OUR TEACHERS
MONICA AUGUSTINE :
Monica Augustine is a vocal teacher, songwriter, performer, and the Founder of Wildflower School of Voice. She has recorded three CDs, "Wildflower," "Beyond Innocence" and "Bright New World," which was released October 1, 2009.
Monica has performed at venues across Colorado
including the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and has performed the national anthem for the Colorado Rockies, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rapids, Colorado Crush, and the C.U. Buffaloes.
Monica has taught singing since 1994 and specializes in
working with kids and teens. Her background includes extensive
training in piano, guitar, and voice, a certification in Music for Children through Music Together, and a Masters Workshop with the Head of Casting for Disney's Broadway Shows, Jennifer Ruden.
Monica was voted "Best Teacher" in the Daily Camera's Boulder County Gold in 2005 and 2007.
KIMBERLY NEELY:
Kimberly Neely, soprano, is a native of Augusta, GA. She received her Bachelor's of Music in Vocal Performance from the Petrie School of Music at Converse College, and her Master's of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
She has performed roles in numerous operas including the role of The Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute with Loveland Opera Theater in Loveland, CO and Josephine in HMS Pinafore with CU Opera in the Summer. Additional opera roles include both Dewfairy and Sandman in Hansel and Gretel, and Knitter #1 in A Game of Chance. She has also performed with Opera Colorado at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Performing Arts Center during their 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons. In addition to operas, she has also been featured as the soprano soloist in Poulenc's Gloria, Haydn's Missa Brevis, and Britten's Ceremony of Carols, and performed in Britten's War Requiem at Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver.
She received extensive vocal pedagogy training during her Master's program at CU, and she has 6 years of voice teaching experience, including two years of teaching through the Applied Music Program at CU's Continuing Education Department. Kimberly has also been playing piano for twelve years, and teaches beginning piano in addition to voice lessons.
For more info on Kim, check out her website:
http://neely.musicteachershelper.com
TOM WEST comes to us from the streets of California, where he started popping and breaking through the 80’s and early 90’s. Tom soon learned the importance of formal training and started his first ballet class at the age of 15. He continued to study and broke into the forms of jazz and lyrical and found his roots again in hip hop class.
Tom has had the pleasure of studying with the best teachers in the world and has found that dreams can come true. Nike, Oakley, Chrysler and Redken hair have only been some of the companies that have hired him as a performer. Tom has been featured as a dancer for Star search on the Fox network and has enjoyed appearing in several TV shows and commercials such as “Ladybugs” the movie featuring Rodney Dangerfield. Tom has also toured with David Taylor Dance Theatre performing such roles as “The Russian” and “The Mouse” in The Nutcracker.
He now considers himself a freelance choreographer and enjoys the freedom it allows to be creative and break new ground. His choreography services have been contracted by the Denver bronco cheerleaders and has been used by numerous TV shows and commercials both locally and nationally. He has used his skills to bring a recent (2004) National title to a hip-hop company in Longmont Colorado and has been awarded numerous choreography awards.
Tom has expanded his skills in the industry and is regarded as a creative deejay and master of ceremonies. He has performed shows for Ed Mcaffrey and Terrell Davis of the Denver broncos and has been featured live for Kool and The Gang in concert. Tom continues to broaden his scope in the field and is now working with up and coming singers and artists.
