Erin
A couple of weeks ago, I briefly mentioned this next piece of news…. Today I’m so pleased to formally announce that Winterhalter Music is expanding! Now instead of having one assistant, Ana, to help me with administrative tasks, Winterhalter Music has two assistants. My new assistant, Erin Feng, will deal primarily with scheduling and customer service, while Ana Lim will handle mostly bookkeeping related tasks. As always, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time, and one of these wonderful women will get back in touch with you.
Erin is a musician herself having earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music (vocal performance). Originally from Canada, she came to the US to pursue her master’s degree at the University of Maryland, where she was a part of the Opera Studio. She has extensive experience as a musician taking lessons and performing. She’s also worked as a private lesson teacher and has handled many admin tasks for music related internships and volunteer positions. Besides working for Winterhalter Music she is currently pursuing an Arts Management Certification, and she works at the Kennedy Center. I’m thrilled to have her join us, as I know she’ll bring an awesome amount of experience and new ideas to our wonderful team. I asked Erin to answer the following questions included below, so you can get to know her better:
Looking back, how did taking music lessons affect you?
My interest in music started in the elementary classroom when local orchestra members brought in their instruments for us to look at up close. I soon asked my parents for flute lessons which I continued for 7 years. Although I do not play much anymore, the skills and love of music my teacher taught me led me to vocal music and opera. I sang in choirs through my younger years and from there was offered voice lessons with one of the conductors. She gave me a wonderful introduction to vocal classical music that started the path I am on today.
I now have a masters in opera performance and continue to take lessons from my grad school teacher. She is a great friend and someone I know I can trust to support me in any endeavor, musical or otherwise.
I owe much of where I am to the wonderful music teachers I have had over the years.
What has a lifelong love of music meant to you?
So far in my life, music has meant being on stage and sharing my passion through performance. I still perform regularly with local opera companies but I have been learning some new skills too. I started learning more of the behind the scenes work of being a musician and that led me to a certificate in Arts Management that I am now working towards. This is a new way for me to share music and the arts with more people.
Music has given me opportunities to travel, to study in other countries, to learn languages, and brought me to the States (I’m Canadian) where I met my husband by talking about music.
I am looking forward to working with the families of Winterhalter Music. I do not come from a family of musicians, but I have seen the effect of my love of music on them.
I hope you enjoyed reading Erin’s reflections on music and music education. Please join me in welcoming her and making her feel at home with us. Leave a comment below and tell me what a lifelong love of music has meant for you. Subscribe to the newsletter and “like us” on Facebook. Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful April day!
Sincerely,
Cassie
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