Vocal Music Broadway
This course is designed to encompass the facets of performing that make a musical theater performer strong and exciting. High school students will have the opportunity to work on both belting and legit Broadway singing styles and develop an understanding of the singing mechanism. Acting improv, song interpretation, and character development throughout the semester will build compelling musical theater vocalists.
THE INSTRUCTORS
Conrad Erdt
VOCAL MUSIC
Conrad Erdt has accompanied a Who's Who of noted musicians, Broadway performers, and film actors in venues including Weill Recital Hall, Upstairs @ the Duplex, the 55 Bar, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and the NJPAC Victoria Theater, just to name a few. Some eclectic highlights include performing with a ranchero band in New Mexico, an improv comedy troupe in Manhattan, and a Polynesian band on Emeril Lagasse's TV show. Conrad has written and performed original songs at the Triad Theater, and his recorded piano improvisations were used to accompany an Off-Broadway play. He's played private functions for Lachlan Murdoch, Simon and Schuster, Bette Midler, and the late Michael Chrichton, and Conrad has also been in shows featuring Jackie Mason and Jim Gaffigan.
Malena Towers
VOCAL MUSIC-BROADWAY
Malena Towers is an award-winning soprano with a Master’s in Voice Performance from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a bachelor's from the High Institute of Arts in Havana, Cuba.
She has performed opera, zarzuela, and classical concerts across the U.S. and internationally in Austria, Israel, Spain, Ecuador, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Her accolades include First Place at the NATS Competition (2015), Outstanding Performer of the Year in Texas (2016), and finalist in the Jerusalem Opera Program (2018). She was also a semifinalist in the Orpheus Vocal Competition, earning a scholarship to AIMS in Austria.
Malena founded the first opera company in Bolivar, Venezuela, promoting classical music among youth. She has performed for audiences as large as 24,000 and continues to inspire through performance and education.
Her recent roles including Susanna, Zerlina, Gilda, Pamina, Fiordiligi, Sophie, Lauretta, Norina, and Musetta. She has performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the National Opera Center (NY), and internationally in Israel, Austria, Cuba, and Venezuela.
She teaches voice at her studio “It’s Music,” performs annually for charity in New Jersey, and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian. Malena also plays piano and conducts choirs with proficiency.