Summer Entertainment a great success!

Dobson Hall at the First Presbyterian Church

Our performance of August 7th was very well-received especially considering the temperature of 82 degrees in the hall, which was filled to capacity!! Among the feedback received about our August 7th performance, some moving comments came to my attention:


"I was in a trance the whole time. This was so special to me."

"They look like they're having so much FUN!"

"When I left I felt more peaceful than I have in a very long time."


So, congratulations to all our Young Ladies & Gentlemen, and again, thanks to SKARTS, JASNA, and the First Presbyterian Church! Here are some of the "first round" of photos (credit to Peggy Manring)

Maria McLean and Abbie McMahon

Julia Hearn & Christina Marshall

Maddie VanRiper

Emily Short and Imogen Olson

Kate Klein and Caroline Manring

Kyle Cherchio and Emily Short, (or is it Wickham and Lizzie?)

Draper's Gardens Waltz

Shawn Cherchio? or Mr. Darcy?

Christina Marshall, Jon Marshall, Kyle & Shawn Cherchio

Julia Hearn, Christina Marshall, Joanna Manring, Imogen Olson, Emily Short

PERFORMANCE TOMORROW

The Jane Austen Singing School will be presenting a performance of music, readings & dance at the First Presbyterian Church Dobson Fellowship Hall in Skaneateles at 5:30pm. Reception to follow. Free will donations go to the continued work of the Singing School and help us cover costs related to concert production. We are grateful to SKARTS and the Jane Austen Society of North America for their funding and support of the girls and their beautiful work! Don't miss this fantastic program!

Dance rehearsal on the lake

CONCERT LOCATION

We will be performing at the First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall in Skaneateles (the orange brick church opposite the lake) on Sunday August 7th at 5:30pm! Bring your friends!

NEW SEASON, SUMMER 2011

Our Summer Programme of music, dance, and readings will take place SUNDAY AUGUST 7th at 5:30pm, hopefully outdoors! (stay tuned) Donations accepted at the door/ "pay what you can."

Members this season are Julia Hearn, Phoebe Glowacki, Abbie McMahon, Maddie VanRiper, Ellie Meyer, Imogen Olson, Christina Marshall, Emily Short & Maria McLean. 

Many thanks to our Dancemistress & Costume Advisor, Lisa Brown, of the Syracuse chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America. We present programs in concert with JASNA and Marie Sprayberry serves as its Regional Coordinator. 

We are joined by Tom Grande, Shawn Cherchio, Kyle Cherchio & Jon Marshall for our dances and are still looking for several more gentlemen. Please be in touch if you are interested in our rehearsal schedule.

new audition date!

I will be hearing auditions for the Jane Austen Singing School Summer Session on Wednesday evening June 1st from 7pm-9pm. Please contact me if you would like an audition slot!

AUDITIONS MAY 29th

Auditions for our Summer Session will be held Sunday May 29th between 1-3pm at Brook Farm (2870 West Lake Rd. in Skaneateles, NY). Please contact Joanna at joannamsoprano@gmail.com for an audition time. The purpose of these auditions is to check range, development of current members' vocal technique, and to assign solos. Every participant of the Summer Session JASS is guaranteed a solo and a reading, if desired. Additional solos/ readings assigned based upon seniority and ability.

May Auditions

We will be holding auditions in May at a date to be announced for our Summer 2011 Singing School. Tentatively, we will hold a concert in late July. The Summer Session is 8 weeks long and rehearsals will be held either on Saturday or Sunday afternoons at a private residence on West Lake Rd in Skaneateles, NY.  If you are interested in auditioning, or know someone who would be interested, please visit the contact page at www.joannasoprano.com. 

A Georgian Christmas with Jane Austen

Our December 19th Christmas program drew over 120 people to the First Presbyterian Fellowship Hall in Skaneateles.  JASNA Coordinator Marie Sprayberry read excerpts from The Janeites & Jane Austen's birth announcement to celebrate "our Jane's" birthday. She was joined by JASNA member narrator Banna Rubinow who  read a captivating excerpt from Christmas at Bracebridge Hall by Washington Irving. All of our Young Ladies executed beautiful, festive readings as well.  The Singing School performed songs from parish churches in Georgian England during the time Jane Austen and her parents were alive. They were joined by the young gentlemen for favorites O Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, & The Twelve Days of Christmas. They acquitted themselves with poise and presence!

After hours of rehearsal, the final result was magical!

At center, our assistant Dancemaster Mr. Thomas Grande

Caroline Manring, violin; Emily Dean, cello

The Duke of Kent Waltz

A Soloist for "While Shepherds Watched"

 

A fearsome, dashing young soldier

Our Singing School Expands..

In partnership with the Syracuse chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America, which has supported our Singing School since its inception, we decided to expand our program to include English country dancing. We recruited the help of JASNA Co-Coordinator & Dancemistress Lisa Brown to teach our new (male!) participants two dances. Here is a photo of dance rehearsal:

The bulk of our program was drawn from festive readings and church music from the Christmas season in Georgian England. The men joined us in well-known carols like Joy to the World, The Twelve Days of Christmas & O Come All Ye Faithful. The ladies worked hard to prepare beautiful arrangements of lesser known carols like Let an Anthem of Praise, Rejoice Ye Tenants of the Earth & Christians Awake!

We were fortunate to add the talents of string players Caroline Manring & Emily Dean as well as flutists Eleanor Wilcox & Katherine Klein. Our pianist, Claire Howard, who has partnered with us since our first concert, unified the sound and rehearsed with both singers and musicians tirelessly. Our musicians, who generously donated their time, created a lovely soundscape that supported the voices most elegantly. 

Summer 2010

In July 2010, we performed at the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Skaneateles, NY. Here is a photo that appeared in the Skaneateles Journal following the concert.

2010 Concert at the Morgan Opera House

In Spring of 2010, we were invited by the historical Morgan Opera House to perform our November '09 concert in Aurora, NY. We piled into cars with our hair curled and our dresses ironed and made our way to Aurora, a successful concert, and appreciative audience. 

 

Our Beginnings

The Jane Austen Singing School for Young Ladies was started in Fall 2009 as a group performing experience for young women ages 12-18. Our objective was and is to learn healthy vocal technique in a supportive environment through the music that Jane Austen and her family loved and sang themselves. We learn vocal technique, Regency music & history, and gave our first performance of group & solo singing as well as readings from Austen literature to a full house in the Skaneateles Public Library on Nov 21st, 2009.