Reflecting on 2022 makes me realise how far the studio – and you, its singers – have come. Here are some of our achievements.

January – April: Student numbers more than double

We began 2022 with 14 singing students. By January 31, we had 24 – returning students and those beginning singing training. Five of those 24 were working toward AMEB or HSC exams.

In April, 5 new students joined the studio and I attended the international Remix conference at UTS, exploring the links between culture, technology and enterprise.

Concert 2022

May – June: Studio concert returns after two years, plus new CBD location

After two years without a concert due to COVID, we felt confident to work towards a 2022 concert in June at The Flute Tree in Leichhardt.

Singers worked hard on new or reprised songs, rehearsing with our accompanist, Alison. Unfortunately, some missed out on performing – again thanks to COVID. The 9 singers who did, performed songs from the Baroque age to contemporary film and digital games songs. Our website’s gallery page features moments from the event, and you can hear some songs on our  SoundCloud page.

In June, we secured space at the new state-of-the-art complex City of Sydney Creative Studios in Bathurst Street after our previous studio at HubBravissimo was forced to close.

July – August: Hurlstone Park studio takes on more singers, academic paper to be published

In July, we had a seamless move to our new city site, into one of the larger studio spaces. Our regular city students and a few new students joined us at that location.

I attended the global International Society of Music Educators online conference, presenting a paper on opportunities, barriers, and transitions musicians experience, moving from full-time performance careers to new fields, especially self-employment. My paper will be published in the International Journal of Music Education.

August saw Hurlstone Park studio enquiries increase, and I started training singers with various aims:

• singing with a ‘60s/’70s rock band
• preparing auditions to join a choir and the music theatre scene
• repairing vocal damage
• performing their own songs at small venues in Sydney and Melbourne
• preparing for AMEB and HSC exams
  

  Ange Roze at Wildfire Cabaret

September: Bringing the studio into the digital age

 In between training students, I enlisted help for the huge task of digitising the studio’s vast resources, records and videos and audio. With the support of Matt Godfrey and Saoirse Prince, we now have a resource library that can streamline sending singers audio and video exercises, writing new material, searching for appropriate songs, and recording a singer’s progress.

October – November: Our AMEB singers score high, conference inspires future training

It’s a thrill and honour to say our AMEB singers gained A and A+ results in their high-level exams. Other singers performed in choral events, at small venues, and recorded self-composed songs.

I attended the Australian Society of Performing Arts Health online conference, with first-class presentations on achieving goals in performance, with wellness at its heart. A keynote from Matti Clements, head of wellness at the Australian Institute of Sport, was a presentation I found especially illuminating. Look out for some movement exercises soon!

December: Reflecting on a successful year

I’m grateful for all the studio has accomplished. Thank you to all the singers I work with. I learn much from you and celebrate your wins.

Those who collaborate with my studio are precious and valuable: copywriters, technologists, accompanists, finance and business administrators, owners of performance spaces, and all those who support the arts and singers in small but significant ways. City of Sydney receives a special mention for their foresight in developing spaces where artists can work, create and achieve.

The studio will be on annual leave between December 16 and January 16, when casual lessons and the 2023 term resumes.

City of Sydney Creative Spaces Cafe

I look forward to hearing your singing progress, and to your achievements in the coming year.

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 Browse our in-person or online singing lessons, or call us on 0402 409 106.