I went to school to study music and managed to land a B.A. in Voice Performance at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. There, I trained as a classical singer (yes, opera!) and painfully gained some chops in music theory and at the piano. How they ever beat it into me, I’ll never know, but it stuck, and now I’m stuffing it into the brains, hands, and voices of as many people who will sit still for even a moment. You could say I run a music studio and teach voice, piano, and music theory, but some might call it a boot camp. I’m continually developing my own material, Crescendo Music System, and trying it out on my students, and they help me find better and better ways to teach.

My “big picture” passion is to inject energy and life into the local music scene in any way possible. I run three open mics (Donahue’s, Country Tavern, and RVP); I am the band leader, lead singer, and rhythm guitar player for my own band (Sandy Connolly Band); I run a Monday night class at RVP that helps people learn how to performance with a band, and I have recently become an impresario.