Cate is a gifted teacher of singing and a remarkably versatile musician. She magically identifies subtle ways my body and inner attitudes affect my communication as a professional singing actress. She then gently, but systematically, works to strengthen and relieve those blocks. I value her opinions highly. My only criticism is that there is not enough of her to go around!
Some notes about Composing and Arranging
My first music teachers were my parents, who were both professional musicians and music educators.
I weekly observed my dad writing and arranging music to meet the specific abilities of the groups and individuals with whom he worked. My mom did the same, orally, making up tunes and words to teach children. Most people don’t realize that all music leaders in touch with their singers or instrumentalists do this to some extent, from creating whole new works to writing specific warm-ups, to penciling in violin bowings on sheet music to adapting drum patterns that fit the group’s energy.
Most of my works were written for women’s and treble choirs and solo voice. All these works have been premiered by various women’s choirs in the Washington, DC area, including choirs of Northern VA Community College, Montgomery Community College, American University, The Levine School of Music and The Renwick Gallery of Arts’ Women’s Chorus, Ceres.
