A Musical Journey- Adam

My parents met in the Mormon Youth choir and sang together their whole marriage.  They were both members of the Utah Opera Company, where my dad was one of the principal tenors and my mom was an accompanist.  My mom taught us all to song since before I remember.  We have family videos of us singing together, often in harmony, with some of us under the age of 4 or 5.  My mom started teaching me piano lessons around age 5.  I picked it up at a young age and loved to play by ear.  I would try to pick out songs on the piano that I heard on my favorite cartoons.  I wrote my first full song "Sneaky Mouse" around age 8.

As I grew up, my interest in music grew with me.  I continued to play in all of my mom's piano recitals and sing in various performances with my family.  I started choir in 8th grade and sang in various choirs all through my schooling.  I participated in several musicals in Jr. high and high school, acted as president of two choirs and drama in high school, and received straight superiors all three years competing in Vocal Solo & Ensemble competitions.  Some of my favorite school roles in high school productions include "The Minstrel" in Once Upon a Mattress, "Jud Fry" in Oklahoma, and "Tevye" in The Fiddler on the Roof.  I also musically and artistically directed the musical Something's Afoot.  All of these amazing experiences in high school gave me a sense of what it means to be a well-rounded performer and how to teach others in the craft.

Following high school, I continued on in my performing career by singing with the University of Utah Singers.  Over the years participating in this group, I sang hundreds of songs and travelled all across the globe to places like Germany, Solvenia, Crotia, Hungary, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Israel, and Hawaii.  I consider my time in this group as one of the highlights of my musical experience.

I've always known music was the career path for me and I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Utah in 2013.  During my time in college, I worked at Day Murray Music for 5 years and I taught private voice lessons for 3 years at the music studios directly above the store.

Directly following my graduation, I accepted a job as choir director and AP Music Theory teacher at Alta High School, where I've taught for the last three years.  I have taken my groups to various festivals and competitions and won first place at the Heritage Music Festival in Seattle, Washington in 2015.  I have continued my music performance career by performing at venues such as the Desert Star Theater and Centerpoint Legacy Theater.  I spent 3 years participating in the male septet Consortium.  I have also been a soloist with groups like the Salt Lake Vocal Artists, Salt Lake Choral Artists, Salt Lake Symphonic Choir, and the Sterling Singers.  

I have decided that solo performing is where I would like to focus my career.  I have been accepted into the master's program for Vocal Performance at the University of Utah to begin this fall (2016).  I plan to perform locally and abroad in various settings like recitals, oratorios, musicals, and operas.  I want to expand my knowledge of the voice and share that with my private students.  I feel that my diverse experience in music gives me a unique advantage to teach students.  I know that as I continue my education I will learn more about proper technique and will help me to teach to individual students' needs.