Hi all -
First off, if you happen to be a fan of Armenian music television (and who isn't?), be sure to check out Depi Evratesil. Armenia chooses its Eurovision entry via contest rounds held on Depi, and currently two of the popular entries are written by graduates of my Nvak workshop! Nvak participant Lusine Mardanyan's song, "If You Don't Walk Me Home" (co-written by Nvak lyricist Gagach Derkhorenian) just advanced to the next round of semifinals! And while Tamar Kaprelian's "Poison (Ari, Ari)" did not advance to the semifinals, I am still massively proud of its Nvak-trained writers Sanahin Papazian, Yana Karapetyan, and Ovsanna Khublaryan for putting together such an incredibly groovy and hook-y song.
Secondly, my voice student Catie Turner, who attended AMDA's Contemporary Vocals program in Summer 2017, is going to be a featured contestant on this upcoming season of American Idol! She's the kind of exceptional talent that you get once in a blue moon, so you sort of HAVE to tune in now.