We are excited to introduce
The Chandler Children's Choir, where your children can learn the foundations of singing in a choir setting! We have had a fantastic first season, singing music from the masters (Brahms, Handel, Britten), as well as folk tunes; a capella, and with piano and instrumental accompaniment; unison and in harmony.
Learning to sing is the basis for all musical development! Our singers learn to match pitch, listen for intonation, blend with other voices, and are exposed to a variety of wonderful music.
Please take advantage of this opportunity and call or email for your audition time. And the best part of all: no driving downtown is required! This choir will rehearse and perform in Chandler and neighboring cities. Now Chandler has a children's choir all its own!
Aimee Stewart, Director of Music
I love music. I have always loved to sing. I am the oldest of five musical children. As a child, my home was filled with classical and jazz music. My parents met in the Mormon Youth Symphony and have been making music ever since! My mother, Elizabeth Palmer, is currently concertmaster for the Salt Lake Symphony. My father, Dave Palmer, sings with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Recently, my younger sister, Erin Morley, graduated from Juilliard and debuted with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Growing up, my sister and I both sang in The Salt Lake Children's Choir. This gave us a wonderful foundation in singing correctly, singing a wide variety of musical styles, and learning the theory behind making beautiful music.
I started out as a violinist in the footsteps of my mother. I was a founding member of the Cantus String Quartet and played violin with them for 6 years. Gradually over the years, I have moved more towards voice and singing than violin, and choral music is my love. As we have moved around the country, I have had the chance to sing with The Roanoke Symphony Chorus, The Utah Baroque Ensemble, The Connecticut Master Chorale, and currently, The Phoenix Symphony Chorus. I've also had the chance to conduct several different groups, mostly church choirs, for several years.
While living in Provo, UT, I was able to play Maria in a community production of The Sound of Music. I was aptly cast, because Maria gets to teach children how to sing! Also, while living in Connecticut, my daughter as a 5-year old had the chance to be in the fairy chorus of A Midsummer Night's Dream through Juilliard, performing at Lincoln Center. What a great opportunity I had to attend all the rehearsals for that opera!
I have studied voice privately with Betty Jeanne Chipman in Salt Lake City, UT; Judith Kline in Roanoke, VA; currently, I am studing voice with Ms. Anne Kopta, of Arizona State University. I received my B.S. degree in 1999 from BYU in Elementary Education. I have used this degree as I have taught my own children, as well as dozens of other children and adults violin and voice over the past 8 years.
So many parents have asked me over the years if I could teach their young child voice lessons. My response is always the same: Find a good quality children's choir in your area. Your child will learn more about singing than he/she could possibly learn in private voice lessons.
Which takes me to our choir. As I looked around our area, I couldn't find a choir nearby for my children that focused on the classical blending and pitch techniques as well as serious pieces of music that I was provided as a youth. So, by combining my love of teaching children and my love for choral music, I have created the Chandler Children's Choir to meet this need. I hope you join us!
Adam Stewart, Business Manager
I'll say this up front, I'm not the world's strongest singer. However, I do enjoy hearing others sing! I'm excited to be a part of the Chandler Children's Choir and am here to help things run smoothly.
I've worked as an engineer, operations leader, and finance professional at GE and Honeywell. During the process I somehow managed to squeeze in an MBA as well. These different roles have carried our family to Virginia, Utah, Connecticut, and now Arizona.
Through each of our moves, Aimee's first priorities were finding a music teacher and a decent choir to perform with. From a music perspective, all the moving allowed Aimee to experience different choirs from almost ever corner of America. Luckily, things have settled down now and we are truly enjoying Chandler. And when she mentioned that she wanted to start a children's choir, I realized that her background is perfectly suited for such a thing. An elementary education background, music training in voice, violin, and choir - what a great combination!
Tia Coates, Associate Conductor
Music is in my blood. I am connected to it so deeply, and have been from birth. My mother, a pianist and my first piano teacher, would clean house with me on a floor mattress in front of the stereo playing classical music. My father is an incredible bass baritone, my oldest brother sings and plays trombone at his church, and my sister is a Junior High choir teacher and church pianist in Georgia. My 5 siblings and I all took piano lessons, sang together, and each played a different instrument - I chose cello.
I learned early that I love singing on stage, having my first real “gig” when I was 9 in a dinner theater production of Annie. For years, I continued to enjoy performing in musical theater around the valley (that’s right, I’m a native!). I also sang with the children’s choirs at my church, and even had the opportunity to sing in a community charity event with the Count Basie Orchestra when I was 11.
I started, and adored, playing the cello in 3rd grade. I played with the Metropolitan Youth Symphony here in the East Valley for 5 years. In high school I decided that I would abandon my original plan to study Bio Chemistry in college for my love of music. I switched gears to Instrumental Education with a cello emphasis- I was going to conduct orchestras. Then, I had an unfortunate mishap, I broke my left elbow! The cello major was out the door- and I turned to my other musical loves- voice and piano. I finished my college degree in Vocal Performance, opera emphasis, with a piano minor. I have also had the opportunity to do both musical theater and opera along the way. Two of my favorites were playing Luce in The Boys From Syracuse, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, and being the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute.
I still took as many music education courses as I could in college, as I always knew my passion for music would return me to teaching and passing on the gift of music to others, especially children!
I have studied with Sheila Corley in college, and now study with Phoenix Chorale Board Member Claudia Kennedy. I enjoy playing the piano and singing at my church, singing with The Phoenix Symphony Chorus, as well as teaching private voice and piano in my home.
And I am thrilled to be joining the CCC family- there is something special about children’s voices, and their singing corporately. Aimee and I are both committed to providing an educational environment with disciplined, and above all, correct singing. Techniques that will lay a good foundation for continued musical development, without pressuring or damaging these fragile and precious instruments. I look forward to getting to know you and your children through the CCC!
Tiffany Davis Brock, Accompanist
Born in southeastern Colorado, I grew up on a cattle ranch out on the plains thirty miles from the closest town. My parents understood the value of music, and I began taking piano lessons at the age of five. By the end of high school, my parents were driving me ninety miles to Colorado Springs where I continued lessons in piano as well as viola.
Graduating from Bob Jones University (SC) in 1997, I earned a B.S. in Music Education with a piano proficiency where I studied with Dr. Mark Parker. In 2009, I graduated with a M.A. in Collaborative Piano from Arizona State University. While at ASU, I studied with Professor Walter Cos and and primarily with Dr. Andrew Campbell, the head of the collaborative piano department.
In 2000 I began working for International Baptist College (AZ) where I currently teach piano as director of the piano department. Throughout my career, I have been a solo performer as well as a collaborative pianist for various musical productions (The Princess and the Pea, She Loves Me and Kiss Me Kate), high school choirs, college choirs, private voice and instrumental studios, the ASU Wind Ensemble, as well as numerous individuals. In 2003 I recorded the piano tracks for Not I, But Christ, and in 2007 I recorded my own piano CD, At His Feet. My musical passion is to collaborate with other artists to produce high quality music. I invite you to visit my website at http://www.tiffanydavisbrock.com
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