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Meet the Maker: Music Theatre Now
Discuss current innovations and trends in music theatre composition and performance now.
Wild Voices Music Theatre Artistic Director Dianna Nixon in conversation with NewYork-based composer, voice coach, and music theatre editor (ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com) David Sisco and next gen Melbourne-based composer,singer, and musician Vidya Makan. David, Vidya, and Dianna will discuss current innovations and trends in music theatre composition in the United States and its impact on music theatre globally. Open to industry, stakeholders, media, students, and general audience.
DAVID SISCO
David Sisco has served on the voice faculties of Northeastern University, Suffolk University, Marymount Manhattan College, and is a visiting professor at Wagner College. He currently maintains a private studio in New York and leads masterclasses and workshops around the country and internationally. He has presented at the 2012 & 2016 NATS Conferences, the 2013 & 2017 ICVT Conferences, and was a Keynote Speaker at the 2018 ANATS Conference. David is a member of the Dramatist’s Guild, BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop (Advanced), and is an alumnus of the New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio. He is currently collaborating with Tom Gualtieri on two musicals: Falling to Earth, and an adaptation of Henry James’ The Wings of the Dove with book writer Michael Zam (co-creator, “Feud”). A winner of the 2010 NATS Composition Award, David is a prolific art song composer. His songs have been heard at concerts produced by Friends & Enemies of New Music, Joy in Singing, Lyricfest, Songfest, Songfusion, and at Carnegie Hall. Sisco has been commissioned by Manhattan Girls Chorus, Cayuga Vocal Ensemble, and twice by Minnesota State University Moorhead. With business partner Laura Josepher, David runs ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com, the largest online database of contemporary musical theatre writers and songs. David and Laura wrote “Mastering College Musical Theatre Auditions: Sound Advice for the Student, Teacher, and Parent,” available on Amazon. David earned a BA in Vocal Performance with Composition Honors from Syracuse University and a MM in Vocal Performance from Boston University. www.davidsisco.com
VIDYA MAKAN
Vidya Makan is a composer, actor, singer and musician; passionate about changing the way we see conventional musical theatre. As acomposer, she is currently working on her debut musical ‘Woman’ inspired by the untold story of Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, set with the backdrop of the representation of women in European art at the turn of the 20th century. Vidya is a proud graduate of The Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University’s Bachelor of Musical Theatre and attributes her love for storytelling to her music and theatre obsessed family. /www.vidyamakan.com/composerwriter
DIANNA NIXON
A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Dianna Nixon has built a multidisciplinary practice over 40 years integrating her skills as pianist, singer, actor, director and animateur. Music theatre performance work ranges from a solo tilt as Clara Schumann in Virtuosa to chorus member for Follies (Melbourne International Festival). She has produced and/or directed numerous chamber operas - including Peggy Glanville Hicks The Transposed Heads, at the Malthouse, and has directed many music theatre works for children, including for Opera North (Qld) and nine youth productions for Music For Everyone (Canberra). Dianna works regularly as an accompanist. In 2018, this included playing for ANU School of Music recitals, Australian National Eisteddfod singing competitions, ANATS conference masterclasses, AMEB exams, WAAPA dance auditions, Australian Ballet masterclasses, RAD and ISTD ballet exams, Estill masterclasses, and studio recitals. www.wildvoicesmusictheatre.com/
Free Event |Street Two | Bookings Essential
