PAISOC Conversations
Join members and guests of the PAISOC community on Sunday, September 13 at 1:00 pm to discuss auditioning strategies for students auditioning for collegiate performing arts programs. This conversation is for high school students and parents, especially seniors who plan on auditioning for 2021 admissions.
The conversation will be the inaugural event for the College Performing Arts Audition Workshop on Saturday, October 17. This workshop will be an opportunity for students to learn more about the college admission process for your specific genre.
Performing Arts Genres:
– Dance
– Music
– Theater
Be sure to bring your questions for this informative conversation!
Moderator
Jani Springer
Jani Springer serves as the president of the Performing Arts Initiative for Students of Color. She currently holds the position of Head Athletic Trainer and Senior Woman Administrator at Bluefield State College in Bluefield, WV. Ms. Springer’s performing experience ranges from dance to instrumental performance but most recently her involvement focuses on health and wellness as a performing arts medicine specialist. She has clinical and research experience working with the marching arts, music students, and dancers. Jani is a member of the Performing Arts Medicine Association.
Panelists
Catia
Catia is a prominent actor in Rhode Island Theatre; having most recently starred in The School for Lies at Burbage and Dance Nation at Wilbury. Catia has worked with most RI theatres in some capacity but is a resident artist of the Burbage Theatre Co. In her spare time she dabbles in playwriting and directing. Channeling her Dominican roots she is currently working on finishing her play, GOOD, which deals with themes of class disparities, income inequality and the school to prison pipeline through the scope of an Afro-LatinX family.
Alexis Ingram
Alexis Ingram is a Rhode Island native who has worked in the theatre, film/tv, and commercial industry all over the US and abroad. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College she currently teaches at The University of Rhode Island and is a teaching artist at Trinity Repertory and The Gamm Theatre. Proudly represented by WSM Talent.
Jessica T. Pearson
Jessica T. Pearson is an Associate Professor of Dance at Rhode Island College. Ms. Pearson is a dancer, educator and choreographer who danced with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Gesel Mason and Concepts In Motion (Bermuda). An educator of the modern dance traditions has been invited to teach at Ballet West Summer Intensive, Brown University, Providence College, Urbanity Summer Intensive, University of Kentucky Lexington and has taught overseas.
Her choreography has been selected to perform at Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Southern Vermont Dance Festival and Collective Thread (NY). Her choreography has been commissioned by Urbanity Next, Utah Regional Ballet, Rhode Island College, Salve Regina University, University of Kentucky Lexington, University of Utah and Providence College.
Prior to Rhode Island College, she was a Post MFA Fellow at the University of Utah. She received her MFA in Dance from the University of Colorado Boulder where she studied dance pedagogy and choreography and BFA in Dance from Towson University in Towson, Maryland.
Wayne du Maine
A native of St. Louis, MO, Wayne J. du Maine has been performing successfully in the New York City area for over thirty years. As a trumpeter, Wayne has performed and recorded with such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He currently holds the principal chair with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra. Mr. du Maine has also led the Hartford Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and Westchester Philharmonic as conductor of educational concerts. As a trumpet soloist, he has performed numerous concerti with the Concordia Orchestra as well as orchestras from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Springfield (MA), and Mid Coast (ME).
As a longtime member of the Manhattan Brass, Wayne has presented and created numerous educational outreach programs for K-12 students in the five boroughs, CT, NJ, and PA. He enjoyed his 20 years as a faculty member of Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, where he led the trumpet ensemble and was founder, music director, and conductor of the MAP Orchestra. He has also taught at Columbia University, Princeton University, Bar Harbor Brass Week, and the Bowdoin Music Festival. Wayne is currently the Director of Bands at the Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ, where he leads the Jazz Ensemble, Concert Bands, Jazz Quintet, Rock Band, and Trumpet Ensemble.
Mr. du Maine dedicates his summers to performing at music festivals. This began back in the late 80s, when he spent three summers with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra performing as principal trumpet under Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. He has since performed at festivals including Spoleto, Aspen, Vermont Mozart, Manchester (VT), Berkshire Choral, Bard, and, most recently, the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival.
Wayne has also been contracted to play many Broadway shows like Titanic, Music Man, Man of La Mancha, and The King and I. He has served as associate conductor for Fiddler on the Roof, the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific, and The Scottsboro Boys.
A major highlight of his career was having the opportunity to perform with Prince at his Paisley Park home in Chanhassen, MN. Wayne can be heard on Prince’s Newpower Soul recording.
Mr. du Maine holds degrees from the Juilliard School where he received the Peter Mennin and William Schuman Awards for outstanding excellence. He has been an associate musician with the Metropolitan Opera for 26 years. As a member of ensembles such as Absolute, Xenakis, and Orpheus, he has toured five continents.
2017-18 is his first year as director of the brass program at NYU Steinhardt.