Beginnings

Molly
Aug 28
6 min read

Updated: Sep 12

STUDIO NEWS

Nolan Brown (UNT - MM) has been appointed the new Music and Performing Arts Teacher at Vermilion Catholic Academy in Abbeville, Louisiana.
Madeline Friesen (UNT - BM) is returning to Lyric Opera of Kansas City as an apprentice artist.
Julie Liston Johnson (UNT - DMA) is an assistant professor of voice this year at Ithaca College.
Sara Kennedy (UNT - BM, MM, GAC) is returning to Sarasota Opera this season to perform the role of Valencienne in The Merry Widow.
Nini Marchese (UNT - MM, GAC) sang the role of Queen of the Night with Skylight Opera in August.
Megan Gackle Mobley (UNT - DMA) is going to be a Voces8 US Scholar this year.
Malcolm Payne Jr. (UNT - BM) was the music director for Hairspray and The Little Mermaid with Four Corners Musical Theater Company this summer.
Samantha Schmitz (UNT - MM) appeared as Fiona in Shrek at Harlan Community Theater
Spencer Simpson (UNT - MM, GAC) is joining the The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University as their new Music Admissions Administrator. Spencer worked in Music Admissions as a graduate assistant in his four years at UNT.
Shelby van Nordstrand (MSU - MM) was part of a team that presented "Building Global Connections for Young Singers through Singing and Song" at the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Toronto
Elisabeth Williams (UNT - MM) is a studio artist with Puget Sound Concert Opera this season
Maiya Williams (UNT - MM, GAC) will be a Resident Artist with the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia starting in September

MSU = Michigan State University, UNT = University of North Texas

STUDIO MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Maiya Williams, mezzo-soprano and Hutto, TX native, just concluded a Graduate Artist Certificate in Voice Performance at the University of North Texas, where she also completed a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance. Past productions include Mistress of the Novices in Suor Angelica, Háta in The Bartered Bride, Third lady and Third spirit in Die Zauberflöte, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, and Dorothee in Cendrillon, with chorus positions in The Dallas Opera production of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette and Verdi’s La traviata. Recent engagements include a vocal fellowship with Spoleto Festival, an Emerging Artist position with Seagle Festival, and as the alto soloist for Mozart's Coronation Mass. Maiya also returned to Orpheus Chamber Singers, Verdigris Ensemble, Spoleto Festival, and sang the role of Tallest Zegner Daughter in the UNT Opera production of Proving Up by Missy Mazzoli. In addition to opera, Maiya enjoys singing concert and choral music, having been the alto soloist for Durufle’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Thomas’ Fern Hill, as well as performing with Fort Worth Opera for Damien Geter’s African American Requiem. In the Fall, Williams will begin her studies at the Academy of Vocal Arts and be featured as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro and Mistress Quickly in Falstaff.

Congratulations on all of your successes and best wishes for your next chapter in Philadelphia, Maiya!

REFLECTION - Beginnings

Note: Reflections are based on my life experience and not meant to be an explanation, judgement, or accounting of the lives of others.

This summer, I started off on a new adventure: I am a student in the G. Brint Ryan College of Business at UNT, pursuing an MBA with a specialization in music business.

I hadn't planned to do this, but while discussing future plans with my daughter (specifically, her plans) I came across UNT's online degree plan options, and thought, "why not"? I've said for a while that, if I was ever in school again, I would appreciate it more than I did in my early twenties. Not that I didn't enjoy it - I certainly did - but I was distracted by the big life questions of my future path in those years of university-level study, as are many.

In a short amount of time, I filled out an application, got the requisite recommendation letters, and waited. Once accepted, the adventure began, and I, professor, became a student again!

Before I go further, I should say that a business degree is probably one of the last things I would have expected myself to do. Literature? sure! Art history? yes! Kinesiology? fun! Truly, I don't like "business", or at least, that is my first reaction to the word. And complicated math? not so much...

But if surviving and thriving in the ultra-competitive world of performing arts taught me one thing (and it actually taught me many), it is to accept challenges and see them as part of life rather than an obstacle to it. And it is because I am not drawn to business enterprises that I felt I absolutely should delve more into it. Business is part of the performing arts world, and to ignore that fact lessens one's possibilities.

So off I went in late May, starting with two management classes (excellent!) and then in July, a master's-level accounting class (difficult!). Already in day one, I knew I was doing the right thing. As a teacher, I'm now experiencing what it is like to be a student in 2025. In my first go-around in university studies, I did not learn via resources like Ted talks or LinkedIn videos, but here they are now, as part of my educational menu.

The content has been wonderful, too (kudos, College of Business!). I have taken something from each course that I can apply to my toolbox of perspectives and knowledge. I may still experience the feeling of having my brain turned into a pretzel when I think about my accounting problems ("you are a manufacturer of jeans and t-shirts, and jeans take x number of machine hours, and t-shirts take y number of machine hours, and each takes so-and-so numbers of labor hours, and you have q number of machine hours available, so how many jeans and how many t-shirts should you make but - oh- wait - monthly demand for t-shirts is only z so now figure that in..."!) but that course certainly taught me humility and that I do enjoy basic algebra, as long as it is basic.

The best thing about this experience, however, is the experience of being a beginner.

In the fields of both classical singing at the professional level and being a university educator, we are expected to be experts. Not all-knowing, not infallible, but experts nonetheless. To be a beginner, therefore, invites all kinds of different intellectual and emotional responses. I start a course like a blank slate: I don't know what the professor will want, I've not taken a course in the subject matter, I don't know how they will craft quizzes, or their preference for writing approach...it's totally up to me to just dive in and do my best.

This is a different experience from going into a performance, clearly knowing the expectations, and being expected to deliver near-perfection because you are a professional. I think of world class ice skaters or gymnasts: they are expected not to fall. They are given a score based on what they are expected to do if all goes perfectly. We are in the same boat when we walk on stage. It's a lot of pressure, but there are those of us who, for whatever reason, can thrive on that pressure, and make it work. It's pressure, though, nonetheless! And being a beginner at something provides a balance which I am finding very healthy, fun, and fulfilling in a new way.

So, I encourage you to consider trying something that will turn you into a beginner! I also took a 4-hour sewing class this spring; I was at level zero, as in, did not know how to use a sewing machine or hem a skirt. So I now can do that - that's all, nothing more - and it was also a good experience. My point is that it can be totally unrelated to your craft, but it will offer you something that could, inadvertently, help your craft anyway. Anything you can do to balance out your experiences if probably a good thing!

FEATURED FRIEND

This month's featured friend, Luna,

lives with studio alum Shelby van Nordstrand

near Ames, Iowa!

Luna (wire-haired pointer/ lab rescue) is the sweetest girl! She loves to go for walks, watch for rabbits from the porch, and snuggle. She is very vocal and greets most people with a “roo roo roo!”

Let me know!

If you are a studio alum or current member and have news to share (music-related or otherwise!), or would like to be featured (or would like your cat, dog, et al. to be featured), click here!

With gratitude for my students and for the craft of teaching,