Stephen L. Crawford - Artistic Director

Vocal Technician and Coach
Certified Transformational Life Coach
Reiki Master

A native of Washington D.C., Stephen L. Crawford grew up in a rich musical environment. His high school experiences included working with such notable conductors as Roger Wagner, Gregg Smith and Daniel Pinkham. Stephen attended The Hartt School of Music where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Choral Music/Conducting/Voice. Stephen opened his private vocal studio in Connecticut in 1982 and in Manhattan in 2001 and joined the faculty of The Hartt School of Music Community Division in 1986. Stephen has studied voice with William Diard, Samuel Gordon, Peter Harvey and Nancy Stokes-Milnes. In addition, he has coached with Joan Dornemann and Nico Castel from The Metropolitan Opera. He is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA), and was the Regional Governor for the Northeast for The National Opera Association( NOA ). In addition, he is co-author with Nancy Stokes-Milnes of "The Vocal Journey: From First Lesson to Professional Debut", a handbook for singers and teachers, soon to be published.

Stephen now resides in the Greater Phoenix area, where he has a private vocal studio in Paradise Valley and is on the adjunct voice faculty at Scottsdale Community College. He is Past-President of the Central-Northern Arizona chapter of The National Association of Teachers of Singing. He has been Administrative Director of Intermezzo Young Artists Program, and also The Elardo International Opera Competition.

Stephen L. Crawford is the founder, artistic director and CEO of several businesses – Paradise Valley Performance Center , a training program for singers of all levels; The Spirited Heart , a center for holistic healing, Reiki, vibrational healing therapies and angel readings (www.thespiritedheart.com ); and Infinite Symmetry Coaching Enterprises , specializing in life coaching for performing artists (www.infinitesymmetry.com): entrepreneurial coaching, adolescent and youth coaching, presentation coaching, wealth and abundance coaching, career/life purpose coaching, and corporate and business coaching (infinitesymmetry2.com). Stephen received his training in healing arts at The Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, AZ and has completed his Reiki Master Teacher training privately with Deborah Dickinson. He also completed his certification in Transformational Life Coaching at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts and is a member of the International Association of Coaches.

Voice Department

Ren Anderton - Vocal Coaching Department Head; Private Piano; Music Theory

Ren Anderton studied piano with LaVar Jenson, Karol Truman, Lowell Farr (Paris: Robert Casadesus and Nadia Boulanger) and Solveig Lunde Madsen (Julliard: Olga Samaroff).  He is a graduate of the University of Utah.  He has performed with the Utah Symphony and the Nevada Chamber Orchestra.  He has had studios in Salt Lake City, Park City, and Richfield, Utah; Rock Springs,  Wyoming at Western Wyoming College, Las Vegas, Nevada , Tempe and Phoenix, Arizona.

Ren has worked as a vocal coach/accompanist for the University of Utah Opera Theater, Dirty Jack’s Wild West Theater, Salt Lake Acting Company, Park City Performances, Utah Opera Company, Nevada Opera Theater, Actor’s Repertory Theatre, Lyric Opera Theater; University of Utah , BYU,  Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Glendale, Paradise Valley, and Scottsdale Community Colleges Voice Studios.

Drama Department

David Weiss – Drama Department Chair, Instructor

 

David Weiss has been involved in valley theatre for over 30 years.  In that time he has worn many hats, actor, director, set designer, technical director and board member. His involvement has garnered him many awards and many experiences that will last forever.  As a governing board member and technical director for Nearly Naked Theatre (N2T) he has watched this once small company flourish into the top notch and well respected company that it is today. N2T has been nominated for and won dozens of Arizoni awards throughout the past 11 seasons as well as many critical acclaims from local and national media. David also serves on the board of directors for both Straycat Theatre and Scorpius Dance Theatre ( also two highly acclaimed companies).  As a teacher, David worked with Arizona School for the Arts, initially as just a substitute teacher for stage craft. He enjoyed working with the students so much he decided to stay for the rest of the year as well as a second year. Sharing his knowledge with others has always been a great source of joy for him, be it teaching or directing actors, the rewards are priceless. David also worked as Technical Director for Greasepaint Youth theatre, a growing experience that gave him another opportunity to work with youth. Not only did he design and build most of the sets for the company, he was also asked to help coach some of the young actors.  David feels blessed that he has had the good fortune to work with and learn from so many wonderful and talented people in this field we call performing arts. He values any opportunity to share this wealth of information with others.

Music Theory, Sight Singing and Ear Training

Dr. Judith Durocher - Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Sight Reading

For 30 years, Dr. Durocher has been honing her craft and career as a
choral director and music educator. With a reputation for excellence, Dr.
Durocher brings to PVPC a unique combination of counseling, teaching,
musical and performance skills. She holds a Masters degree in Vocal
Performance from Bradley University and a second Masters in Counseling
from Arizona State University. She completed her Ph.D. in Music
Education from the University of Arizona. While studying for her doctorate
Dr. Durocher taught college level music methods to aspiring music
educators. Before pursuing her Doctorate degree, Dr. Durocher developed
one of Arizona’s most lauded and award-winning choral and show choir
programs at Horizon High School in Scottsdale. Prior to taking a position at
Scottsdale Community College, she was building another outstanding choir
program at the newest high school in the Paradise Valley School District;
Pinnacle High School. Dr. Durocher has sung professionally with the
nationally renowned Phoenix Bach Choir and is a member of the National
Association of Teachers of Singing, NATS, The American Choral Directors
Association, ACDA, the Arizona Music Educators Association, AMEA, and
Choral Directors or Arizona, CHODA. She served on the State Department
of Education Committee, which re-wrote the Music Education Standards,
She served as the Vice President of the Paradise Valley Alliance for Arts in
Education, a district-wide booster organization to support the arts. Currently,
Dr. Durocher maintains a private voice studio which boasts the 2010 winner
of the NATS classical competition in the adult division: Kira Morford.
PVPC is the next step toward Dr. Durocher’s dream to provide exceptional
learning opportunities for students who are serious about developing and
refining their performing arts skills.

Private Piano

Ren Anderton (see above)

Dr. Janet Norman – Private Piano

 

Dr. Janet Norman, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, recently received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University.  She received her Master of Music degrees from Arizona State University and Bowling Green State University in Ohio and her Bachelor of Music degree from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, OH.  She has actively participated in and directed professional piano pedagogy events, master classes and conferences, including chairing the Arizona State Music Teachers Association conference in June of 2004 and 2007.  She is currently responsible for the development of four levels of piano classes, developing and maintaining the standards for piano proficiency at Southwestern College, and for teaching piano majors.  Norman also teaches class piano and private lessons at Scottsdale Community College. 

Her performances include solo recitals in Italy, New York, Ohio, and Arizona.  Honors for her performances include third place in the Klatzkin Piano Competition, the 1999 inaugural ASU Contemporary Music Society Competition for performers, a two-time winner of the Three Arts Club of Lakewood, OH in 1987 and 1988, and the 1986 Baldwin-Wallace Award.

String Department

Jamie Gladhart has been an active member of the music community in Arizona for the past fifteen years. While attending Arizona School for the Arts in downtown Phoenix she studied under David Sego and Laura Apperson, maintaining a small private studio and managing her string quartet. She performed for several years with the Phoenix Symphony Guild Youth Orchestra under Robert Moody as well as the ASA Symphony before moving to Tucson to study under Hong-Mei Xiao and Dr. Cockrell at the University of Arizona.   While at the University, Jamie performed with the Arizona Symphony, the Arizona Opera, and the U of A Philharmonic Orchestra. These groups presented multiple programs each season, including two fully staged operas each year. Jamie also assisted in multiple studio recording projects, premiered multiple works from student composers, and assisted in presenting lecture recitals for several DMA conducting students.   Jamie now resides in Phoenix where she performs with Pro Musica Arizona, the Caesura String Quartet, and Arizona Women in Tune.