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ABOUT THE ARTIST
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Amelia Seyssel has performed in
recital and oratorio throughout her career drawing on music from a variety of styles by composers ranging from Bach to Mozart, Purcell to
Britten and Schubert to Mahler. Most recently her artistic efforts have been focused on the song repertoire of the French, Spanish and English
language composers. Inspired by her mixed Spanish, Mexican, French and English heritage and nurtured by her love of fine poetry as well as the
poetic impulses inspired by the folk music genre, this most recent commitment has enlarged her repertoire to include Spanish language
composers such as Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Joaquín Rodrigo, Fernando Obradors, Agustín Lara, Maria Grever, and Manuel Ponce.
She
also enjoys exploring the various French composers that have been influenced by the Spanish idiom such as Bizet, Ravel, and Debussy. Her
favorite pieces tend to be those inspired by the folk idiom, as in arrangements of folk songs by de Falla, Canteloube, Ravel and Britten,
or by fine poetry, such as that set by American composer John Duke, British composers Roger Quilter and Peter Warlock, and French composer
Georges Bizet.
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Ms. Seyssel holds a Master of Fine Arts in Music Performance from Mills College in California where
she was awarded both a Hellman scholarship and an academic scholarship for outstanding achievement. Her performing debut was in
California while studying with Donna Petersen, a San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera Audition Judge for the West Coast. While at Mills, Ms.
Seyssel also studied with visiting professor Jane Manning, a distinguished exponent of contemporary vocal music and author of the book 'New Vocal Repertory'.
Since moving to the East Coast she has continued her vocal studies at the Manhattan School of Music
Vocal Arts Institute, including workshops with Nico Castel, Cynthia Hoffman, Lou Galterio and Margaret Hoswell, and at Westminster Choir
College in Princeton, including a vocal master class with Dalton Baldwin. She is currently studying with Joyce McLean formerly of The Juilliard
School's Evening Division and is a regular soloist at The Poughkeepsie Reformed Church (Hooker Ave) in Poughkeepsie, NY.
In addition to her performing, Ms. Seyssel teaches extensively with a special emphasis in Suzuki Voice
and it's applications to young children. She maintains teaching studios both in Poughkeepsie, NY, and in Raynham, MA, and frequently travels internationally in the pursuit
of her teaching certification goals. In this capacity she has performed recitals in Vantaa, Finland and in Melbourne, Australia.
Ms. Seyssel's non-musical background is varied and colorful. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology
with a minor in History (including some graduate work in Anthropological Linguistics) from California State University,
Northridge. She has made numerous foreign travels to Europe, North Africa, Australia and Mexico; does calligraphy and manuscript illumination; has
done fine embroidery since she was four years old; spent several years performing with a Japanese dance troupe in Los Angeles; and has
published two volumes of her own poetry: Rainbow and Prism and Rising Suns. Ms. Seyssel is married (Parks) and has two children.
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