Kara Shidemantle, Vocal & Piano
Kara Shidemantle holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies: Voice from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At UArts, she was offered the Promising Artist Scholarship and a Teaching Assistantship working with undergraduate music students. Kara’s thesis project was entitled “On Crossing Over: A Method Book in Singing Jazz, Popular and Classical Music Authentically.”
She began playing classical piano at the age of eight. Kara has performed in various piano recitals and focuses on self-accompaniment. She specializes in crossover singing and her focuses are classical, popular and jazz music.
Kara has sung at various jazz festivals and, most recently, the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Connecticut and Jazz in the Park in Fayetteville, NY. In 2007, Kara sang backup vocals for the Kenny Roger’s Christmas Tour and has performed at the Kimmel Center with Peter Nero and the Philly POPS and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia opening for Sting with the University of the Arts Chorus.
In 2009, Kara was mentioned in DownBeat Magazine for an outstanding recording by Daniel Blanck of Blanck Studios in Los Angeles, CA. She’s performed in Messiah and The Met Meets Broadway with the Germantown Oratorio Choir and excerpts from Die Fledermaus with the UArts Opera/Oratorio Ensemble.
Kara was accepted into the Franco-American Vocal Academy in the summer of 2012 and toured the southwest of France performing three operatic roles. She was Pistache in Bagatelle, Finette in Bagatelle and Denise in Le Mariage aux Lanternes by Offenbach.
Upon graduating from UArts, Kara received the Voice Faculty Award for excellence in musicianship and scholarship. Kara was a piano and voice tutor at UArts for three and a half years and completed her Teaching Assistantship with Professor Anne Sciolla in December 2015. She taught group voice classes and private lessons. Kara was the musical director for Anna Marie’s Performing Arts Programs for two years in Philadelphia, PA. She also taught voice and piano to children and adults, summer camp musicals, as well as pre-k private instruction at the Music Training Center in Philadelphia, PA upon finishing her graduate studies.
Kara continues to perform classical and jazz music in recital form and sings in her church choir. She hopes to help her students improve their singing and piano technique as well as proficiency in reading music. Most importantly, she hopes to help her students build confidence in themselves and to find a love for music that will be with them for the rest of their lives. She is very excited to be teaching at Jacksonville School of Music!
She began playing classical piano at the age of eight. Kara has performed in various piano recitals and focuses on self-accompaniment. She specializes in crossover singing and her focuses are classical, popular and jazz music.
Kara has sung at various jazz festivals and, most recently, the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Connecticut and Jazz in the Park in Fayetteville, NY. In 2007, Kara sang backup vocals for the Kenny Roger’s Christmas Tour and has performed at the Kimmel Center with Peter Nero and the Philly POPS and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia opening for Sting with the University of the Arts Chorus.
In 2009, Kara was mentioned in DownBeat Magazine for an outstanding recording by Daniel Blanck of Blanck Studios in Los Angeles, CA. She’s performed in Messiah and The Met Meets Broadway with the Germantown Oratorio Choir and excerpts from Die Fledermaus with the UArts Opera/Oratorio Ensemble.
Kara was accepted into the Franco-American Vocal Academy in the summer of 2012 and toured the southwest of France performing three operatic roles. She was Pistache in Bagatelle, Finette in Bagatelle and Denise in Le Mariage aux Lanternes by Offenbach.
Upon graduating from UArts, Kara received the Voice Faculty Award for excellence in musicianship and scholarship. Kara was a piano and voice tutor at UArts for three and a half years and completed her Teaching Assistantship with Professor Anne Sciolla in December 2015. She taught group voice classes and private lessons. Kara was the musical director for Anna Marie’s Performing Arts Programs for two years in Philadelphia, PA. She also taught voice and piano to children and adults, summer camp musicals, as well as pre-k private instruction at the Music Training Center in Philadelphia, PA upon finishing her graduate studies.
Kara continues to perform classical and jazz music in recital form and sings in her church choir. She hopes to help her students improve their singing and piano technique as well as proficiency in reading music. Most importantly, she hopes to help her students build confidence in themselves and to find a love for music that will be with them for the rest of their lives. She is very excited to be teaching at Jacksonville School of Music!