An Interview with Musical Theatre Arts Director Angela Beaton

by Alice Hamlet, Associate Director of Marketing

Wharton Music Center

How long have you been the Director of Musical Theatre Arts at Wharton Music Center?

I have served as the Director of Musical Theatre for two years and am in my first year serving as Director of Musical Theatre Arts at Wharton Music Center.

Tell us about your background in voice and musical theatre. How did you get started in the performing arts?

I have been singing since I was in competitive choirs in high school. I stated off with piano lesson at age 5, and ballet classes. I began drama studies in high school and performed in my school's musicals and dramatic productions. During and after high school I continued dance training in Manhattan in many different styles, including ethnic and world dance, and studied at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. I continued my performance training and education by pursuing a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Voice. I began to love teaching during my numerous vocal pedagogy classes and decided to make that my main career focus. I traveled to France as a vocal instructor for the Franco American Vocal Academy as one of their primary instructors in French Mélodie during while in graduate school. As part of the Franco American Vocal Academy faculty, I performed solo recitals in the French Mélodie and Cabaret styles. 

I have been an active instructor of voice for over ten years, teaching in various community music schools including the Mason Gross School of the Arts Extension Division at Rutgers University. I served as the Director of Drama and Musical Theatre at the Allegra School of Music and Arts summer camp, during which time I directed and choreographed three to four shows each summer. During my graduate studies, I developed a strong interest in vocal health and vocology as they relate to singing and speech. In addition to my own pedagogical resources, I completed levels 1 and 2 of the Estill Voice Training method, a method that stems from scientific research of the vocal mechanism and uses exercises similar to those implemented by speech language pathologists. This training is applicable to all styles of singing, from opera to musical theatre, pop, and jazz and also assists professional public speakers. I was invited to lecture at the Mason Gross Extension Program on various vocal subjects during the summer of 2011. 

My approach to vocal pedagogy is holistic. I am an avid yoga practitioner and am currently pursuing certification as a yoga instructor. I plan to use this knowledge to assist my students in understanding their physical and energy alignment as it relates to singing and speech.

  

The Nancy M. Wright Memorial Vocal Competition is coming up on February 8. Can you tell us a bit about the competition?
This is a wonderful event which gives young singers a platform to perform in a friendly competition, and is divided by age into two divisions. The junior division ranges in age from 9-13 and the senior division ranges in age from 14-18. There are a maximum of 16 students total in the competition, which is performed for a public audience and a distinguished adjudicator. 

Winners of the 2012 Nancy M. Wright Memorial Vocal Competition Senior Division

How do you think competitions fit into a voice student’s overall performing arts education?

Any performance opportunity gives students the ability to put their studies into action on stage. The Nancy M. Wright Memorial Vocal Competition gives students measurable feedback on their vocal arts progress by way of written comments from the adjudicator and the opportunity to win prizes and trophies. We provide a professional recording of the event to each student, allowing them to listen and learn from the experience. This recording can also be used as a demo recording for audition purposes. 

What do you hope the competitors take away and/or gain from the competition?

Many student begin to sing because they want to find a outlet for vocal expression. Many are terrified of performing in front of an audience, and only through public performances are able to break through the barriers and limitations created by this fear. I hope each competitor feels a sense of encouragement, challenge, and accomplishment after participating in the competition. The trophies are also really cool!

The WMC Musical Theatre Arts Department has a series of performances coming up in January. What are you most excited about seeing from your students this month?
I am extremely excited to see the artistic growth and development from many of my students who began with me in 2011! We have so many dedicated, talented and disciplined students who have blossomed through the years by taking our classes and passionately applying what they have learned in class to their performances. 

Wharton Music Center students in a past performance of Cats

Which show do you think demonstrates the greatest growth from the WMC students?

Definitely The Little Mermaid--we have students in The Little Mermaid who started at WMC four years ago in the youngest Broadway Kids Musical Theatre classes and now are in the advanced class. They have shown such growth and discipline. It will be  a very special performance!  

Which show was the most challenging for the students, and why?

Each performance has its share of challenges, but I would say that The Little Mermaid is the most challenging in terms of it being a junior level show with a difficult score arrangement, set and costume design, and script length. Many of our students are actually doubling or tripling character parts because the cast for the show is so large, and we only have 12 students in our production.

   

Are there any other exciting developments that we can look forward to from the WMC Musical Theatre Arts Department?

We are planning to have a new course offering starting in Fall 2015 which will be a by audition only, the Advanced Musical Theatre Conservatory. The program will meet weekly for two hours for 18 weeks. Students will be accompanied by a live band of student musicians, who will learn the score of the musical to be performed by the Advnaced Musical Theatre Conservatory with performances at the culmination of the course. Stay tuned…

Wharton Music Center is pleased to host the Nancy M. Wright Memorial Vocal Competition each year to showcase the vocal talent in the north-central New Jersey region. Up to 16 students are provided the oppurtunity to sing in all styles for a distinguished adjudicator in a public performance and receive written comments. Singers gain audition performance experiences in a supportive environment as well as the opportunity to win cash prizes, tuition credits and trophies. A professional audio recording will be provided to each contestant.

The registration deadline for the Nancy M. Wright Memorial Vocal Competition is January 25, 2015. The competition and performance will be held on February 22, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. in Wharton's black box theater at 60 Locust Avenue in Berkeley Heights. To register for the Nancy M. Wright Memorial Vocal Competition, please visit www.WhartonMusicCenter.org.

Taking It To the Summit Train Sation

by Alice Hamlet, Associate Director of Marketing
Wharton Music Center

This year, we decided to explore heretofore uncharted marketing territory through railway platform advertising at nearby Summit train station, one of Union County's busiest public transportation hubs. This was an exciting project from start to finish, including an afternoon spent capturing our fabulous model, New Jersey Youth Symphony parent volunteer Pingping, by photographer extraordinaire Alan Kaufman, who very generously volunteered his services for this project. Look for us at Summit train station and read Pingping's story below.

Where are you from originally?

I was born and raised in Beijing, China. 

What performing arts education did you have as a youth? Did you take music lessons as a child?

I didn't have the privilege to take any music lessons as a child because of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. During this period of time, Western music was banned altogether, conservatories closed, and many artists and teachers were sent to do physical labor in remote areas. The performing arts experiences I had were not aimed at creating art, but mainly served as revolutionary propaganda. 

When did your children get involved in music?

When my children were four years old, they began music lessons at the Sundance School, a nursery school in North Plainfield, where they started group violin lessons with Dr. Ted Schlosberg. He used the Suzuki method, in which parents are actively involved in the child's musical development. Once a week, some of the parents and I attended his lessons for parents at the New Jersey Workshop for the Arts in Westfield. He told the children, "Playing music is making magic!"

WMC NJYS Summit train station advertisement, running December 2014-February 2015.

How did your children choose the instruments that they play?

After talking to my two nieces who loved playing violin and excelled on it, I took my son to a group lesson, and he liked it. My daughter, who was two years younger, was inspired after hearing her brother play and decided to play the same instrument as he did.

When did they join the New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJYS)?

My son, Alex, joined NJYS when he was starting third grade, with Ms. Barbara Barstow, in OSTE (now Preparatory String Ensemble). My daughter, Emily, was in fourth grade. They looked forward to joining the orchestra because they had heard great things about NJYS from their teacher's older children. 

How do you hope the arts will have impacted your children in the long run?

I hope they learn to listen to their own hearts and be great contributors to society. My husband and I will support them fully if they choose to be a musician or an artist. We hope music remains an important part of their life if they choose not to be a musician. I hope that they can connect the dots between music, life, and their other interests, and become significant and lifetime supporters of music and musicians. 

Pingping's son, Alex, concertmaster of NJYS Youth Symphony.

Why do you think arts education is important?
I think that the humility that comes from arts education is important; my children have learned many important virtues from music, whether it be developing a diligent work ethic or always striving to improve their playing. An education that incorporates the arts enables us to embrace our own imagination and creativity, to work hard and be the best we can be, and to be kind, tolerant, and thoughtful. The feelings performers bring out of the music transcend even spoken words. Furthermore, through orchestra, my kids have learned so many life skills from cooperation to understanding. From their private studies, they have learned how to approach a problem creatively and with integrity and to expect quality from themselves. From chamber music, they have learned how to listen and accept opinions as well as how to adapt quickly. They have made lifelong friends through music as well, who are all not only accomplished players but also some of the best students. To me, an arts education is synonymous to success in life and work because it provides many important lessons. It solves problems we face from the core and motivates us from deep inside. 

Wharton Music Center offers introductory group classes through its Pathways program, including Pathways to Cello, Pathways to Dance, Pathways to Piano, Pathways to Ukelele, and Pathways to Violin. To learn more about our programs and offerings, please visit www.whartonmusiccenter.org and www.NJYS.org.

My Amazing Theater School

My Amazing Theater School
An essay by Maya Handler, 4th Grade Student
Wharton Music Center

Maya, a fourth grader at McGinn Elementary School in Scotch Plains, was asked to write a descriptive essay in school. She chose to write about Wharton Music Center. Her essay was so touching that we asked to re-print it in the Wharton blog. Maya has been a student at Wharton Music Center for several years as a member of the Broadway Kids Musical Theatre Project.

Wharton Music Center is a place of song, performance, devotion and love. When you walk through the wide glass doors, you feel a rush of warmth and confidence surge throughout you. As you step into the lobby, it looks as if you stepped into a big bolt of color. Beautiful swirls and designs surround you. As you walk down the hallways, you will see many photos of the amazing people who have performed, grew and taught here. As you stroll towards the theater, you will see classrooms lined up like soldiers lined up in rows. Next is my personal favorite room of the school, the theater. Its beautiful tapestries, its long pitch black curtains and best of all, its performers.

 At Wharton Music Center, we learn amazing choreography to go with our songs. We do that in the dance room. The dance room is a big dance studio that is filled with inspiring photos of the most amazing dancers that ever lived. There are multiple sets of bars that tower up to the ceiling with costumes that are each delicately sewn by hand. The dance studio has beautifully decorated walls with music notes and people dancing. My favorite part of the room is the HUGE stereo with surround sound that spreads through the room leaving eternal marks of the inspiring, beautiful music that played there.

In my opinion, the vocal room is like that last secret ingredient that you need to complete the recipe. The vocal room is a wide vibrant room with amazing features. The great wall is a wall in the vocal room that is smothered with the art made by the students. The vocal room plays a huge part in the show process because that is where we warm up and practice our songs. I really love my theater school and if there’s anything they’ve taught us, it’s to follow our dreams, and I do just that. I sometimes reflect on my progress going from playing a coconut tree to the leading role, and I hope I keep blossoming into a great actress in this space.

Broadway Kids Musical Theatre Project serves as an introduction to the essentials of musical theatre and the staging of a production. Students are introduced to the concept of “triple threat”--proficiency in voice, drama, and dance. To enroll in a musical theatre class at Wharton Music Center or view our complete course listing, visit us online at www.whartonmusiccenter.org.

NJYS Ensemble Feature: Youth Orchestra

by Kristine Peters, Education Coordinator
Wharton Music Center

An Interview with Simon Lipskar, Conductor of Youth Orchestra
Simon has been with the New Jersey Youth Symphony for 11 years. His main instrument is violin, although he also plays piano and is a trained tenor. Simon holds a Master of Music degree in Conducting from the San Francisco Conservatory and is currently a Senior Literary Agent for Writers House in New York City.

Tell me about the juxtaposition of being a Literary Agent and being an Educational Conductor.
When I was hired for the job at NJYS, I had made the decision to stop being a full-time conductor – mostly for my children. Most of NJYS students will not go on to professional musical careers, so it is valuable for them to see someone knowledgeable, experienced and musically educated still seriously engaged with music, but with other parts to his life. The biggest gift this model provides is the idea that, for them too, music can still be an important part of their lives, even if they don’t pursue music professionally, which can lead them to find unique and creative ways of engaging with music as adults.  People who engage in music are the best audiences. They create the possibility of continuity for music in a real way, in a culture where classical music does not always receive the attention it deserves.

Why is Youth Orchestra important to the New Jersey Youth Symphony?
Youth Orchestra (YO) represents a linchpin in terms of providing students an experience that inspires them to want to continue on and to achieve at the highest levels of the organization. It would be very easy for YO to lack that directionality and for it to be a resting place after students get there. Along with being the final transitional ensemble, YO is also the moment where students get to play the “real” repertoire for the first time without excuse and without caveat. Repertoire programmed for this orchestra is made up of only pieces that major symphony orchestras perform.

One of the things I love about youth orchestras as an art form that people don’t talk about enough is that so much art that kids do is about doing minimized versions of the real thing. What’s extraordinary about working with youth orchestras is that students have the opportunity to engage in the truly highest creations of the art form. They’re not asked to wait until they’ve grown up to engage with Beethoven. It’s an incredibly special opportunity for young people.

Youth Orchestra students on break during a recent rehearsal.

What musical skills are you building?

One of the most important things that I expect of them is that they learn to have their ears open. I expect them to pay attention to what’s going on around them and be conscious

of what other people are playing. It’s too easy to get into single-line tunnel vision. Your ears can hear the score, even if your eyes can’t. One of my favorite activities to do with them is have them mix up all around the room: they are not allowed to sit next to someone who plays the same instrument, and they create little circles looking in at each other and play the piece without the conductor. It’s a great lesson because they are forced to hear what’s happening; they realize that their ears are what is keeping them together, so they learn they can do an astonishing amount without relying on a conductor.

Another thing that’s important to me, even though it’s not a musical skill, is the courage to make art. It’s easy for teenagers to retreat behind the fear of exposure. So I show them in rehearsal, by being extroverted, that I am not afraid of anything, I’m not afraid of making a complete fool of myself. Not because I’m a clown, but because the only way to experience music fully is to give ourselves over to it. It’s important for students to not be afraid of making musical art.

Why is community education important?
For good or ill, the reality is that music is no longer central to our culture and society in the way it was when the great classical music was written. The music being written from mid-1700s until early 1900s was the most important cultural product of the times. It had a more central role. Understanding the world required understanding the music then being written. People during those times had deeper understandings of musical structure and form, in such a way that people literally heard music differently than we hear it now. When they heard a harmonic progression that is surprising, they knew it was surprising. When a composer tweaked or pulled on a structure, or when Beethoven created extended codas, the audience listening knew what he was doing and reacted specifically to what he was doing. Those general understandings are now gone. Community music schools nurture this great artistic expression of humanity, teaching the skills and ideas that are required to engage with classical music, an engagement that requires intense hard work. It’s worthy of doing because the intrinsic value of the art. Of course it develops many valuable non-musical skills and capabilities, but at the end of the day it is art for art’s sake. Music expresses something powerful about what it means to be human; as music educators, we are lucky to be able to spend our lives helping young people understand, touch, engage with and ultimately learn from this extraordinary art form.

Youth Orchestra, for students in grades 7-12, meets on Mondays at 6:15-9:15 p.m. at 570 Central Avenue in New Providence. For more information about the New Jersey Youth Symphony, visit www.NJYS.org.

Children and Creativity

by Kristine Peters, Education Coordinator
Wharton Music Center

Last week my piano students and I had the amazing experience of performing for the local senior center, an event enthusiastically arranged by the parent of one of my students. When she stood up to speak at the advent of the program, she described me as “an incredible teacher with lots of creativity.” I have to admit that “creativity” is not an adjective that I readily apply to myself. As a musician, I usually feel very rigid. Many pianists can just sit down and play--that is not something I’m comfortable doing. But lately, my students have inspired me to be more creative. Children are naturally free of boundaries and, lacking the self consciousness and inhibitions plaguing many adults, explore and bend rules without the fear of the unknown. They compose, they improvise so easily. I often find myself jealous of their creativity.

Early childhood music is such a magical time for this kind of creativity. In an effort to foster this in children, I open all my Pathways to Piano classes with an instrument exploration that includes many variations of pitched and unpitched percussion instruments, egg shakers and rhythms sticks. A few weeks ago, I taught them the folksong Closet Key. Today in class yet another magical thing happened: they decided to do their own “cover” of the song using triangles, the piano, and finger cymbals.

Moments like these are so special, not just as a teaching moment, but also because they represent the creative independence and abilities inherent to young children.

Watch video from the Pathways to Piano class here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMC_fwXofIs

Pathways to Piano classes meet on Wednesdays at 3:45-4:30 p.m. and Fridays at 4:00-4:45 p.m. at 60 Locust Avenue in Berkeley Heights. To register for Pathways to Piano or for more information, call Wharton Music Center at 908-790-0700 or visit www.WhartonMusicCenter.org.

In Gratitude to Music

by A Wharton Music Center Parent
from mindful-piano-practice

In this pre-holiday weekend morning, watching the snow fluttering outside and enveloped by the warmth of home and the comfort of music, my heart is flooded with gratitude.

It’s a joy to listen to CC playing piano while singing the tunes these days, a new skill coached by her resourceful and responsive teacher Ms. K.  Take the other night for example, at 10:00pm, beyond her bedtime, she was still wide awake. Pressing down the damper pedal, she proceeded to play and sing softly.  I recognized some of the tunes I used to sing: memory, elderwise, bridge over the troubled water… CC played and sang unaffectedly for her own joy. What better gift could one think of?

It’s refreshing to witness KK taking her soccer fighting spirit to her piano arena. The other day, while struggling with a stubborn rhythm problem, and offered the option to switch to a different piece, she stubbornly said, “No!”.  

A couple of weeks later, the problem dissipated.  More than that, on her own initiation, she asked Ms.K to teach her a challenging piece, and is doggedly sinking her teeth to one bar at a time. I’m in awe of her drive.

It’s the holiday season. It’s the gift giving season. I can’t help but think music must be one of the best gifts.

It’s the most environmentally sustainable gift one can give oneself, one generation can give the next, and the next next… It’s one thing we can create without worrying it will be finite one day or clutter the earth beyond recognition. It simply doesn’t occupy any material space.

It’s a most vital gift to the young and the old.  The joy it awakes and sustains as well as the challenges it offers as long as you have appetite for makes it a gift that never ends. Indeed, it forges brain plasticity in the young and the elderly. It’s so true when someone said, “you never feel lonely when you play music”.

Holiday season is also a wish making season. I found myself wishing: May the love of music be good enough for its own sake. May it be unspoiled by the competitiveness mentality.  Love is not a contest. Learning is a lifelong joy on its own.

Support the performing arts this holiday season! You can help ensure that the highest quality music education and community programming is available well into the future. Wharton Music Center, New Jersey Youth Symphony and Paterson Music Project are partnered with AmazonSmile, a simple and convenient way for you to support Wharton every time you shop on Amazon.com. When you do your holiday shopping through smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate 0.05% of the value of your eligible purchase to Wharton at no additional cost to you.

WMC NJYS Ensemble Feature: Jazz Studies Program

by Kristine Peters, Education Coordinator
Wharton Music Center

While sitting in rehearsals with Jazz Studies Program Director Dave Schumacher, I found myself as challenged on the subjects of music theory and history presented in the Intro to Jazz Workshop and Jazz Combo as the students arduously applying themselves to the study of America's only original art form. Providing a well-rounded experience through aural examples and the discussion of theory prototypes, Dave is building a new generation of jazz cats at Wharton Music Center/New Jersey Youth Symphony.
 

Basic Info on Dave:
Dave is a prolific music educator, maintaining a private teaching studio, instructing the Theory Lab at WMC, and directing the WMC NJYS Jazz Studies Program. Dave also works at K&S Music in instrument sales. Dave's main instrument is bari-saxophone, though he can play all saxophones, clarinet and flute.

What sparked your interest in Jazz?
When I was a kid my parents had a few jazz records that I loved to play. When I was really little, I was really into jumping and making the turn table skip. Once I got past that stage and my father didn’t kill me for it, I realized I actually enjoyed listening to them. There were a few – Duke Ellington record, Jonah Jones…only 3 or 4 really, but I immediately liked them.

What kind of ensemble experiences did you have?
Actually, they wouldn’t let me be in the band right away because I was behind everyone on saxophone. So it actually worked out great for me to start right away with private lessons. Then I was able to join the band about six months later. The music program in my high school was an excellent program and well known in the area. We had orchestra, chamber orchestra, two wind ensembles, three big bands and the district brought in professional artists regularly. 

The Jazz Combo at the 2014 WMC NJYS Gala

Why is the Jazz program important to WMC NJYS?
To me, Jazz is American classical music, a classical form of its own. It has a shaded past because it was “pop” music at one time, but it hasn’t been pop music for a very long time.  Characteristically it is its own classical music form. 
 
What non-musical skills are you building?
Concentration and focus. They have to be focused on form and key structure while playing and listening to their peers. Also, I’m building social communication skills. They have to communicate on a musical level and on a non-musical level, verbally and non-verbally.

What will you be playing for NJYS's 35th Anniversary concert at NJPAC?
“Cantaloupe Island” by Herbie Hancock and “Solar” by Miles Davies. I’m trying to build up their standard repertoire knowledge by transcriptions I put together while bringing in some published arrangements. 

The Intro to Jazz Workshop, for all instruments, meets at NJYS on Sundays at 1:00-2:30 PM (grades 6-10) and at WMC on Wednesdays at 6:30-8:00 PM (teens & adults). Start dates are Sunday, January 11 and Wednesday, February 4. Tuition is $350. The Jazz Combo meets at NJYS on Sundays at 2:30-4:00 PM (grades 9-12). For more information, or to register for the Jazz Studies program, visit www.NJYS.org or call 908-790-0700.