Seth Godin does not like the term “taking” lessons. He feels that it sounds like something you have to do, like take medicine, or take your punishment, or take your lumps (that last one is mine). It’s not something that he associates with something you do voluntarily or eagerly.
Learning is different. Learning is something we get to do, it’s a dance, an embrace, a chance to turn on some lights.
I love this quote! A chance to turn on some lights. Working together to illuminate, to shine, to shed some light upon something that might have been in the shadows or in complete darkness. Or maybe something you thought you could see but when you looked closer, you realized it was something completely different.
You don’t take a workshop. You are part of one.
Creating community is one of the most important parts of having a studio. Supporting each other, working together, and being part of something – it should be an immersive experience, not a passive one. This is my goal as a teacher – as I once wrote, “I am here to inspire and facilitate.” And turn on some lights for you.
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If you would like to be part of something, you can contact me to set up a Vocal Discovery Session OR you can register for my musical theater history & performance course, From Tin Pan Alley to Today, which starts next Sunday, October 18. There are only four more spots left – come and learn about the history of American musical theater and how the past has influenced what’s happening now (what, did you think Hamilton came out of nowhere?)
Christine Thomas-O'Meally, a mezzo soprano and voice teacher currently based in the Baltimore-DC area, has performed everything from the motets of J.S. Bach to the melodies of Irving Berlin to the minimalism of Philip Glass.
As an opera singer and actress, she has appeared with companies such as Charm City Players, Spotlighters Theatre, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theater of Northern Virginia, Opera North, the Washington Savoyards, In Tandem Theatre, Windfall Theater, The Young Victorian Theater of Baltimore, and Skylight Opera Theatre. She created the role of The Woman in Red in Dominick Argento’s Dream of Valentino in its world premiere with the Washington Opera and Mary Pickersgill in O'er the Ramparts at its world premiere during the Bicentennial of Battle of Baltimore at the Community College of Baltimore County. Other roles include Mrs. Paroo in Music Man, Mother Abbess in Sound of Music, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, both Hansel and the Witch in Hansel & Gretel, and many roles in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Her performance as the Housekeeper in Man of La Mancha was honored with a WATCH award nomination.
Ms. Thomas-O'Meally received an M.M. in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She regularly attends master classes and workshops in both performance and vocal pedagogy, and is certified in all three Levels of Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method. Her students have performed on national and international tours of Broadway productions, at prestigious conservatories, and in regional theater throughout the country.
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