Winter
Top: With Adhrit after The Music Man
Bottom: With Jaida at District Solo & Ensemble
Post-holidays are always a bit slower paced around the studio (thank goodness!). On a snowy night in January, I had the pleasure of seeing piano student Adhrit as “Olin Britt” in his very first musical, The Music Man. As a studio we spent most of January and February choosing and preparing Federation music and auditioning for spring shows.
spring
After a quiet couple of months, we hit the ground running in March! At the beginning of the month, Jaida performed a solo at District Solo & Ensemble - Jaida was a senior this spring and I am so proud of her for trying something new! Also in March, Alyssa participated in our Federation club’s Scholarship & District Competition night and received a Superior for her performance.
In April, 47 of our students participated in our Federation club’s Junior Festival at UMSL. For the sixth year in a row, all of our students received Superiors for their performances! Additionally, seven of our students earned trophies this year. On my event chair side of the festival, things ran super smoothly - a big thanks to studio family, the Polittes for all your paper shuffling, to piano student, Yashvi for counting ribbons for me, and studio alumn, Mela for helping out in the office at the festival! A festival of our size is a group effort, and I’m so thankful for everyone who pitches in to make it happen!
Spring was also a very busy show season! Nora (Marcy Park) appeared in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Incarnate Word - such a fun show. Zane (Don Price) and Ceci (Ensemble), were in Francis Howell Central’s production of Big Fish and Natalie (Stage Manager) and Ella (Costume Crew) worked on the show’s production team. Earlier that same week, Zane and Natalie made their Carnegie Hall debut with FHC’s choirs. In May, Alyssa starred in The Wizard of Oz as “Scarecrow” and Sarah M. (Beggar/Ensemble) and Cece (Ensemble) appeared in Aladdin Jr. with Miss Patti’s Musical Theatre.
Other spring highlights included seeing Sarah J. play keys in her school’s jazz band concert, Quinn perform in Francis Howell North’s Broadway review, Nora play in her school talent show, and Jaida receiving the Outstanding Choir Member award for the top choir at Francis Howell Central.
summer
Top Left: With Grace after opening night of Les Miserables
Top Right: Grace’s bio in the program
Bottom: Grace (far right) as Young Eponine (Photo Credit: Phillip Hamer)
It was an exciting summer at the Muny this year - our Grace performed as “Young Eponine” in Les Miserables in June! This was Grace’s first year auditioning for the Muny and we are so proud of her for being cast in a principal role!
Also in June, Alannah and Raegan (both Ensemble) performed in LifeLight Youth Theatre’s production of Beauty & the Beast and Wyatt (Michael Wormwood) and Jasper (Eric) were in Shooting Star Productions’ Matilda. In August, Sean appeared as “Mysterious Man” in Into the Woods with YPT.
Left: Miss Jen with Wyatt & Jasper after Matilda
Right: Nora, Alyssa, Shreeya, and Kelly after Mean Girls Jr.
Throughout the summer we had many voice and piano students participate in performing arts camps. I’m always amazed at what these camps are able to produce on such a tight schedule! We had the joy of seeing Alyssa (Cady Heron), Nora (Regina George), and Shreeya (Teary Girl) in Mean Girls Jr. at St. John UCC, Olivia and Lea (both Big Kids) in Matilda Jr. at Wentzville Christian Church, Amelia (Townsperson) and Connor (Ensemble) in Frozen Kids with LifeLight, Olivia (Ensemble) in Frozen Jr. with LifeLight, Raegan (Lyndi) and Alannah (Ensemble) in The Greatest Hymn on Earth at Grace Community Chapel, Emily (Froglet) in Honk! Jr. with YPT, and Hattie (Ensemble) in 101 Dalmatians Kids with LifeLight. Between student shows and professional shows, by the end of the summer, I saw the equivalent of a show a week!
This year’s Mid-America Music Association festival was back in St. Louis! Twenty of our students received Superiors and trophies for their performances.
Class of 2024
Top, from left: Natalie, Erin, Sarah
Bottom, from left: Quinn, Zane, Jaida
At the end of the summer we had our annual High School/Graduating Senior recital at Steinway. This invitation-only recital is always a highlight for me - I love seeing how our oldest students have grown as musicians over the years and celebrating our grads.
Natalie is attending Lindenwood University and pursuing a BFA in Theatre with an emphasis Event & Stage Management.
Erin is majoring in Graphic Design at Missouri State. Erin studied piano with me from first grade through her senior year - it always takes some getting used to not seeing those longtime students every week. Dave and I miss you, Erin!
Sarah is undeclared at Truman, but is interested in pursuing a major in a medical field.
Quinn is majoring in English at Webster University.
Zane is attending St. Charles Community College with plans to major in Music Education.
Jaida is attending St. Charles Community College to obtain her Associate’s Degree and then plans to major in Social Work at a 4 year university.
I’m proud of all of our 2024 graduates and can’t wait to see what they achieve as they start this new chapter!
Fall
Left: Eloise at the Pops Recital
Center: Neal at the Pops Recital
Right: With Caroline after Willy Wonka Jr.
September saw the return of our Pops Recital! We had 61 students join us over three recitals. It was a lot of fun seeing all the costumes and hearing the wide variety of genres and artists our students chose, and in some cases, just the wide variety of Taylor Swift songs - haha.
Fall is generally play season for schools, but we did get to see Caroline (Oompa Loompa) in her middle school’s production of Willy Wonka Jr.!
Top: With Sarah after her first recital
Bottom: With Sarah after her first recital as a teacher :)
In October, we added a new teacher to our teaching team! My first student and a graduate of our studio, Sarah Baumann is now teaching piano lessons for us! With three years of teaching experience in special education and extensive experience playing both piano and flute, Sarah brings a unique perspective to music instruction, combining her passion for music with expertise in individualized learning. It’s been so special to add studio alumns to my studio as teachers - I feel very blessed to have created these lifelong friendships with my students!
ALUMni updates
Top Left: With Lacey after Mary Poppins; Center Left: With Sam; Bottom Left: With Ana after SLU’s winter concert
Top Right: Jack at his junior piano recital at Mizzour; Bottom Right: Leann at her senior voice recital at UMKC
Speaking of alumni, I made a quick trip to see studio alumn, Jack (‘21) in his junior piano recital at Mizzou this year. He played beautifully - it’s such a joy to see how he has continued to grow as a musician. While I was in Columbia, I also met up with Stella (‘23) who is pre-veterinary at Mizzou - it was great catching up with her!
2020 grad, Leann Villaluz completed her degree in Music Education at the Conservatory at UMKC this spring. Leann is now teaching music at a high school social services facility and directing the Sampaguita choir with the Filipino Association of Kansas City.
Over the summer, I was able to catch Lacey Fowler (‘22) in her professional debut in the ensemble of Mary Poppins at the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. I’m so proud of the person and performer she has become over the years - it never gets old seeing her light up a stage!
I caught up with Samantha Key (‘20) back in St. Louis before she headed off to law school in Florida. Sam graduated from the University of Arizona this year with degrees in English and Film/Television. Upon graduation from law school, Sam is planning to pursue a career in Entertainment Law.
Finally, I made it to one of Analiesa Hollowood’s (‘23) choir concerts at SLU in December! The choir performed at St. Francis Xavier Church and sounded just beautiful in the space. I’m very much looking forward to the next concert I’m able to attend there!
Holidays
December is always a packed month for musicians, and this year was no different! At the beginning of the month, I saw students Savannah, Evie, Violet, and Lea, along with studio parents, Mandi & Jennifer in the Choral Society of St. Charles’ holiday concert. It was extra special getting to hear Violet’s solo on one of the choir pieces.
Top Left: With Nora & Sean after Anastasia; Top Right: Morgan playing at the senior center
Bottom Left: Lea after the Choral Society concert; Bottom Center: Miss Jen with her Music for Little Mozarts class; Bottom Right: With Sydney after The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
65 students joined us for our Christmas recitals, and we also brought back our Christmas choir! In addition to our recitals, several of our students performed in the community this Christmas. Charlotte and Elijah both performed songs in the pre-service music for the Christmas program at Lord of Life Lutheran Church; Jack served as the substitute pianist at Overland Christian Church for their Christmas Eve service; Morgan performed Christmas music with her aunt at a retirement home as part of her Show Me Piano Project; and Heidi performed in her school’s Advent service.
Our preschoolers in our Music for Little Mozarts program at Hope Lutheran Church Preschool gave their Christmas concert in mid-December. Miss Jen did a fantastic job working with our preschool friends on learning simple music concepts through songs for the concert.
We rounded out the year with two more productions - Nora (Olga/Marfa & Anya u/s) and Sean (Tsar Nicholas II/Count Gregory) were in YPT’s production of Anastasia and Sydney (Baby Angel) was in Kirkwood Performing Arts Center’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Both shows were great and a perfect way to cap off a very full year!
Thank you to all of our students and families for an amazing year of music! We are so blessed to get to do this work and are looking forward to all the music we’ll make together in 2025!
With Gratitude,
Kelly (+ Jen & Sarah)