Photo by Jess Benjamin
If you’ve been a part of Winterhalter Music anytime within the last two years, you’ve likely been in contact with my wonderful assistant, Liz Panarelli. Liz is an amazing person– kind, compassionate, hard working, and thoughtful. Before Liz arrived, I literally did all of the administrative tasks associated with running the studio myself in addition to teaching my students. Since Liz joined the team, I’ve been free to focus on what I do best– teaching lessons and hiring and training wonderful teachers for our students. Liz has taken excellent care of our families and has helped develop so many systems, which have helped Winterhalter Music run very smoothly.
Liz was recently married and is looking forward to going on an extended honeymoon traveling all over the world. I will miss her, but am so grateful for all that she has done to help me with Winterhalter Music. I honestly couldn’t have done it without her. We wish her and her husband well on their honeymoon and in their future endeavors! I asked Liz to share her thoughts on music and music lessons with us before she departs. They are as follows:
Looking back, how did taking music lessons affect you?
Taking piano lessons as a child gave me a strong foundation in reading music, for which I am incredibly grateful. During high school, taking private voice lessons gave me more confidence singing in choir and helping other students, even though I was not naturally the strongest singer. Over time, I was elected to various leadership roles, and senior year I served as choir president.
In addition, I really valued the mentorship of my voice teacher during those formative high school years. In between scales and songs, she shared advice on navigating relationships and helped me articulate and stick to my values. It was wonderful for me as a teenager to have that connection with a youthful adult.
In college, I sang in Kuumba, a choir dedicated to black spirituality and creativity. The choir was open to everyone regardless of musical training, so my background in music allowed me to stand out and serve as a leader in the choir, sing solos, join the choir’s featured a cappella group, sing on stage with Bobby McFerrin, and even tour internationally.
What has a lifelong love of music meant to you?
I can’t imagine my life without music. During high school at TJ and college at Harvard, choir was my sanctuary from competitive academic environments. The experience of making music with friends helped me manage stress and keep perspective. I can honestly say I would not have stayed at TJ freshman year if it weren’t for choir. I also had the opportunity to attend music leadership camps that strongly impacted me. Sharing those experiences allowed me to create deep, lifelong friendships with incredible people, who are still my best friends today. Like Cassie, I recently married, and I was fortunate enough to have these friends sing and play music in my wedding:
Photo by Jess Benjamin
My husband and I also named our tables after some of our favorite songs, which we included on our favor to the guests — a mixed CD. We love music and often attend multiple live concerts each month at some of DC’s great venues. My husband has not had musical training, which he deeply regrets, but we hope to start piano or guitar lessons when we return from our honeymoon!
Working with Winterhalter Music has been a great opportunity for me to help pay forward my wonderful experiences with music. I believe passionately in music education at every level and every age. I am grateful for the chance to support Winterhalter Music’s mission of giving students a lifelong love of music, which has meant so much to me.
I hope you enjoyed learning more about Liz’s musical background and why she’s been so passionate working at Winterhalter Music. Leave a comment below, and tell me what a lifelong love of music means to you. Subscribe to the newsletter and “like us” on Facebook. Stay tuned because in an upcoming blog post I’ll be introducing you to my new assistant, Marsha Adelson. Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful day filled with lovely music!
Sincerely,
Cassie
Photo by Jess Benjamin
{ 0 comments… add one now }