Testimonials
"When I had Ms. Kelly-George as a teacher, she quickly and easily became my favorite teacher. We always traveled to places like Florida and New York. She always was happy and our chorus could have conversations with her without problem. She taught us to the best of her ability and never doubted us. She was, by far, our best choral director."
(Morgan "Khryaziee" Fulton is currently a soprano 1 in the Atlanta Girls' School Chorus. She has performed with the choir at Antioch AME Church in Stone Mountain, GA, the Honors Chorus (a mixture of choral students from different schools in GA), and at Atlanta Girls' School for about four years. Kathy Kelly-George has taught her for three of the four years that she sang at Atlanta Girls' School. In addition to her singing, she is also a web comedian and promoter. She can be seen on the youtube series, "The Misadventures of TMP" and other videos including the promotion of the book, "Survive the Next 365". She, along with her best friend, Khaeoss, make a new video every weekend.)
"I have had the distinct honour of having KKG as my CHOIR DIRECTOR at NWUUC for the past 8 months I do not read musical notes and have had no formal music training. Restricted to bathroom singing and Hindu spiritual songs or bhajans have been my forte --- well there was the" Sound of Music" production in High School in India along with some other plays that required me to open my vocal cords While I am told that I have a good speaking voice, I have always wanted to stretch myself and see if I could hold that note. It surprised me a few years back when my husbands piano teacher said I was an MEZZO SOPRANO --me??? with that deep speaking voice that gets mistaken for a MR ARUNA a lot of times???? WOW - it sure rocked me. So I auditioned for the choir and was indeed placed in the ALTO section with occasional leanings towards the Sopranos when I have to sing 1st voice in the Alto section. And I started singing --- I mimic very well and got by without having to read notes but did start learning some typical musical notations and signs and symbols. My fellow choir members were very gracious as was the Musical Dir at that time --- CHOIR helped me go through some tough losses in 2007-2008.
Enter KKG -- I was still healing from having lost our previous beloved Musical Director. I fell in love -------again during her audition as she interacted with us using several different accents and humour -- she was Irish, as is my husband, and she pretty much had me at HELLO.
Kathy has very high standards on most things but music is her passion, after Jasmine --- she works so hard with all of us never makiing anyone feel that they are not important. Her singing has us in tears and so moved that its hard to put into words. In a very short time, she has thrown herself into the congregation and already done a few fund raisers for us to build back our flooded Chalice House --- Kathy does not care about what she gets paid. Its clear the she loves music and loves sharing and teaching it to others who love it too.
Above all, I LOVE THE FACT that she emphasizes DICTION ---- this is so important to me. I speak FAST but I do know that my diction is good and proper.
Language is beautiful no matter what type you speak but if you mumble and rush and swallow half your words-- you not only lose your audience but you also spread the wrong message leading to miscommunication. So being able to spend time enunciating words set to music and having congregation members telling us that they can HEAR what we are singing proves how important this is to all
So I do know that we are indeed blessed to have KKG as our Director of Music. I know that I am blessed to have her teach me how to sing with passion and clarity. I know that the congregation at NW is blessed to have such a presence in our midst. And I know her fellow members at the ASO are blessed to hear and know Kathy."
(Aruna Rao-McCann is an Alto with the Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation Choir. She is also Senior Case Manager for Wright Rehabilitation Services.)
"Under Ms. KG's coaching, I was the Georgia Mens Solo State Champion in the 5-A Literary Competition for two consecutive years. She not only coached me through the vocal technique, but through the pronunciation of the pieces in different languages and their dramatic interpretation. She is a teacher who believes in positive reinforcement and goes that extra mile to prepare a student for an upcoming performance and to teach them a lasting technique that they will call on time and time again throughout their careers. And above all, with Ms. KG singing is FUN!"
(Brad is an actor currently living in NYC. He holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of the Arts. His recent credits include ALTAR BOYZ (National Tour), and FIVE COURSE LOVE (Geva Theatre). Brad is also a proud member of the Actors Equity Association.)
Kathy Kelly-George (Ms. K-G) was, and is to this day, one of my favorite instructors. She made such a difference in my life, as a musician and as a person. One thing that stands out to me is when my mother died, my junior year in high school, she went to battle for my sister and I, to be able to have our ensemble/chorus sing something at my mom's funeral, completely unbeknownst to us. That's just the type of person -- she is and always has been.
Ms. K-G challenged me as a vocalist to reach points she knew I could, even when I didn't know myself, and many of those lessons carried over and are still in my life today. She also helped me prepare for my college vocal auditions, and I know that was not an easy task for her, I had to learn a song in a foreign language in under a week's time, because that's when I decided where I was going to school. Needless to say, I ACED my auditions and got the maximum scholarship allowed by the school, and had I not had such a great instructor that believed in me the way she did, I don't know that I would have done so well. She also helped me and three of my friends come up with our own rendition and harmonies for an a cappella version of the National Anthem that we sang on more than one occasion.
I haven't ever considered Ms K-G as merely a teacher or instructor, but as a friend and part of my family. I don't know what my life would be like right now had she not made an impact on me, both personally and musically.
(Ashley is a lifestyle & events photographer based in Georgia. http://www.ashleybrawner.com)
