Stagecoach

Well done to  Christopher Bayliss (Darlington Further Stages), Charlotte Churchman (Darlington Further Stages) Amy Lee (Darlington Friday School) and Hannah Greenwood (Sunday PM School) for all gaining merits and Distinctions in their LAMDA Musical Theatre Singing Exams that they sat very recently. They were entered for their exams by Caterina Rea (Singing teacher for Yarm PM School and both Further Stages groups) after taking private Singing lessons for several months. The members of the group sat the exams at Grade 4 and 5 level. Once the gradings move to Grade 6 and above they are worth UCAS points for university entrance.

Congratulations go to all the students and to Cat.  If you are a Further Stages student or are in Stage 3 in any of our main schools and would like to take private lessons with the aim of sitting these exams then you should ring me and I will put you in contact with Cat because she will have a couple of vacant slots soon.

I am often asked about backing tracks suppliers. I include this for your consideration. You can buy audition books with cd`s attached for between £7 and £15 each from web sites such as www.dotdismus.com, www.musicroom.com or even www.amazon.com but there the material has been selected for you, in the form of 8-10 tracks of a particular kind.

If you want a particular track then you need other sites like www.ameritz.co.uk which supplies backing tracks at £4 each. You can therefore hand-pick a selection, which you can download instantly for midi or mp3, or have posted out in CD form (which costs a little more).

I am often asked by parents, if I know of any private Singing teachers. They are quite a rare breed and I would only want to mention teachers that I know do a good job.   I list below the teachers that I am aware of, at the moment , in alphabetical order of surname.

Veca Bradshaw - has been teaching Stagecoach students privately for some time now and has gained some considerable success with them in many different ways. See her own comments after this piece.

Charlotte Broadbent - used to be a student of ours, who was in training at the Royal Northern College of Music.  She has taken Singing examinations of a classical kind to a high level. She will be sending me her full cv shortly. Charlotte is based in Eryholme.  

Caterina Rea - teaches private Singing lessons to Stage Three and Further Stages Stagecoach students on Stagecoach premises but only so long as they remain Stagecoach students. She does musical theatre examination work where requested.  If you are interested in these classes for your child then please ring me on 01325 337667 and  I will explain how they work.

NB These classes are wholly separate from any Stagecoach organisation and are conducted privately by Caterina herself and all fees are to be paid directly to Caterina.

Caterina is currently working as a professional singer on the North East circuit and is teaching singing privately. She was trained at Middlesbrough College where she gained an NVQ in Popular Music and a Grade 8 in Singing. Cat has worked as a session singer with a NE radio DJ and has recently signed a contract to write and perform her own album. Caterina has singing in the genes because her uncle is the well-known singer from Middlesbrough - Chris Rea

Ring  me if you would like contact information about these teachers.

I have been teaching singing privately in Darlington for over three years and started classes after Trudy Hindmarsh from Darlington Stagecoach and Kate Ruddick from Bishop Auckland Stagecoach recommended me.

I have over 30 students a week and thoroughly enjoy my job. Children have learnt to become a lot more confident with singing and I even record them for their parents on CD, twice each term, to show their improvement  - and also for gifts.

Some of the students from Stagecoach that I have coached have credits as follows:-

Susie Potter - Who has incidentally only been with me for 7 weeks has just gained a lead role in Catherine Cookson’s musical “The Fifteen Streets” which will be on in November 2007.

 

Christian Potter - Has had roles in “Oliver” at the Civic Theatre and “Peter Pan” at the Gala Theatre.

 

Hannah Lofthouse-Hill - has gained a place not only at The National Youth Choir of Great Britain but also at Ripon Cathedral Choir!

 

Poppy Coates - has had a role in Abbamania

 

 

 

Daniel Quigley - Had just received roles in Fame and Dr Suessical.

 

 

 

Holly Simpson - Won Talent Star for singing and is in Fame. I am extremely proud of all my students and hope the success will continue long into the future.

Thank you again to Trudy and Kate for all their support and may I say I consider my work as a joy and a privilege.

Darlington Festival of Performing Arts achieved:-

• One 2nd place in singing 14 years and under (out of 15 competitors) - Mark 87

•  One 3rd place in singing 14 years and under (out of 15 also) - Mark 85

• Two joint 3rd places in singing 12 years and under 9out of 18 competitors) - Marks 85 for both.  

Also Kemer Aydin just won her Talent Show at Polam Hall for the juniors in singing! I was amazed when her mum called me. It happened on Friday and I was absolutely thrilled for her!

And finally Mica Newcomb getting her part in the chorus of Hello Dolly.

Some more recent successes of Veca’s include;

Parts in ”Me and My Girl” for the November Show;

Christian Potter

Charlotte Robson

Kemer Aydin

Zoe Birkbeck

and Mica Newcomb

and also Christian Potter and Bethany Burrows have both won places in Abbamania.

I hope the success with continue. Veca