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We went to see our ten year old student Evan star in Willi Wonka and the Chocolate Factory at Yorktown Stage on November 20, 2011. This 1971 musical was based on a 1964 novel by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in which five children win an opportunity to tour this strange and exotic factory. Charlie is the last of the children to win the prize and much of the show centers around him.

Yorktown Stage in Yorktown Heights, New York is one of Westchester’s leading theaters, presenting a year round schedule of shows and special performing arts events. The cast was quite large (some 32 members), a mix of children, teens and adults. There were five young leads and our Evan played the starring role of Charlie Bucket.  Evan had a major acting and singing role in this production and he did an outstanding job. 

 Yorktown Stage prides itself on providing a professional pit orchestra for its productions.  There were times when we wondered how Evan  caught onto the pitch when Bricusse and Newley’s music takes tricky and unexpected turns.

Evan began voice training with Christina at age eight, already regarded as a talented young actor,  and subsequently began to study piano with Howard.  He performed last summer as Dodger in Oliver! at Musicals at Richter having done the role of Oliver the year before in Tarrytown. Trained to both belt and sing in his legitmate boy soprano voice he was prepared to do either role. Evan was also finalist at the December 2010 Industry Showcase Night  at Random Farms Kids Theater and the Broadway Workshop.  

In the past Christina trained two other singers for their appearances at the Yorktown Stage, Carly Spaeth and Karen Sullivan. Each starred in The Wizard of Oz in the role of Dorothy, Carly about ten years ago and Karen in the 1990s.

Willi Wonka runs through November 27th. Contact Yorktown Stage for tickets and showtimes.

One wished for some biographical information in the program,  as this was the strongest cast we’ve seen yet at Hillhouse. In an opera as familiar as La Boheme expectations are high, and these singers really satisfied.

Lauren Fischetti, during her senior year at Mahopac High School devoted herself to learning the Seven Cabaret Arrangements on songs of Cole Porter and George Gershwin written by Howard Rovics. Originally arranged for Christina in the 1980’s and often performed by Howard and Christina on concert programs, Lauren was the first student to embrace this challenging project. The studio featured her in live performance on Summer Concert 2011 at the Danbury Music Centre with Howard at the piano. As fine as her performance was, the recording of the entire set just days afterwards was even better.  Here then is the studio recording accompanied by a selection of still photos taken by Christina during the recording session at  Angel Thorne Music in Bethel, Ct.

Anna B. (age 12) sings I Can Hear the Bells  from Hairspray at the Dinnertime Songfest at Nick's Restaurant in Danbury on August 15, 2011. 

Annie Smith is our special guest and former student singing The Wizard and I from the show Wicked by Stephen Schwartz.  The performance takes place at Nick’s Restaurant on August 15, 2011 at our Dinnertime Songfest concert.  Annie studied with Christina throughout her high school years and is now in her sophomore year at Emerson College in Boston studying acting and theater education.

Lauren Fischetti sings Peel Me a Grape by Diana Krall at Dinnertime Songfest at Nick’s Restaurant in Danbury Ct.  The event took place on August 15, 2011.  
For those who are interested, a video was made in the studio on November 25, 2010, one week after Christina introduced Lauren to this song. Lauren was a senior at Mahopac High at the time,  a talented actress with a strong musical background, possessing a very flexible and appealing voice that could do most any kind of music. This studio video captures the moment that Christina recognized in Lauren a true jazz artist. She lives in New York now and attends Marymount Manhattan College as an acting major. Lauren’s studio recording of Peel Me a Grape:

Mira, age 12 sings the Mozart aria non so più from The Marriage of Figaro at Summer Concert 2011 of the Christina Rovics Vocal Studio at the Danbury Music Centre. The pianist is Howard Rovics. Mira attends Middle School in Brookfield Connecticut.  She appeared on several of our studio concerts, among them the Songs of Ireland program at St. James Church and Danbury’s Italian Festival in 2010.

"Hi Christina,   I thought I'd send you and Howard a summary of my Salzburg trip.  You can put it on your web site if you'd like! This past summer, I had the opportunity to attend The University of Miami School of Music at Salzburg program.  Over the course of 5 weeks, I studied with world-renowned artists in the city that was the birthplace of Mozart--the city of Salzburg, Austria.
                                                                 I received private, hour-long vocal instruction twice a week, with an emphasis on German Lied.  I also studied with a new coach each week, further enhancing my skills.  My Austrian experience was enriched by German language classes, which I attended five days a week for an hour and a half.  As a class, we took a field trip to see sights where scenes from "The Sound of Music" were filmed.  The Mirabell gardens were gorgeous!  During my stay, I lived with a local host family, which was a wonderful way to immerse myself in the Austrian culture.  My host mom cooked traditional Austrian dishes that were simply delicious.  My favorite entree was wiener schnitzel served with boiled potatoes.  She also made homemade apple strudel, which was easily the best dessert I've ever had.  Each night, we had the opportunity to attend concerts and special events in Salzburg's famous festival theaters, cathedrals, and palaces.  I attended opening night of Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro," complete with red carpet, celebrities and paparazzi.  In attendance were Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko and Austrian President Heinz Fischer.  I also attended a concert featuring the Vienna Philharmonic, as well as several other solo concerts, masterclasses and plays.  One of the highlights of my trip was meeting American opera singer, Renee Fleming.  She made a surprise visit to Salzburg College and offered us invaluable career advice.  She was extremely gracious and even invited us to one of her dress rehearsals in the city, which was wonderful.  The program culminated with two public recitals, in which we each performed art songs and arias. Our last evening in Salzburg was at a beer brewery, where we performed opera scenes.  The waitstaff wore traditional dirndls and lederhosen and served delicious meats, cheeses, breads and desserts.  Salzburg is one of the most exciting places in Europe to spend the summer as a musician, especially when some of the world's greatest musicians come together for the prestigious Salzburg Festival.  I would recommend this program to any singer or pianist looking to further their studies abroad. 
I look forward to seeing you tomorrow :-)

Love,
Victoria"

Added note:  Learn more about Victoria Chiera under Meet Our Students.  She trained with us throughout her high school years, graduated from Wesconn where she appeared in several operatic roles while continuing to train both at the college and with us. Now she is taking the next step in her career, seeking advanced training in opera with an eye toward a professional career in this demanding field. We count ourselves among her fans at this point and wish her all the success in world!

Howard and Christina

It was the first  week of school and suddenly Sarah, who is after a good role in the upcoming production of Guys and Dolls is told that everyone must prepare the same song and read a specified page  from the script.  First Christina warms up Sarah’s voice and then works out the rough spots in the song until Sarah feels confident.  At that point she sings it over and over until the song is hers.

Next comes the work on the script.  It’s another aspect of voice training.  Christina is really good at accents, after all she sings in many languages -- French, Italian, German, Spanish, Latin and even Yiddish.  She hears the rhythms and pitch variations that make spoken language inherently musical. Watch and listen to her coach Sarah.  The whole coaching session on the script took about 15 minutes. Here’s the short version.

Sarah-Kate sings I Cain't Say No from Oklahoma! by Rogers & Hammerstein at Summer Concert 2011 at the Danbury Music Centre on July 31st. The pianist is Howard Rovics. Video was taken by Ray Flanigan of BethelPhotoWorks.com/