarah M. was selected for the Metro 8 Middle School Honors Choir. All three choirs performed in a concert at the Touhill in November.
Our fall recital was at Lakeside 370 Park again this year, with 37 students performing for the first time ever without me there! In 16 years of teaching, I’ve never had to miss a recital, but I guess there’s a first time for everything! One of our wonderful studio families stepped up and hosted the first recital, and Jennifer took over the second recital. I’m told both recitals went great, despite it being a very blustery day!
Early in November, Olivia (Ensemble/Featured Dancer) appeared in Miss Patti’s production of Beauty & the Beast. The leads were amazing and I had such a fun time at the show!
Holidays/Winter
Top: With Zane & Natalie after Godspell
Bottom: Jen directing the Music for Little Mozarts Christmas concert
December kicked off with Zane appearing as “John the Baptist” in YPT’s Godspell. and what a fantastic production it was! Also early in the month, Hayden Holz performed a piano solo for his school’s Advent service.
Miss Jen spent the holiday season teaching our preschool Music for Little Mozarts program at Hope Lutheran Church Preschool! We had nine sweet preschoolers who worked hard learning their songs and gave an outstanding performance for their friends and family.
Our studio Christmas recital was packed out this year with 56 kids performing in three recitals! These are always my favorite recitals of the year - I just love gathering together to listen to holiday music and it’s a beautiful way to cap off a beautiful year of growth in musicianship.
Thank you to all of our wonderful families and students for another great year! Jennifer and I are looking forward to an exciting 2024!
With gratitude,
Kelly