BY DEB HEDLEY
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monthly home tips & hacks
Happy March, everyone! This month we are looking forward to many things including: Piano NYSSMA (March 8th & 9th), March Madness, St. Patrick’s Day, and of course, our MDM Rock School 101 Show on Sunday, March 24th! This month we are celebrating the luckiest holiday of them all, St. Patrick’s Day!
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ISSUE NO. 61 | MARCH 2024
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Luck of the Music!
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Modern Day Musings
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF MODERN DAY MUSIC SCHOOL
Zombie (The Cranberries) - Here is another familiar tune with an Irish background! The lead singer of the band, The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, was greatly affected by the 1993 IRA bombing in Warrington. She wrote the song, Zombie, in memory of the two young victims, Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry.
Where the Streets Have No Name (U2) - You may have heard this song plenty of times before, but did you know that Bono actually wrote this song about Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland? The powerful meaning behind the song is to forget about the street names, and instead focus on unity amongst one another!
In this newsletter, we are excited to learn more about the history of St. Patrick’s Day and the most popular music behind this festive day! Every year, we observe St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th. St. Patrick’s Day began in 1631 in Ireland. Now, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world! Each year, March 17th is packed with parades, good luck charms, and everything green! In this next section of the newsletter, we are going to talk about some popular Irish themed songs that you may or may not have heard of! Popular Irish songs and their meaning:
One year later while being interviewed, Dolores stated that “The song does not take sides. It's a very human song.” The Rocky Road to Dublin (The High Kings) - This 19th Century Irish song is about a man who travels from Liverpool to his home in Ireland. The song tells a thrilling story of his journey back home. Galway Girl (Ed Sheeran) - On St. Patrick’s Day in 2017, Ed Sheeran announced his new song, Galway Girl, which immediately made its way up the charts reaching number two in the U.K. and number one in the Irish single charts! If you haven’t heard it before, go give it a listen! Danny Boy (Frederic Weatherly) - Although Danny Boy was written by Frederic Weatherly, a British lawyer, the Irish connection came when his Irish-born sister in law sent him a copy of the tune “Londonderry Air” in 1913. Since then, the lyrics of Frederic Weatherly have been set to Londonderry Air and is most commonly played an Irish funerals around the world to celebrate the lives of the Irish. To conclude our March newsletter, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to interview our vocal coach, Callie Damouras! Keep reading to learn about Callie, her love for teaching, and her most recent musical experiences!
Coach Spotlight
This month's coach spotlight is:
Callie is one of our amazing vocal coaches who specializes in opera! Callie began singing and performing musical theater from a very young age and has over a decade of professional training. Callie comes from an extensive background in music; she recently graduated with her Master of Music degree in voice performance and opera from New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA. Callie also holds a Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance from The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.
Callie Damouras
At MDM,Callie loves to teach all genres and is passionate about helping her students develop an understanding and love for their unique instrument. How did you first get started with music? It’s funny, I didn’t grow up in a musical family, but I have been singing for as long as I can remember. My mom even has stories of me singing memorized songs as early as 15 months of age. I wrote my first song in third grade and did my first musical in fourth grade. In fifth grade I had my first big role of Annie in “Annie” and completely fell in love with not only the singing part of the performance, but the storytelling, too. I was convinced I was going to be a professional musical theater performer after that. I went to a performing arts middle school and high school in Massachusetts and got introduced to Act Too Studio by another student. Act Too Studio was located just around the corner from my school and I became a private voice and acting student there.
When I was only thirteen years old, I got asked by the owners’ daughter, (who had recently become my voice teacher), if I would be a founding member of her teen opera workshop for her advanced students. I was stunned because I had never once imagined myself singing opera, and frankly, I didn’t know if I could! But during summer of 2014 I spent nearly all my time training to learn my music and finished the summer by singing in the opera workshop’s scene program. I had the best time and the next summer I sang Mrs. Nolan in their first fully staged opera, Menotti’s “The Medium”. At this time in my life I had just turned sixteen and I was certain I was going to go to college to become a music therapist. I was spending hours of my summer in the rehearsal room for this opera and it felt like only seconds to me. I was soaking up every bit of the process and was completely falling in love with the art form. One day, my coaches sat me down and they said, “We don’t want to push you in any direction, but you just don’t seem as happy when you talk about music therapy as you do when you talk about performing opera.” And that’s when I knew I had to pursue this love of mine. Do you play any instruments in addition to singing? When I was in high school I took some guitar lessons and I wrote some of my songs on it, but once I started seriously classically training, I stopped playing. In college I had to learn piano and now I teach it here at MDM! Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations? Two of my first musical inspirations were musical
theater singer and voice actor, Lea Solanga, and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. While I still admire them very much, my biggest inspirations now are my teachers, Dr. Colleen Skull and Ms. Jane Eaglen. They are incredibly strong and hard-working singers and educators, and I feel so blessed to have studied with Dr. Skull and to still be under the tutelage of Ms. Eaglen. What is your favorite thing(s) about teaching at MDM? One of my favorite things about being an MDM teacher is getting to help make the “breakthrough” moments happen for my students. For those of you who may not know, I define a breakthrough moment as a moment where a student finally understands a certain concept to that next level, and they are just filled with a rush of excitement and confidence. As a teacher, there is no greater reward than watching those happen in real time and getting to be the person that helps them make it happen. The other thing I love about teaching privately in this way is the one-on-one relationships I get to build with my students and then getting to watch them grow over time as musicians and humans!
Recent musical performances/accomplishments you would like to share? In January, I competed in the district round of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition! This was my first time submitting to compete, so I was thrilled just to get to this qualifying round and have the opportunity to sing live for the judges. Advice to others? My advice to my young singers is to never stop working. You would be amazed how far determination can take you in life. And to pass along two of my favorite pieces of advice I have received from my teachers... “Take your space in the world” and “Be brave!”. Thank you so much for your time, Callie! We are so lucky to have you a part of our team here at MDM and we know that all of your students would say the same!
March Calendar
1 - The Broken View (Joe Martino) album listening party at Love Vinyl Records 4-6pm 1 - On this day in 1941: The first FM radio station opens in Nashville 2 - On this day in 1967: The Beatles’ song “Michelle” is named Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards 4 - National Marching Band Day 8 - Battle of the Bands w/ Vanna and the Vonbons (Mia Longo) at No Fun in Troy 10 - Daylight Saving Time 10 - International Bagpipe Day 14 - Pi Day 17 - St. Patrick’s Day 19 - First day of Spring 21 - Poetry Day 24 - "Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “The Life Aquatic”: An improvised live score event (Gabe Stallman) at No Fun in Troy 27 - World Theater Day 27 - On this day in 1986: Sammy Hagar debuts as lead singer of Van Halen 29 - Good Friday 29 - World Piano Day 31 - Easter Sunday
Elizabeth P Bryce Z John A Ragnar S Lucas D Audrey L Nia S Jeff B David K Cynthia R Cori E Dylan A Alissa R Alex P Madeline S Alina S Nichole M Patrick A Bea C Anya P Isabella N Karla S Harper L Diana F Myra C Maddy K
A round of applause for our new students in February!
Happy March! We are excited for another fun and music-filled month here at MDM! We are especially looking forward to our upcoming Rock School 101 Show on Sunday, March 24th! The show will start at noon at Wicked Eatery! See you there!
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1673 RT9, Clifton Park, NY 12065 ~ 518-261-1920 ~ www.moderndaymusicschool.com