A group of children and teenagers crowd around an air hockey table, talking excitedly and watching the fast-paced action.
The basement game room in a Versailles home leads to another room where the kids eventually gather. Nearby are a piano, keyboards, a sound mixing board, microphones, and cameras for streaming.
This is the Vocals and Chords Music Studio created by the homeowners, Rachele Holmes and her husband, Rich.
Rachele grew up playing the piano, singing, and acting. “I really love theater, it's my life. It has been my life since I was young. I started doing acting and musical theater in particular, from a very young age, singing in the church choir. I was one of the only eight-year-olds with a bunch of gray-haired people in my church in Huntington, Indiana. And found a love for music.”
Rachele is a teacher in Woodford County, a part-time minister, and mother of two daughters. Fifteen years ago, she began teaching children and adults piano in her home. With the help of her husband on the technical side, they built a recording and vocal studio in the basement.
Rachele does group and individual voice work and teaches improvisational skills. Rich sitting at the mixing board says, “nine times out of 10, I'm also recording it or streaming it from here, so we have the open mic nights and different group events here that have been live streamed for the parents to see it, because trying to put 50 people in this room is not the easiest thing to do.”
Performing in front of people can be quite a challenge, especially for her younger students. Rachele says, “This encourages them to think on the spot, be able to not be nervous in front of people when they don't know that they're next, and they don't know what's happening. But I love how they work together, teamwork.”
Rachele says the isolation during COVID is still having an impact on the children. “I’ve helped some of them through COVID, and they're now finding their grounding. They're finding their passion again. They're finding that it's okay to be passionate about what they do. Be passionate about music, be passionate about the other things they do in life as well.”
13-year-old Claire Jones, a Woodford County middle-schooler, says COVID shut down many kids. “After COVID, I think everybody kind of wasn't more socially active. I feel like people, at least in my generation, kids are always preferring to be on their phones rather than talk to people. But I think that going to these fun events that she has here - it really helps kids open up to show who they are and just to kind of help express themselves better. And I think going to Rachele’s has really helped me, mold me as a person, and I think I'm a lot more confident in myself now.”
Jones, who dreams of performing on Broadway someday, has come a long way, her teacher says. “Claire may be one of the only students I've ever had who consistently, weekly, gives, sends me videos, sends me audios, sends me texts, and says, how does this sound?”
18-year-old Jacob Robinette says Rachele pushed him to keep practicing piano and take his playing to new levels. “She's great. She's introduced me to what it actually means to play piano and be a part of a community of musicians. She first introduced me to the Governor's School for the Arts, which was amazing. I would have never thought of something like that, but she pushed me to do that, and she helps to push me every single lesson, every single time I play.”
Rich says it’s a pleasure to watch the students learn and excel. “Seeing them grow and develop, watching everyone come out of their shell and just develop into a confident kid who is having fun and learning something at the same time, and it's a skill that hopefully can take them to a higher level.”
The couple plans to keep evolving what they offer in music education and keep it fun, too. Rachele says, “I would love to get into doing more theater stuff with them, creating a variety show, so that they could not only just learn from me, but produce this, not just in a recital, but produce this in the community.”
For more information, go to https://vocalsandchords.com
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