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
October 27, 2014 
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There were some terrific performances tonight. I was especially happy to see DaNica Shirey do well AND look so much better!
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DaNica was outstanding last night Louise! That’s one of those songs that you should leave alone if you can’t do it justice. She did it justice and then some. I hope we have seen the last of the bun and the nose ring as well. The kid she was competing against really stepped up her game as well. I recall her over singing in her audition but she had shown real improvement.
I thought Sugar Jones was much better last night. She had been over singing and growling excessively to the point that it overshadowed that great soul singer thing she has. She still needs to tone it down a little for my taste but she was very noticeable last night. I think the steal was in the script from the get go.
Taylor Swift did a good job of mentoring the contestants, giving them good actionable advice that you could actually see them using when they competed. I was surprised that she actually gave some of them singing advice and could demonstrate what she was referring to. The previews last week only showed her giving performance pointers. The contestants seemed thrilled to see that she would be their mentor. I didn’t pay much attention to Taylor on Tuesday night’s show.
Adam’s girl Mia was very strong tonight. It looks like they are putting together a good group for the lightning (I mean live) round.
On an Idol note, I saw Joshua Ledette (sp) as part of a Booker T Jones and guest concert on TV last night. He was good until he gets wound up too tight, and then he is more scream than sing. I know he had some fans here so I thought I would mention that he has a version of “Man’s World” on Booker T’s new album.
I guess I got carried away by wishful think when I said I was glad to see Michael Waldrip had been eliminated from DWTS. I was sort of shocked to see him still there. I started watching DWTS when I was helping my Mom before my Dad passed away several years ago. She really enjoyed the show but I poked fun at it and asked her if we couldn’t watch Lawrence Welk instead. Anyway, she’s been gone seven years now and somehow I started enjoying watching the show. Go figure. The girls are pretty easy to watch though, and the rest grew on me. 🙂 I can’t dance a step personally.
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I agree that Taylor Swift is doing a good job as a mentor. I honestly am not very familiar with her music, although I’ve read plenty of criticism of it. But I know that she has a huge following among young people. On The Voice, it seems to me that she has given the contestants very real advice to improve their performances. What I can say about Taylor is that I admire her as a role model for young people. Instead of the inappropriately revealing costumes that some young performers wear on and off the stage, she is a class act. At least the photos I see of her on line indicate that she has really beautiful taste in clothing. But better yet, from what I read she is very appreciative of her fans. I worked with a woman who has a relative being treated at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Taylor visited her alone in her room, and sang for her. The girl sang too and told Taylor that if she ever needs a backup singer, when she gets well, she will be available!!! I think she was the perfect pick as a mentor for The Voice.
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Taylor’s career has been very interesting for sure. I’ve never been a fan of her singing and I’m not in her target demographic but I’ve been fascinated by her career and development for a long time. I’ve never seen a girl / young woman with a clearer focus on where she was headed, how to get there and at what pace to go than Taylor. It’s been over a year I guess since I have heard her sing but from the little bit that she sang during the mentoring sessions it appears that her skills have improved.
I saw her do an episode of the “Story Teller’s” series where the artist takes about five minutes prior to each song to talk with the audience about what went into the writing or concept of the song or they are about to perform. Sort of a behind the music sort of thing but recorded before a live audience. Her audience was college students who were obsessed with her. I was surprised that an audience that old and as cynical as college students typically are would receive her with so much enthusiasm. She, in turn was the most personable singer that I have ever seen doing that show.
That was a great story about the girl in Saint Jude’s Hospital. I’m not surprised though. I think Taylor is just that sort of person. She probably acted like she had all the time in the world to hang out with the child. It would not surprise me if she keeps up with the child and offers her an audition one day. I don’t think she does things like this to build a good image but I know she is very conscious of the public image she presents to her young fans. You won’t see pictures of her getting out of a car drunk with her shirt hiked up or any of the usual pop star antics because she cares how those kids see her and what they think of her, and if the chose to emulate her, that’s not a bad thing. You are exactly right, she is a class act.
St. Jude’s Hospital is a wonderful organization and an extremely well run and accountable charity if anyone is looking for something worthy of support. I just wish there was no need for a hospital for children with those types of illnesses.
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For Gene and anyone else interested, there was an article in my Sunday newspaper about DaNica Shirey because she lives in a city about 45 minutes from mine. “Persistance” is her middle name!!! She tried out 3 times for American Idol, 2 times for America’s Got Talent, and 2 times before for The Voice but she didn’t make it to the blind auditions. But when she was 15 years old, she went to the Apollo in New York and won!!! And she mentioned in the article how nice she thought Taylor Swift was, as is Pharrell.
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I didn’t know that she had tried out so many times. There was a time when that was just the nature of the business but a lot of these 14 and 15 year old kids make ridicules statements like (I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t get it” or “there is no plan B.” I’m glad to hear DaNica has a good work ethic and that she won at the Apollo. A lot of big careers have taken off from that venue.
Pharrell does seem to be a very nice guy which is probably his strong suit when it comes to getting the most out of people he works with. I was concerned with the coaching advice that he gave Danica in the Battle rounds but he and Taylor saw that she knew what she was doing and just encouraged her for the Knockout round so I’m very curious to see how he advises her and what song he comes up with for her in the live rounds. She needs something that is current at this point to avoid the “she’s got a great voice but I can’t see her in today’s market criticism.”
We should see Reagan James tonight. She performed on the last night of the Battle rounds as well, so I guess they see her as “pimp worthy.” We haven’t seen any of these singers perform live yet so that may re-shuffle the deck but I still believe these two will hang for a while.
Thanks for the info about DaNica. That background and her association with Pharrell should serve her well regardless of how this competition turns out.
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