Special musical performance at Plaza Theatre May 4

Staff Photo by Burlon Parsons East Bernard High School student Corrinne Mica, instructor Kathy Wozniak and Wharton High School student Stefan Gill work on a song from The Fantastics which they will perform at the studio's Seasons of Love program on Sunday, May 4, at the Plaza Theatre.

The voice and performance studio of Kathleen Wozniak will present Seasons of Love, at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 4, at the Plaza Theatre in Wharton.

This is the first public showcase from Wozniak's studio and will feature a dozen of her students.

Three are from Wharton High School and will feature their UIL pieces.

Erin English, a multi-state UIL winner and student at Texas State University on a vocal scholarship, will return to sing at the performance.

The other eight students performing are from East Bernard, Needville, El Campo and Wharton.

A voice and performance studio was not in the plans Wozniak had for her life.

"Opening a studio was not something I intended to do. I was simply voice coaching for the high school when they needed help for the UIL vocal solo competition," Wozniak said. "Then Erin English asked me to help her get ready for college scholarship auditions last year."

Her success literally brought people to Wozniak's door asking her to train them.

"One minute I had one girl I was helping," she said. "The next thing I knew, I had eight students."

Wozniak says her studio is not just about "how to sing," rather it's about teaching people how to "perform" a piece of music.

"There's a big difference between singing a song with beautiful quality and 'performing a piece' so that the audience hearing it is caught up into the moment with the performer," she said. "That's the difference that has brought people from as far away as Houston and Austin to me."

One of her students, Xia, was preparing for an audition at Juilliard in New York. She said he got the appointment because he actually "performed the music" as if he were in the operatic production.

Wozniak pointed out that most young singers worry that the tone they are making is not as good as some other singer.

"That trap is limiting," Wozniak said. "There will always be someone with a better voice out there. However, if the singer is a performer first, the audience will not care. They will be too busy enjoying the moment with the singer."

That's what Wozniak tries to instill in her students.

All of her students are actively involved in performing now or intend to be.

Most of them have decided to pursue a career in performance. Two want to go into music education at the high school level.

"I'm very proud of my students," she said. "I push them to do their best and to know that their best will constantly be growing and expanding to a higher level."

She says she hopes the public will come to this first showcase.

Seasons of Love will include scenes from several Broadway musicals as well as classical operatic literature.

"Overall, I think the performance will have people walking out singing," Wozniak said. "At least I hope so."