Hendrickson Voice Studio

Aaron - congratulations on the completion of your degree recital! You spent a lot of time and energy preparing this challenging program - Bravo for a job well done, young man! I am proud of you and what you’ve achieved in four short years.

Hendrickson Studio Member Gilana Warren working with the one and only Lisette Oropesa!! So proud of you and the growth you’ve demonstrated! Geaux Singin’ Tigers!

Proud of this young man - his graduate recital was thoughtful, beautifully nuanced, and well sung. Congratulations on the completion of your degree recital, Fengyue! I have loved being on this journey with you.

Sean, being a small part of your journey has brought me an immense amount of joy! Congratulations on the completion of your degree recital! I’m incredibly proud of the young artist you’re becoming.

It’s recital day for studio member Austin Gatlin!! Have a great sing and have fun, young man! I’m proud of you!

Wishing all of you
LSU Singin’ Tigers a successful opening of Carousel!! I’m with all of you in spirit as I open Rigoletto tonight!

Bravi Jesse Kneisler and Taylisse Boissonneault!! The recital was beautiful. You both performed with poise and grace. Beautiful work!! I’m so proud of the two of you!!

Hendrickson Studio Member Jesse Kneisler presents his degree recital this afternoon at 4:00 pm in the LSU School of Music recital hall! Geaux, Jesse! Have a great sing!!!

Big energy and best wishes to studio member Elaina Bachman as she performs with the LSU Wind Ensemble as a featured soloist this evening at the LSU Union Theater!!!

Merry Christmas, dear ones. I want to share a poem by the great Maya Angelou that has become more meaningful and important to me as the years pass.

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem

“Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortal's, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.”

Happy Christmastide to all of you!

Happy news out of the Hendrickson Studio!
Sean Whitson - tenor, will be joining the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre this winter season as a young artist. Congrats, Sean!

Best wishes to studio members Sean Whitson and Fengyue Zhang who will perform on a masterclass for Lisette Oropesa this after at LSU!!