[Perform-Talk] Introduction/reintroduction

Tue Nov 3 15:51:40 UTC 2015

That's so cool you can play so many instruments. I have a musical family,
and my dad and brother can pick up any instrument and learn it. As a music
major, I had to take piano proficiency, but all I can do is dink out a tune
on the keyboard. I wish I would have taken this side of music more seriously
when younger, but I was so focused on vocals and the performance alone, and
it didn't occur to me until much later in life that some level of
proficiency on an instrument would have been a good thing. Life lesson kids!

The mentoring opportunities you're working on sound fantastic. It's a great
idea.

This division is truly growing and developing fresh ideas. Keep it up.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: Perform-talk [mailto:perform-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Kaiti Shelton via Perform-talk
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2015 8:26 PM
To: perform-talk <perform-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Kaiti Shelton <crazy4clarinet104 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Perform-Talk] Introduction/reintroduction

Hi all,

I do believe that I introduced myself to the list at some point, but in the
spirit of making the list more active I figured a reintroduction wouldn't
hurt.

My name is Kaiti Shelton and I currently serve as secretary of the
performing arts division.  I am pursuing a B.M in music therapy from the
University of Dayton in Ohio, where I also live when not in school in case
anyone is also close by and wants to jam sometime.  My primary instrument is
the clarinet, but as music therapy requires me to be proficient on several
other instruments I consider myself more of a jack-of-most-trades.  My
favorite instrument out of all that I can play is the guitar, but I can also
play piano, percussion including hand drums and set, electric bass, ukulele,
and I sing fairly well.  I love tinkering with other instruments whenever I
get the chance, and have dabbled a bit with everything from violin and viola
in a high strings class I took last year to orf instruments and other odds
and ends I use in my work.

I have some experience in dance, acting, and public speaking as well, though
obviously as an undergraduate student in a music program that is the art
that takes up the majority of my time.  In addition to my studdies in school
I record weekly covers which I post to my twitter account via an app called
audioboom.  They're nothing special---just one-take covers wherein I
accompany myself, but even though I'm not a highly trained vocalist I enjoy
doing them and they help me build my repertoire.  I'd love to learn how to
make the transition to using youtube recordings, in the future, but in the
meantime this method works well.  My long-term goal for employment is to
work in either a children's hospital, a school with students who have
developmental disabilities, or in an early intervention program with small
children.
I'm currently working with a young man who has Down Syndrome and love that
kind of work, but I'm trying to keep my options open.  I am also considering
of doing part-time private practice on the side, though I would hope that
would not be my only source of employment.

One of my other projects in the performing arts division is our mentoring
project (yes, we have a mentoring project).  This is a program that is still
very much in its infancy, but I have a brilliant committee thus far and
we'll start working on the details soon.  We hope to be launching the
surveys and databases we will use to gather information for matching people
up in January 2016, and we also hope that the purpose of the databases will
allow for people to locate other performing artists by several categories
including geographic location, performing arts medium, instrument, level of
proficiency, etc.  In this way the mentoring program will also facilitate
general networking for those who might be searching for other artists to jam
or gig with, or just to ask general questions.  If you are interested in
contributing to this project either before the databases and surveys are
ready to be launched, after in matching mentor-mentee pairs, or both please
let me know.  I intend to have the committee meet next week and would love
to hear from more of you, especially those in dance, drama, or public
speaking.

Feel free to contact me off-list at this address if you have any questions
or comments.  I am looking forward to seeing where this division goes over
the next few months and hearing from more of you on the list.

Thanks,
--
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton-Music Therapy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students 2013-Present Secretary, The
National Federation of the Blind Performing Arts Division 2015-2016

"You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back!"

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