Lovejoy Choirs

Private voice lessons will be given through the Lovejoy Choral Department during class time, or other arranged time. Class time will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis.
There will be one 23-minute lesson per week.
The cost is twenty dollars per lesson.
Monthly payments in the form of check or money order are due to the lesson teacher at the beginning of each month. This will usually be $80.

Participate in the solo/ensemble event.
Attend recitals scheduled during the year.
Come to the lesson prepared, with a cooperative and respectful attitude.
Bring all assigned materials to each lesson.
Recommended practice time is twenty minutes per day, five days per week. More time may be necessary for those preparing for auditions or tryouts.

Students should make voice lessons a long-term commitment. (Ideally, for the entire school year)
If an unavoidable situation arises making it impossible to continue lessons, the student is expected to finish the lessons for the month that is paid for (no refunds).
If expectations are not met, the teacher may choose to discontinue lessons after finishing the month that is paid for.

If a student knows they will be absent, they should notify their teacher by phone. Failure to notify the teacher will result in default of the lesson.
Excused absences will be made up per the teacher’s schedule.
If a teacher cannot make up a lesson, they may elect to credit the lesson back.
In the event the teacher must be absent, notification will be made and lessons made up at the earliest possible time.

Students who are planning to audition for All-Region Choir should learn their music as soon as possible as there will be limited time when lessons begin. Students should learn notes and music before coming to the lesson so that lesson time can be spent on musicality, phrasing, and vocal technique. Please see choir directors for more information on All-Region.

Mezzo Soprano Jessie Hinkle received a Bachelor’s Degree of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of North Texas and her Master’s Degree of Music in Operatic Vocal Performance from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in New York City. After graduating, Ms. Hinkle lived in New York for many years and performed on some of the world’s most respected opera stages, concert halls and in the 2003 Broadway production of Puccini’s La Boheme, produced and directed by the legendary film director Baz Luhrmann (“The Great Gatsby, “Moulin Rouge” & “Romeo + Juliet”). She is equally at home in the musical theater repertoire having performed such roles as Anita in West Side Story and Petra in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music to great audience acclaim. Ms. Hinkle has studied and coached with some of the opera world’s most esteemed and influential teachers and singers and brings to her students the techniques and body of knowledge that comes from working with many of the greatest operatic figures of the 20th and 21st Centuries.

Bass-Baritone, Glenn Ayars, is a native Texan. Growing up in Corpus Christi, Glenn received a wonderful music education that let him to continue his study of music in college. Glenn attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX where he received a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance with honors and a French language minor. Glenn has just finished his Master of Music in Vocal Arts degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. 

As a student at SMU, Glenn performed various roles such as Mr. Jenks (The Tender Land), Foreman of the Jury (Trial by Jury), and Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro). He was a guest artist at the 2010 Georgetown Festival of the Arts performing Grandpa from The Tender Land and was also a guest artist alumnus for SMU’s 2013 production of Albert Herring where he played the role of Superintendent Budd. During his time at USC, Glenn worked on every main stage production, performing Mr. Jones and the Prosecution Counsel in Henze’s The English Cat and King Thoas in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride. During Glenn’s final semester at USC, he performed in the premier musical presentation of Frau Schindler, libretto by USC Opera Director, Ken Cazan, and finished his masters performing the role of Truffaldin in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. Glenn has also been a young artist for the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh in the summer of 2015. During his time there, he played the part of Arthur Begman in the world premier of Gilda Lyon’s A New Kind of Fallout as well as the role of Figaro in an updated and English translated version of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.
Through his journey with music, Glenn has had the opportunity to experience the world of classical music in its many different facets. Glenn has also gained experiences off stage, where he has received training in stage directing which led to his participation in directing an undergraduate student performance group, the Thronton Chamber Opera, at USC. During his final semester of graduate work, Glenn worked as the Marketing & Patron Services intern with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. In July 2016, Glenn along with his friends and colleagues founded a new Los Angeles based opera company, “Livin’ the Dream Opera”. They produced and performed Mozart’s Così fan tutte in which Glenn played the role of Don Alfonso.
Glenn has now returned to Dallas to continue to pursue his passions of singing, stage directing and teaching.

Susan Seibert is a master pedagogue and has been teaching music for more than 25 years. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree in voice, a Bachelor of Music Degree in piano, and a Master of Music Education degree. She worked as the vocal coach and accompanist for the productions of Patience, Tartuffe, Sweeney Todd, Don Giovanni, and La Boheme with the Doña Ana Lyric Opera. She also worked as the vocal coach and accompanist for several college voice students while being mentored by the fantastic voice professors of NMSU. Mrs. Seibert currently maintains a large private music studio, where she is in high demand and is privileged to work with some of the finest young talented musicians in the area. Her students consistently receive the highest ratings at festivals
and contests, and earn medals, trophies, and other awards for excellence in music. Students from Mrs. Seibert’s studio enjoy a very high rate of success in competitive auditions, including the All-Region and Texas All-State choir auditions. Her students have won several awards and cash prizes at various local and state competitions. Her students have been accepted to sing at various prestigious summer vocal training programs, and have been awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship money to sing at many prestigious music universities and conservatories throughout the country. Many of her former students have gone on to enjoy successful careers in music, winning national and international competitions, as well as performing in recitals, operas, and musicals throughout the United States and in Europe.

Cathy Ballew has been teaching private voice and piano lessons since she moved here in 2006. She began teaching voice lessons at the new high school that first year and has taught at Willow Springs and Sloan Creek Intermediate School the past several years. Cathy loves to sing and has performed leading and chorus roles in operas and musicals such as Pirates of Penzance, Texas!, Fiddler on the Roof, South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun, and The Consul. She sang with the Houston Symphonic Chorus, Phoenix Symphonic Chorus and the Mesquite Community Chorus. While at SMU, she sang with the SMU Chorale and Chamber Singers. Cathy and her husband help lead worship and she is also a songwriter. She wrote a collection of songs for young mothers entitled “Builders of His Kingdom” and it is available on CD. Helping students reach their potential vocally while enjoying the process is one of Cathy’s passions!