Edie Elkjer earned her Master's in Applied Voice from the University of South Dakota. She has entertained audiences at Six Flags Over Georgia and Texas, the Windmill Dinner Theatre in Houston and Dalls, and the Country Dinner Playhouse in Denver. While teaching music at St. Andrew's Episcopal School, she co-wrote and produced five original children's musicals. Edie sang in a four-member musical comedy troupe, Broadway Express, for 20 years and for the last 9 years has been performing with Take Five, a group that performs jazz, Broadway and popular old standards. She directed the Austin community show choir River City Pops for 12 years and presently teaches private voice lessons to high school students and adults. For three years she directed the McCallum High School jazz choir. Edie has directed The Women of Heartsong choir since 2006, a group of Heartsong moms and other women who sing for retirement/nursing homes, church groups and private parties. In 2004 she played LaTrelle Williamson in Sordid Lives at Arts on Real theater in Austin and in September and October 2008, she will play Louise in TexArts production of Always, Patsy Cline. Edie has been married for 33 years and has four grandchildren who have all benefited immensely from Music Together^® classes at Heartsong.

As far back as I can remember, music has been a part of my life. One of my earliest memories is of being in Vermont with my father's extended family and gathering in the living area after a great meal for a jam session. The sound of guitars, banjos, washboards, spoons (just about everything was an instrument!) and boisterous singing filled the air. What fun it was! Another memory is of my parents, my brothers and I huddled around a cassette recorder singing our hearts out. We would make tapes to send to my grandparents while we were living in Japan. It was a great way for us to stay connected with them and now the tapes are such a treasure!

I just love to sing and have done so in choirs and on my own all my life. I've definitely carried on the joy of music making that my family experiences instilled within me. I now play the guitar and have been composing songs. I have also been a grateful and enthusiastic parent participant of the Music Together program with my two sons, Jason and Ryan. I completed the Music Together teacher training program in Jan 2005. I am so excited to be working with your families and making music together!

My life has been shaped by sound, perhaps more than any other sense. While lullabies, campfire songs, and old vinyls hold a special place in my musical memories, train whistles, wind chimes, and nature sounds are just as much a part of my early experience and training. After overcoming minor hearing problems in the first years of my life, I developed a dynamic relationship with sound. Becoming sensitive to sound has been and continues to be a dominant and life-changing force in my life.

I am a native Austinite, which I’m sure has something to do with how music got into my bones. However it got in, music started coming out—possibly from shock—when I moved to Boston to attend Wellesley College. While at Wellesley, I began writing songs and performing with my guitar at open mics. When I moved back to Austin after graduation, I recorded my debut CD, The Will to Turn. I have worked in elementary through college education over the last few years. I currently am working in educational publishing, writing and editing developmental tools for elementary school children. Musically, I am writing and performing as a singer-songwriter, taking voice lessons, and making an effort to surround myself with new sounds and musical people.

Since I’ve been back in Austin, I also have had the fortune of attending Music Together classes with a good friend. In our interactions in and out of class, I see her developing her own relationship with music and rhythmic expression, and I am excited to facilitate other children and families’ development and connection through music.

My first musical memory is of my grandmother playing her piano while my sister and I sang songs. When I was 6, I began piano lessons and continued for 10 years. I was heavily involved in choir, theater, band and even some color guard from grade school through high school. Music is a constant in my life and I have used it effectively throughout my career with teaching thus far.

I have been working with children my entire life. For the past eight years, I have been a professional nanny for 4 different families. I have a degree in early childhood education and have worked in daycares and schools. In all of my experiences and relationships with children, I have used music as a development and learning tool as well as for fun. At first this was because of my personal love of music and then it became obvious that it was a wonderful way to teach kids and have fun at any time, in any situation.

I recently moved to Austin from Seattle and was ecstatic to find Music Together. I moved to Austin with my very handsome fiancé and 5 year old (soon to be) step son. I have a quirky, 2 year old dog named Maggie. I spend my down time listening to music, reading books, watching chick flicks and being crafty.

I really am blown away by the opportunity to offer my service as a teacher in the best way I know how. I look forward to being a member of the staff and seeing you in class!

I grew up a child of two very different and distinct cultures, both of which have an intimate relationship with music and sound. Born in Texas to an Indian immigrant and a 5th generation Irish-Catholic Texan, I was raised on Jesuit folk songs and Ravi Shankar, Gregorian mass music and Indian ragas, Celtic ballads and chanted Vedic prayers. My parents met in a choir, and my life experiences have reflected the ability of music to build community, enrich our hearts and lives, and to create and sustain family connections through time and distance, and even across oceans.

I have been involved in music and the arts my entire life, beginning with my first recorded solo in a Christmas play at the age of three! I studied piano beginning in early childhood, began private voice lessons at 14, and was active in choir, theater and dance throughout my school years, including performances with the Texas all State Choir, workshops with Harlem Dance Theater, and a paid internship with Texas Tech University’s theater program. At 18 I recorded and released my first cd of original music. I attended the University of Tulsa, where I studied cello and voice and sang with the University Chorus while earning my B.A. in English and Women’s Studies. After graduation, I continued to perform and write while teaching first high school English, and later elementary music. I am currently studying for my master’s degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and am a practicing student clinic intern at the Academy of Oriental Medicine. I am very interested in the use of sound as a healing tool. I received my Music Together teacher training in March.

My husband and I moved to Austin in 2004. We have a one year old daughter, a very fat cat, and a ridiculous number of dogs, and we all love to make music together!

I feel so blessed to be able to share my love of music with my community through the Music Together program.

When they asked me in my Music Together training why I wanted to become a Music Together teacher, my response was pretty simple. I said, “I love kids, and I love music.” As much as that seems like it would logically and quickly lead to a career as an early childhood music teacher, up until now, both of those paths had remained separate. Over the years, my love of working with children led me to be a pre-school substitute teacher, a tee-ball coach and a soccer coach, while my love of music led me to play in touring and recording bands for many years after college. Now, thanks to Heartsong Music and Music Together, I’m finally able to unite these two loves to do something great. This new opportunity is especially important to me because, although my parents loved music and played records for me a lot when I was young, I didn’t have anything like Music Together or Heartsong Music in my life. So when I realized I wanted to play music (possibly for a living) it was an uphill battle because I didn’t have a solid foundation from training in my early childhood. That’s what I want to give your children – the foundation they need to easily and happily make music throughout their lives, whether for a career or fun or, preferably, both!

I have been involved in music all my life. My mother had 4 children in 5 years and would sing us every song she knew at naptime in order to stay sane! My father played the ukulele and guitar and we would sing all the time – especially on road trips. My parents were not professional musicians – they just loved singing and music. As a result, all 4 of us are singers and performers as adults, and music is a central part of our lives. When we get together for family reunions we gather around and sing! That is what we do together! In teaching Music Together, I have the opportunity to guide families toward music making in their homes. It is the joy of my life.

I have a degree in vocal performance from Austin College, Sherman, TX. I am a certified A.M.I. Montessori teacher for 3 – 5 year olds and am a certified M.W.E.I Montessori teacher for 5 – 7 year olds. I have been involved in teaching children and youth choirs for over 25 years. I have performed in choirs and in musical theatre from 1977 – 1997. I took the Music Together Teacher Training in May, 2001, and Music Together Certification Level I training in 2003. I completed the final Certification Level II Music Together training in May, 2005. I play the guitar and have been teaching Music Together full-time for 5 years.