A Message From The President of The Board
Dear Singnasium Friends,
In Musical Theatre, it is said when a character’s emotions become too intense, it is time to sing. Well here at Singnasium….it is always time to sing! And right now, I want to sing the praises of all who are part of our beautiful Singnasium world.
Let me start off by saying how very pleased and honored I am to be Singnasium’s new Board President and to be greeting you all in this, our inaugural newsletter! Several years ago, when Lennie, John Koprowski and I began to talk about Lennie’s vision for a school, I had no idea that I would one day be asked to preside over the board. Those early meetings, which happened around my kitchen table, led to where we are today. Our original mission to keep vocal arts alive in NYC is the same today, and today we are thriving. Lennie Watts and his incredible creativity and vision lead us. Our fabulous board of directors are diverse in their talents and all very passionate about Singnasium. They have done the hard work of getting Singnasium on the map. Our Singnasium faculty is the best in the business! They bring their knowledge, skills, experience and love of singing to every class and workshop they teach. We are graced by their presence and dedication to us. And none of this works without students. We value the support of our fun, loyal, talented and sometimes-crazy students. We cannot exist without them. We cannot exist without you!
How will we keep this momentum going, you ask? How will we continue to thrive? To sing aloud for years to come? The answer is to get you all to take more classes and/or donate to the cause. We hope you do both. Singnasium depends on donations big and small. This includes donations of people’s time as well as money. When you think of your annual giving, we hope you will think of Singnasium. If you need a reason, think of singing as feeding our souls. When we sing, we lift our spirits and the spirits of those around us. We take joy out into the world. We bring happiness. Plus singing just feels good! Did you know that singing is a natural antidepressant and that it strengthens the immune system? This is a medical fact. Singing a song is more than just learning the tune and lyrics. It can transcend languages and culture. It can reverberate into the world and effect change. Music connects us to all of humanity and does as much as feeding starvation or curing disease.
We hope you continue to help Vocal Arts Thrive in New York City. We encourage you to spread the word about us. Tell your friends and neighbors how great it feels to sing and connect to people through a song. We give special thanks to John Koprowski, whose generosity and support is being used to pursue our mission. We miss you John! Finally, I want to say thanks to all of you who have given your talent, your time, your money and your moxie to our cause. Keep singing and we’ll save the world while we’re at it!