Heidi Burgess has been heavily involved in music for 12 years. Heidi excels as a vocalist and also as a flutist. However, she loves to play and teach the piano and mallet percussion as well. She currently attends West Chester University as a Music Education major, and takes pride in being a part of the nationally-recognized program. Heidi has attended and performed in many prestigious ensembles, including the Maryland All-State Mixed Chorus, Maryland All-Shore Chorus, Frostburg University Honor Band, West Virginia Honor Band, Towson Honor Band, and the Maryland All-Shore Band. In high school she participated in musical theater that included, Into the Woods, The Secret Garden, and Jekyll and Hyde. Heidi loves children and teaching music to students of all ages!
Ethan Stauffer – Voice, Piano, Guitar
Ethan
Ethan Stauffer is a recent graduate of West Chester University with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education. Having been an avid musician his entire life, singing, playing guitar and piano, he decided to focus his study at WCU on the voice. There he took specific classes and lessons to learn pedagogy and teaching methods for vocal students and choirs of every age. While completing those studies he sang with the nationally recognized WCU Concert Choir under the direction of Dr. David P. Devenney, Sharp Eleven vocal jazz ensemble under the direction of Dr. Jane Wyss and played guitar in the Statesmen Jazz Ensemble under the direction of legendary jazz trumpet player John Swana (Charles Mingus Big Band). He’s been playing guitar for over 10 years and studied under Grammy award winning jazz guitarist David Cullen. His goal as an educator is to spread the passion and love of music to younger generations in order to enrich their lives culturally and academically. Above all he strives to help everybody find the joy in music, whether it be through shared experience or self exploration.
Brittany Baumeister – Piano, Voice, Clarinet
Britanny
Brittany Baumeister is a senior at West Chester University, studying music education with an emphasis on voice. She has been singing since she was a child, learning piano and studying clarinet along the way. Furthermore, WCU has provided Brittany with countless opportunities to perform, and she has been a member and soloist in Mastersingers, Cantari Donne, Wind Symphony, and Concert Band. She also spent two years in the “incomparable” Marching Band.
Apart from strictly music, Brittany has been recognized for her academics — she achieved the Dean’s List from Fall 2011 – Spring 2014, and in 2014 she was awarded a research grant from WCU to study and analyze the characteristics of the score to Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.”
Last summer, Brittany worked with the Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, NJ. During the day, she taught voice lessons and helped to rehearse the music for the children’s theatre productions, while at night, she performed at their Show Place Ice Cream Parlour.
Brittany personalizes each lesson to best suit the needs and wants of her students — after all, no two are alike. With a driven and patient demeanor, she strives to encourage and help her students grow. Most importantly, however, Brittany is dedicated to helping her students find a sense of joy within music that will last a lifetime.
Jen – Voice, Piano, Flute
Jen
Jen is a Music Education student at West Chester University with a vocal concentration. She studies under the direction of Dr. Emily Bullock. Jen has played flute for 13 years and piano for 4 years. Jen has appeared as a soloist for ensembles such as the West Chester University MasterSingers, and Vocal Jazz choir. She has also performed with the West Chester University Flute Ensemble, Cantari Donne women’s choir, Concert Band, District X Chorus, and Monroe County Chorus.
Jen’s favorite performing experiences thus far have been with the West Chester University Opera Theater, where she has performed in operas such as The Marriage of Figaro, Albert Herring, and The Bremen Town Musicians. This year, she will be performing in The Magic Flute and Orpheus in the Underworld. Along with her classical training, Jen loves musical theater and has been involved with shows such as Annie, Les Miserables, The Secret Garden, Pippin, and Ragtime.
As an educator, Jen hopes to help others grow as musicians while sharing her love for the arts. She believes that every students deserves personalized instruction to help them become the best musician they can possibly be.
Rosalind – Piano, Voice
Rosalind
Rosalind has performed professionally as a singer in churches, cafes and at weddings and in venues including the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall during her college years with the world renowned Westminster Symphonic Choir. She was also a soloist with the Westminster Jubilee Choir, an audition only gospel, jazz and spiritual choir. She graduated with honors from Westminster Choir College in 2011 with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Music, summa cum laude. Following this, she completed her Master’s degree in Music Therapy at Drexel University, teaching music to and treating children with developmental and learning disabilities. She is currently a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and a Board Certified Music Therapist. She has been teaching piano and voice for years and loves making connections with her students.
Alexis – Piano, Voice, Trumpet
Alexis
Alexis is a Music Education major at West Chester University with a minor in Special Education. Her primary instrument is piano, which she has been studying since she was 7 years old. Alexis also loves to sing and play the trumpet, which she has been doing since elementary school. She has held leadership positions in multiple high school ensembles as well as music groups at WCU. Alexis is an active member and leader in Sigma Alpha Iota, an international music fraternity for women that upholds high standards for music, professionalism, and service to the community. She is extremely passionate about teaching kids and has done so since she was 14 at her local church and homeless shelters. She has been teaching private piano lessons since she was 16. She is also the recorder instructor at Ferrwood Music Camp for children ages 6-10. Alexis is extremely excited to be sharing her love for music with children of all ages. Above all else, she wants to create a unique and enriching learning experience for every single student and help them reach their goals and love what they do.
Angie Grau – Voice, Piano
Angie
Angie is a senior Music Education major with a focus in voice at West Chester University. She has been involved in music programs since she was in the third grade, began to learn the piano at age 13, and began taking private voice lessons at 15.
Since then, Angie has taken a loving to singing. Throughout her time at WCU she has performed in 5 operas, has been featured in the university’s top choirs, and gave her Senior Recital in October of 2014. Though she is classically trained, she loves singing all types of music including jazz, pop, and folk music.
Angie’s love for music is seen while she is teaching music, as well as performing it. She has great enthusiasm and can cater to each of her students’ individuals goals and needs!
Caitlin Hoffert – Voice, Piano, Guitar
Caitlin
Caitlin currently attends West Chester University as a sophomore music education major, focusing on voice, with a minor in jazz studies. She has been involved wtih music ever since she joined her first choir in the 4th grade. Along the way, she has learned to play guitar and piano, continuing lessons into her collegiate career.
Currently, Caitlin is a member of WCU’s Mastersingers and is also the jazz vocalist for WCU’s Criterions Jazz Ensemble and their Latin Jazz Ensemble. In the past, she has been involved with theater and has won awards as a jazz soloist, one of which allowed her to open for Musikfest in 2013, singing the national anthem as well as Doris Day’s “Darn that Dream”.
One of Caitlin’s passions is performance. This past Fall, she worked for Windish Music & Productions, performing with a band at Hershey Park in the Dark, singing and playing the keytar. She also sings as the lead vocalist of a band local to her hometown, Meditation XVII, with which she enjoys writing music and performing.
However, a passion that she holds a bit nearer and dearer to her heart is teaching. Caitlin believes that music can sculpt an individual, both intellectually and emotionally, when practiced at any age. As an educator, she hopes to guide her students in this pursuit.
As a member of the music fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota, her mantra is, “to study and practice the goodness of life, the beauty of art, the meaning of music”.
Voice Teachers
Heidi
Ethan
Britanny
Brittany Baumeister is a senior at West Chester University, studying music education with an emphasis on voice. She has been singing since she was a child, learning piano and studying clarinet along the way. Furthermore, WCU has provided Brittany with countless opportunities to perform, and she has been a member and soloist in Mastersingers, Cantari Donne, Wind Symphony, and Concert Band. She also spent two years in the “incomparable” Marching Band.
Apart from strictly music, Brittany has been recognized for her academics — she achieved the Dean’s List from Fall 2011 – Spring 2014, and in 2014 she was awarded a research grant from WCU to study and analyze the characteristics of the score to Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.”
Last summer, Brittany worked with the Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven, NJ. During the day, she taught voice lessons and helped to rehearse the music for the children’s theatre productions, while at night, she performed at their Show Place Ice Cream Parlour.
Brittany personalizes each lesson to best suit the needs and wants of her students — after all, no two are alike. With a driven and patient demeanor, she strives to encourage and help her students grow. Most importantly, however, Brittany is dedicated to helping her students find a sense of joy within music that will last a lifetime.
Jen
Jen’s favorite performing experiences thus far have been with the West Chester University Opera Theater, where she has performed in operas such as The Marriage of Figaro, Albert Herring, and The Bremen Town Musicians. This year, she will be performing in The Magic Flute and Orpheus in the Underworld. Along with her classical training, Jen loves musical theater and has been involved with shows such as Annie, Les Miserables, The Secret Garden, Pippin, and Ragtime.
As an educator, Jen hopes to help others grow as musicians while sharing her love for the arts. She believes that every students deserves personalized instruction to help them become the best musician they can possibly be.
Rosalind
Alexis
Angie
Since then, Angie has taken a loving to singing. Throughout her time at WCU she has performed in 5 operas, has been featured in the university’s top choirs, and gave her Senior Recital in October of 2014. Though she is classically trained, she loves singing all types of music including jazz, pop, and folk music.
Angie’s love for music is seen while she is teaching music, as well as performing it. She has great enthusiasm and can cater to each of her students’ individuals goals and needs!
Caitlin
Currently, Caitlin is a member of WCU’s Mastersingers and is also the jazz vocalist for WCU’s Criterions Jazz Ensemble and their Latin Jazz Ensemble. In the past, she has been involved with theater and has won awards as a jazz soloist, one of which allowed her to open for Musikfest in 2013, singing the national anthem as well as Doris Day’s “Darn that Dream”.
One of Caitlin’s passions is performance. This past Fall, she worked for Windish Music & Productions, performing with a band at Hershey Park in the Dark, singing and playing the keytar. She also sings as the lead vocalist of a band local to her hometown, Meditation XVII, with which she enjoys writing music and performing.
However, a passion that she holds a bit nearer and dearer to her heart is teaching. Caitlin believes that music can sculpt an individual, both intellectually and emotionally, when practiced at any age. As an educator, she hopes to guide her students in this pursuit.
As a member of the music fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota, her mantra is, “to study and practice the goodness of life, the beauty of art, the meaning of music”.