About Masterclass Lady
Rosanne (Giallonardo) Simunovic began her musical career in Timmins, Ontario. She studied piano with Anne Pizzale and later, at an advanced level, with Soeur Anita Vaugeois (Sister Cecile of Les Soeurs De L’Assomption in Timmins). Her vocal and accompaniment skills were nurtured by her aunt, the late Dorothea Mascioli.
When Rosanne graduated from O’Gorman High School, she moved on to the University of Toronto where she continued her piano and vocal studies while attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She was hired as a piano accompanist for several musical companies, most notably, the National Ballet Of Canada. She presently holds an A.R.C.T. Teacher’s Diploma in Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Rosanne has studied choral conducting with numerous well known Canadian Conductors, including Wayne Riddell of Montreal, Quebec and the internationally renowned Dr. Elmer Iseler.
She has been a founding member of numerous community-based arts organizations: the Timmins Arts Council, later known as Arts & Culture Timmins, the Timmins Symphony Orchestra, and, the Timmins Youth Singers…as well as the TYS Alumnus choir, the Timmins Concert Singers. In 1987, she was also selected to be the conductor of the Timmins Board Of Education Choir, comprised of talented students from Grades 5 to 8.
In 1988, she was elected to the Board Of Directors of the Ontario Choral Federation (now known as Choirs Ontario), where she served as Chair of the Festivals Committee for six consecutive seasons. In 1996, in honour of the Ontario Choral Federation’s 25th Anniversary, Rosanne was selected as one of 25 recipients of the OCF’s Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the choral art. The ceremony was presided by Lieutenant Governor, Hal Jackman.
In November 1997, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Rotary Club Of Timmins to receive the prestigious Paul Harris Award for her years of dedication to the artistic development of young musical talent in Timmins.
In August of 2002, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Board Of Directors of Choirs Ontario to serve as Conductor of both the Provincial Junior and Teen Choir Camps, now renamed in honour of the Camp Benefactors, Don and Lillian Wright.
In November 2002, Rosanne was the one of the recipients of the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, honouring her work in the development of the arts in Timmins.
Under Rosanne Simunovic’s direction, the Timmins Youth Singers and the Timmins Concert Singers have been featured in numerous choral festivals and performing opportunities outside of Timmins. In 1985, they were selected to partici
May 28, 2008 
Masterclass Lady On MySpace.Com
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MasterClassLady.Com 
I was so pleased when I heard that this kid had bagged a good contract. Then I read an interview on MTV, where he was quoted as saying about American Idol ( http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1588044/20080523/id_0.jhtml ):
“But the fact is, it’s glorified karaoke — they pick people with pretty faces and the pretty voices, and they don’t let them write their own songs. They pick these good-looking people with voices, and they have them sing these songs that other people have written. And therefore, it lacks passion, it lacks emotion and it lacks the things that set an artist off from being good to being great. So that’s my feeling on it.”
That was not very gracious. For someone who did not make the final 24, he got a lot of airtime, which, clearly, lead directly to his new contract; there was no need for him to knock his competitors. Sigh.
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Yes, Rereader. I totally agree. I added the article as a courtesy to MTV, but I was NOT impressed with that statement.
I think both Davids are truly unique and creative vocal artists, as are many of the Top 10 finalists.
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I am so happy for Josiah! This is *incredibly* exciting!
I just wanted to add that he prefaced that quote precisely by saying that he does NOT want to knock his competitors: “And yeah, I did it and it was great. I love those people there. They were great to me, and it gave me a great kick-start to my career.”
The rest of what he’s saying is certainly not new. Even contestants who made it very far on the show have expressed their reservations about the whole process. When asked about whether she thought the process was fair, Katharine McPhee said: “No, they let go of some really good people and kept people who were pretty.”
http://www.americanidol.com/contestants/season5/katharine_mcphee/
(Strikingly similar sentiment, isn’t it?)
And you can’t deny that the show DOES force the winners to sing songs that other people have written for them. Carrie Underwood isn’t shy to say that she HATES “Inside Your Heaven.” The amount of creative control can be so limited in the first album.
I think it’s the next statement he makes that might be more contentious, and I agree with you both there. I believe that Kelly Clarkson, my favorite Idol contestant, possesses SO much passion, emotion, heart, and artistry. She is able to turn what she’s given into something meaningful, but that’s more a credit to her than to the Idol machine or system itself. I love the way this one article talks about it:
“Clarkson’s talents were truly tested four weeks later, when – as the official “American Idol” winner – she was forced to sing the first in a long line of awful “American Idol”-winner songs. This one was called “A Moment Like This,” and in spite of the fact that it was nothing but a dog-pile of teary clichés, the girl sang it like she meant it. Suddenly, this market-tested robo-ballad sounded like it actually had a heart, but only because Clarkson put it there herself.”
“She did it on her first album (2003’s “Thankful”), swaggering through the magnificently cheesy “Miss Independent,” turning the shamelessly manipulative “The Trouble With Love Is” into purple poetry and wringing the soap out of “Low” until it sounded like a real drama about really sad people.”
“Like “American Idol” itself, Kelly Clarkson takes an empty pop-culture shell and fills it with so much real emotion, all those fake trappings just melt away. It’s real to her, so it’s real to us.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/peterson/20050221-9999-1c21karla.html
I think what Josiah is saying is that the system itself isn’t that conducive to true artists; the system itself is cold and mechanical. And there’s a level of truth in that, and contestants COULD easily descend into what Josiah talks about–mechanical going through the motions. HOWEVER, I think it’s a testament to the contestants who have been on this show that this is NOT the case for the very successful ones. I can understand why he wouldn’t want to be put through the Idol machine, though.
I am SO happy for David Cook, but everywhere I go, someone (mostly fans) mentions the awful “magic rainbow” line in “The Time of My Life” that David is forced to sing. I think that’s what Josiah wants to avoid.
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