Studio Coffeehouse 2026

Thanks so much for supporting these singers! I’m incredibly proud of all of their hard work. I wish I could go one by one and tell you how much they’ve grown over the past semester. They’ve each faced their own challenges and goals, and it’s been fun watching them go after them and grow.

What we’ve accomplished

Collectively, Studio Members performed in 14 different musicals this past year: Beetlejuice Jr., The Little Mermaid Jr (x2), Elf Jr., Frozen, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Newsies, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Anything Goes, Finding Nemo Jr., Seussical Jr., The Sound of Music, Singin’ in the Rain (taking place this weekend!), and The Little Mermaid (full version). We even had one of our adult singers co-direct a middle school production of Spongebob: Youth Edition. We had many singers get into district and all-state choir, with two getting into VMEA Senior Honors Choir.

In our group classes, we had several guest clinicians including Haley Hudson (contemporary voice teacher and singer of the band Haley’s Comet), Cassidy Lam (Studio Member and W&M Theatre graduate), Lesley Larsen (Wayne Theatre Artistic Director), Tina Hashemi (professional jazz singer), Kate Arecchi (JMU theater professor), and Trent Wagler (from the band Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels). We learned a lot about different styles of music, how to write a song, how to act and engage with our songs, ear training, and so much more. But overall we continued to cultivate and grow a wonderful community of singers who strive to support each other and help each other improve in both skill and confidence.

This spring, I (Sarah) performed with the finale Chamber Choir as both a choir member and alto soloist with Bach Around the Clock in collaboration with the Heifetz Institute.

This semester, the studio consisted of 29 Studio Members, including 9 Young Artists (elementary & middle school), 7 Rising Artists (high school), 7 Emerging Artists (highly motivated Juniors and Seniors), and 6 Adult Singers (college-age and up).