Upcoming Event Series for Young Performing Artists at Melodia Studio

Finding Calm in the Chaos: Building the Young Performing Artist’s Tool Belt

Written by Danielle Bissonnette

Teaching Artists presenting at the upcoming event series Finding Calm in the Chaos: Building the Young Performing Artists' Tool Belt

This Fall, Melodia Studio’s Pre-Professional Track launches a new four-week event series designed to help young performers strengthen their artistry and resilience. Finding Calm in the Chaos: Building the Young Performing Artist’s Tool Belt introduces students to a variety of practices that address the mind, body, and voice.

Each Saturday through September, Melodia Studio’s Pre-Professional students will explore 90 minutes of sustainable well-being practices under the guidance of Music Educator and Well-Being expert, Rita Gigliotti. In addition to working directly with Rita, each session will also feature an immersive presentation by a guest expert. From grounding the body and voice to connecting brain and sound, students will gain the tools they need to sustain their artistry in high-pressure environments. By the end of the series, students will have assembled a tool belt of strategies they can carry with them into auditions, rehearsals, and performances. 

This series builds on the momentum of Melodia’s recent College Prep Talkback with the Uffelman and Hayes families, expanding the conversation from preparing for auditions to developing habits and techniques that will sustain young performers throughout their careers.

Learn more about the guest experts involved in the upcoming series below:

Week 1: Grounding the Actor’s Body with Ahmad Maaty

In the first week, students will work with Ahmad Maaty, an actor, dancer, choreographer, and the current theater arts teacher at Marshall High School in Falls Church, Virginia. Ahmad brings a wealth of experience from across the DC Metro area and New York, teaching with Acting for Young People and the Academy of Russian Ballet, as well as dancing internationally with the Silk Road Dance Company. For our Pre-Professional students, his session emphasizes that an artist’s presence is rooted not just in voice or emotion, but in how the body carries and communicates a role. This grounding is another essential tool in the young artist’s toolbelt.

Week 2: Qigong and Brainwave Music with Professor Paras Kaul

In the second week, Professor Paras Kaul will introduce students to Qigong, combining mindfulness, movement, and breath. Paras is also the Deputy Director of the National Qigong Association and has studied and practiced multiple forms of Tai Chi and Qigong throughout her career. Paras is a brainwave artist, researcher, and board member of the National Qigong Association who has studied how brainwave patterns shift toward coherence after Qigong practice. For our students, her session offers a practical tool for managing audition anxiety and performance stress, showing that calm focus is as vital to artistry as technical skill.

Week 3: Rhythmic Release with Julie Longmire

The series continues with pianist, accompanist, and educator Julie Longmire, who will lead a POUND workout designed to release stress and unlock energy through rhythm. Julie holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from James Madison University and a master’s in music theory from UNC Greensboro. She has worked as an accompanist since the age of 13, and as a homeschooling mother of four, Julie understands balance and endurance. Her rhythmic workshop will invite students to find release and grounding through movement and music.

Week 4: The Voice as an Instrument with Andrew Goldstein

The final week features Andrew Goldstein, a Speech-Language Pathologist, singer, and voice teacher. Andrew’s unique perspective bridges clinical expertise and performance artistry. His students have performed at every level, from regional choirs to lead roles in musicals, and he himself has sung with the Washington National Opera and Maryland Lyric Opera, as well as throughout Italy. Andrew’s introduction to vocal health will help students understand how to protect and sustain their voices while still growing artistically. For Pre-Professional students, this is a vital reminder that the voice is both an artistic medium and a physical instrument requiring care.

Why This Series Matters: Melodia Studio’s Commitment to Sustainable Artistry

Performing arts students are often told to “be resilient,” but resilience is not a vague quality. Resilience is the sum of skills, practices, and habits that make sustainable artistry possible. This event series is designed to provide those skills in an intentional way, equipping students with a varied set of tools they can begin practicing now, long before the pressure of college auditions and professional life intensifies.

Finding Calm in the Chaos is not an extra add-on. It is a cornerstone of Melodia’s Pre-Professional Track, designed to prepare students not only for the college audition process but for a lifelong career in the performing arts. By introducing experts across rhythm, mindfulness, embodiment, and vocal health, Melodia Studio ensures its Pre-Professional students are building a tool belt that allows them to thrive in every aspect of their artistic journey.

Interested in joining Melodia Studio's Pre-Professional Track? Learn more here.