Meet this year’s Tech Monkey Crew for the 2019 – 2020 Performance Season!

“I love music and express my feelings through it. The Collective is a place where I can learn and play my music with people that I like.” …Matthew.

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Matthew has been involved in Tech Monkey Workshops for over a year now. He has teched six performances, including last year’s performance season.  He is 12 years old and is in sixth grade at St. Joseph School in Danville. Matthew comments, “Being on the Tech Crew is so important to me because I get to help people.”

Matthew has been attending the Uptown Music Collective for over a year and a half now taking bass lessons with bass instructor, Levi Stover. He  is involved in classes and workshops including, the Blues Workshop and plays bass in one of the Collective’s Backing Bands for the student showcases. Matthew also plays bass in one of the Collective’s Community Performance Group’s, Vinyl Rewind.

Matthew is most excited to tech the Aerosmith show at the Community Arts Center!

“In my eyes, music is more than noise and more than just a thought. It is more than expression, really; real music tastes like the heart and soul of the writer. It is more than just words and a tune. Music, to me, is a way of life, not just the radio on the way to work.” The Collective is a very beneficial place to be to learn music. If you are a part of a performance group, you get a taste of what it is like to be a performing musician. What I didn’t realize when I first came, though, was that the Collective offers a variety of things, other than just the big stage. So, even though I am not a very high-level musician, there is more than just a CD’s level of learning here. So thanks to my teachers for putting up with me! …Sylvie.

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Sylvie has been involved in Tech Monkey Workshops for two years now and has teched about fourteen shows total, including reprises and showcases.  She is 15 years old and is in eleventh grade in home school where she resides in Mill Hall, PA. Sylvie comments, “Being in the tech crew is quite important because of several factors, but the most obvious reason is that the switches in between songs must be smooth and quick. Aside from that, the performers just do not have time to run around and tune their instruments, especially when they are on the song before. Even though singers adjust their mics sometimes, it is much more professional to have a tech monkey adjust it for them. Sometimes they might have an instrument and be unable to adjust it themselves. In some cases, something like bringing out a costume piece to a performer can make or break a performer’s moment. Being a part of the tech crew, when you are dedicated, can exercise your work ethic while bringing you the opportunity to be a part of a major UMC performance.”

Sylvie has been attending the Uptown Music Collective for almost two years now taking voice lessons with vocal instructor, Haley Miller and taking guitar lessons with the fantastic guitar instructor, Willi Ort.  She is involved in classes and workshops including, the Rock Workshop and is involved in one of the Collective’s Backing Bands for the student showcases. She says, “I have never been in a performance group, though I will work my tail off to get there.”

Sylvie is most excited to tech the Elton John/Billy Joel show, commenting, “Mostly for Elton John, though I guess I’ll give Billy Joel a bit of credit.”

“Music means everything to me. It is the thing I want to devote my life too. It’s the only thing I do all the time. The Collective is a great ladder into the professional world of music. It’s an amazing opportunity to make what I want to do happen.” …Ben.

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Ben has been involved in Tech Monkey Workshops for three months now.  This will be his first year teching a performance season.  He is 14 years old and is in ninth grade at Lewisburg Area High School. Ben comments, “Being on the Tech Crew is so important because the show would not be able to run without us. We hold the show together.”

Ben has been attending the Uptown Music Collective for three months taking guitar lessons with guitar instructor, Gabe Stillman. He  is involved in classes and workshops including, Guitar Solos 1 and Music Theory 1. He also plays guitar in one of the Collective’s Backing Bands for the student showcases.

Ben is most excited to tech the Aerosmith show at the Community Arts Center!

 

“Music is very important to me. It helps me think and calms me down. Music was created for humans and can be made from almost anything. Music is very important to our lifestyle; it can make us sad, happy, angry, and calm. It can also be one thing we hold on too. I think that it’s very cool that the people at the Collective are teaching us kids all about music. The Collective allows kids to share their talent and their passion for music. Ever since my brother joined, I’d think every day, “Wow, I can’t wait to be one of them!” …Grace.

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This is Grace’s second semester being involved in Tech Monkey Workshops. She has teched one performance, but this will be her first year teching a performance season.  She is 10 years old and is in fifth grade at  Lycoming Valley Intermediate School. Grace comments, “Being on the Tech Crew is important because, without it, the music wouldn’t be heard. All the hard work from the performers would go down the drain. Without the tech crew, the music wouldn’t be able to increase volume, and then everyone wouldn’t be able to hear how great the performers are.”

Grace has been attending the Uptown Music Collective for one year taking voice lessons with vocal instructors, Mallory Scoppa and Sara Scott. She continues to be involved in the semesterly student showcases!

Grace is excited to tech all of the performances, and says, “but the Community Arts Center shows will definitely be the most exciting and stressful!” 

 

“To me, music is like an escape from the real world. It’s meaningful and full of life. The collective is like a second home. I’m there so much, and everyone’s so nice and caring.” …Todd.

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Todd has been involved in Tech Monkey Workshops for a little over a year now. He has teched last year’s performance season and is excited to tech this year’s performance season.   He is 16 years old and is a sophomore at Montoursville Area High School. Todd comments, “Being involved in the Tech Crew is so important because you get to be a big part of what makes the show so great.”

Todd has been attending the Collective for a little over a year now taking drum lessons  with drum instructor, Bobby Leidhecker. He  is involved in classes and workshops and plays drums in one of the Collective’s Backing Bands for the student showcases.

Todd is most excited to tech the Walk This Way: The Music of Aerosmith show at the Community Arts Center!

 

“Music is an emotional experience where I can be swayed by the feeling of a song or transported to another world by it. The Collective is a great community showing how a vast variety of people can come together and create great things and great music.” …Noah.

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Noah has been involved in Tech Monkey Workshops for one semester. This will be his first year teching a performance season.   He is 18 years old and is a senior at Williamsport Area High School. Noah comments, “The Tech Crew is so important because, without us, the band wouldn’t be able to perform as well.”

Noah started guitar lessons when he was 10 for 2 years and resumed at age 16. He currently takes guitar lessons with guitar instructor, Willi Ort. He  is involved in classes and workshops including, the Rock Workshop and Music Theory.  Noah also plays guitar in one of the Collective’s Backing Bands for the student showcases.

Noah is most excited to learn how to run the stage, the lights, and get the overall experience.

 

“Music is a way for me to express myself and get inspired by artists. There is always something new and amazing to listen too. The collective is a great way to connect with other kids with the same interest as me, and I also learn so many valuable lessons from the amazing instructors. It gives chances of performance.” …Annaleigh.

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This is Annaleigh’s second semester being involved in Tech Monkey Workshops. This will be her first year teching a performance season!  She is 15 years old and is in ninth grade at Danville Area High School. Annaleigh comments, “Being in the tech crew is important because we need to be there if something goes wrong and help fix those things fast.”

Annaleigh has been attending the Uptown Music Collective for about a year now taking guitar lessons with guitar instructor, Ben Geise. She plays  in one of the Collective’s Backing Bands for the student showcases.

Annaleigh is most excited to tech the Time in a Bottle: Singer/Songwriters of the ’60s & ’70s Performance at the Community Theatre League, because she enjoys listening to Jim Croce!

 

 

 

“Without music, we would not have movies, games, and soundtracks. The Collective is a great place to learn a lot, but also to meet great people and make friends for life.” …Caleb.

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Caleb has been involved in Tech Monkey Workshops for three years now. He has teched seven performances, including last year’s performance season and the summer showcase. He is 11 years old and is in sixth grade and homeschooled. Caleb comments, “Being on the Tech Crew is so important because knowing what goes on behind the scenes is crucial. It is the foundation of the shows.”

Caleb has been attending the Uptown Music Collective for three and a half years taking keyboard lessons. He currently takes his private lessons with keyboard and vocal instructor, Haley Miller (his favorite teacher yet) .  He  is involved in classes and workshops including,Tech Monkey workshops, and Music Theory. Caleb also has been performing in the student showcases.

Caleb is most excited to tech the Time In A Bottle: Singer/Songwriters of the ’60s and ’70s show at the Community Theatre League!

“Music is a way of expression and emotional understanding. The Collective to me is a vessel of knowledge that has to be unlocked.” …Patrick.

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This is Patrick’s first semester being involved in Tech Monkey Workshops and teching a performance season.  He is 19 years old. Patrick comments, “I enjoy being in Tech Monkey because I get a good grasp of how the equipment functions.”

Patrick has been attending the Uptown Music Collective for almost two months now taking guitar lessons with guitar instructor, Willi Ort. He  is involved in classes and workshops including, Music Theory and Guitar Solos. He plays guitar in one of the Collective’s Backing Bands for the student showcases.

Patrick is most excited to tech the Walk This Way: The Music of Aerosmith Show!