We’re partway into another Golden Ticket hour (the next will be at 3:00), though our posts may slow down a bit as our teaching schedule ramps up this afternoon. So to get us through those hours, we rely on outgoing senior Callie, whose video “Why classical voice is important” was our entry into the Valley Gives video contest this year. She also wrote up this wonderful statement of support earlier today:
“Whenever I talk about Act Too Studio Opera Workshop, I never know what to say because there is so much I feel. I started out as one of the first members of the workshop when I was 14 years old. I am now about to be 18 and I am about to be off to college to study classical voice. None of that would even be close to possible if it wasn’t for this workshop. Over the years, I have learned so much about myself as a performer and a person.
When I first started I had no idea that opera would be something I could even do, nevermind fall in love with. And because of all the experience I’ve had from being able to be a part of the workshop for this long, colleges took notice. I had a couple professors I took trial lessons with tell me I would be very well off in their program because of all the experience I have that most kids don’t get. The workshop has helped me feel confident in so many ways. It has helped me take on challenges that I never knew I could face, and it has helped me find the confidence to follow my dreams. I could never thank everyone involved in this program enough for all they have given me. It has truly been another home to me and it has made my summers of long rehearsals for our operas something I crave. That is actually how I realized how much I love what I do. I was in a long rehearsal for The Medium a couple years ago and I looked up at the clock and realized it was over and I had felt like I had just gotten there.
Opera has allowed me to discover myself and I would have never even been introduced to it without this program. Opera workshop has made me push myself more than I knew I could and I wish that I could give it everything it deserves. Please, donate to this program. I promise you, you will not regret it.”
Please consider Callie and all our teens today during Valley Gives! DONATE NOW!