| I began my early formal music training in high school where I sang in a large concert choir and two smaller ensembles -- a mixed madrigal chorus and a women's ensemble. At the time I had lived in the musical shadow of two of my cousins for most of my life and was quite sure that music would be nothing more than a hobby or passtime in my future. But the director encouraged solo performances and solo & ensemble competition, forcing my involvement with his sheer confidence in me and need for my reading and harmonizing skill. In December 1991, I was chosen to sing the a capella introduction to 'O Holy Night.' From that performance on, music began to be an integral part of my sanity, reason and passion. My preparation for medical school was placed on a back burner while I explored the idea of a music education degree. I poured myself into the music department of a very progressive junior college to which I attribute the majority of my success, understanding and growing love for the arts. I received my Associate of Arts degree from the College of Eastern Utah after two years of total musical involvement. I performed with the wind ensemble, jazz band, live wire and synth ensembles, jazz improv workshop, concert and chamber choirs and vocal jazz. In that time I also sang with an a capella jazz quintet called Nightengale. From CEU I transfered to Southern Utah University, where I performed with the marching band, concert choir and OPUS, and reorganized Nightengale in off time. OPUS performed an average of once per week for two years, touring England for eight days in May of 1996. I completed my musical requirements that spring, and completed my teacher education training and certification the following spring, graduating from SUU on June 10, 1997. After a year off with my infant daughter, I began to teach Orchestra at a local middle school and found a true passion for the age group. I taught band, choir and orchestra at Charles W. Eliot middle school in Pasadena, California, 1999-2000. I had thought I would stay there longer, but life turned a sequence of events which placed me on the west side of LA, instead. My position now is choral director, and performing and fine arts department chair at a Performing Arts Magnet Middle School in West Hollywood. It is challenging, envigorating work which I love with all my heart. Music has become a part of my life which keeps me balanced, happy and passionate. I listen to a broad spectrum of styles and artists and try to learn something new each day about the musical world in which we survive and wish to thrive.Bancroft Course Information
djalzi@yahoo.com |
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Rootsworld
