Rhonda Sylvester has been a proud part of the arts community since an early age and over the years, her love and passion for music, theatre and performance have continued to grow and blossom.Growing up in Stettler, AB, she was offered the wonderful opportunity to study voice with Elaine Pitt and her national winning award choir Pitt’s Pets. It was through Mrs. Pitt that Ms. Sylvester first found that special spark of magic only music can give to your soul. With great nurturing and development, this gift of music became not only a passion for her, but also became her life career choice.

She has obtained degrees in both Teachers and Vocal Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (Distinction) and Conservatory Canada, a music Performance degree (Honours) from Red Deer College, and a Bachelor of Music Vocal Performance (Honours) from U of A Augustana Campus.

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After obtaining her degrees, Ms.Sylvester lived in Kassel Germany for 2 years where she had the privilege of teaching English, Choral and Orchestra in the German school system for grades five to thirteen.She has been the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards of her own, but she is most proud of the awards that her own students have earned in world wide competitions, including the Heritage Festival series in New York, where her Gracenotes Choir placed at a Gold level and were also the recipients of the esteemed Spirit of New York Award. Ms.Sylvester has had several students also hold successful auditions to be a part of the Honour Choir at Carnegie Hall series in the past several years and well as having numerous choirs, solo vocal students and musical theatre students go on to win top marks and placements at our own Alberta Provincial Choral and Music Festival as well as Canada West.

 

In addition to teaching, conducting and being a busy EA at an elementary school, Ms. Sylvester loves to perform any opportunity she gets. Some of her performance and musical directing credits include shows such as “Ready Steady Go”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Oliver”, “Little Women”, “Bring Them Home”, “Pets”, “Fiddler On the Roof”, “The Music Man”, “My Fair Lady”, “Matilda”, “Moana Jr.”, “The Big One-Oh!”, and her two most favourite roles as Sister Mary Amnesia and the Narrator in “Nunsense” and “Nunsense: the Second Coming” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.Ms. Sylvester is a sought-after clinician and adjudicator in the disciplines of solo voice, choral, musical theatre. She is thrilled to be with us at our festival and hopes all performers will “Go forth, and shine!”.