Donna Aldrich-Fontaine:Having always had an attraction to the arts through crafts, Ms. Aldrich-Fontaine has devoted the past ten years to the fine arts of pen and ink, color pencils, watercolor. Oils, and her medium of choice, pastels. She draws inspiration from her animals and 27 acres of New Hampshire woods and fields.
Currently, she has challenged herself to create 100 oil paintings in a year. She says "This project has been an incredible discipline for me since I have to start a new painting every couple of days." She and her husband have created an e-commerce art gallery for her artwork and recently have invited other artiste to join. You can view the gallery at www.polarisart.com. Ms Aldrich-Fontaine is Founder and President of Black bear Art Association, a member of the board of the Durham Art Association, Member of the Manchester Artists Association, Pastel Painters of Maine, Pastel Society of New Hampshire and the Governor Wentworth Arts Council.
Christa Heitmann Franke:Ms. Franke received her BA in German with minors in French and Political Science from the State University of New York. She has attended the University of Heidelberg majoring in Linguistics. She has over 8 years of experience teaching German to both children and adults. In addition to working with the Arts Center, Ms. Franke teaches German at other facilities in the greater NH and Maine areas. Her instructional style is using total language immersion. Quote:"Language learning is fun!"
Joe Frascetti:Mr. Frascetti is a graduate of Emmanuel College, Boston. He has been playing piano professionally and teaching private lessons to children and adults for 30 years. He teaches all types of music and specializes in the different Jazz styles. His teaching philosophy is to get his students playing the kind of music they think is fun,as quickly as possible. Currently playing piano in local area restaurants and for private parties, he also provides music therapy to local adult day programs and assisted living facilities."
Lisa Goodwin:
Christine Livie:Christine Livie received over 16 years of dance instruction from Susan Winter's School of Dance in Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Pointe before receiving her AA degree in Dance from Dean College, Franklin, MA. During her time at Dean, Christine was a member of the Tap and Modern Dance Companies and was privileged to have received the Carrie Grant Chilson award for dance excellence. She was invited, and attended, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre's Summer Intensive Program in New York City. While in New York, she trained at the Broadway Dance Center.
Ms Livie had the honor and pleasure of dancing under the instruction of Donald McKayle at the Boston Summer Dance Festival, which included a performance at Boston City Hall Plaza. Christine also performed at a half-time show along side Cirque du Soleil, at a New England Revolution game held at Gillette Stadium. Christine is currently working towards her Dance Masters of America Certification and attends their summer workshops in Buffalo, NY.
She is currently the Director of Expressions Dance Academy, a division of the Wolfeboro Area Creative Arts Center, teaching all styles of dance to students ages three to adult. Christine also choreographs for The Kingswood Children's Summer Theatre Program. Of all the accomplishments in Christine's dance career, her greatest achievement is watching her students perform with distinction at their Annual Spring Performance, Dance Competitions and Dance Conventions. Christine also takes great pride in her students' involvement, in past and present events, for the Wolfeboro community such as the Festival of Trees, 4th of July parade, Summer Solstice, Taste Sights and Sounds, and the Scarecrow Festival.
Quote:"For when the song moves you, you know you have become a dancer."Lance MacLean:Mr. MacLean has over 30 yaers of music performance and private instruction experience, and can be heard playing on 15 recordings. He is the founder and leader of the popular "Moose Mt. Jazz Band". His background in Dixieland Jazz helps provide a different approach to music teaching by encouraging playing by ear, as well as reading the music. Lance supplements his book lessons with music theory, and an understanding of chords and their relationships. More advanced students can explore the art of improvising. In addition to music Lance owns and operates A-440 Piano Service: a tuning and repair business. It is never too late to start. Adult students are encouraged to begin to play, or return to give their playing a boost. Quote: "The better you learn to play, the more fun you will have....the more fun you have, will encourage you to learn to play better!".
Kristi Nieman:Ms. Nieman has a BS degree (cum laude) in Graphic Design from the University of Cincinnati. She has studied dance and voice for many years and received her Kindermusik certification in 2004. She has directed several children's musical productions and currently teaches three age level curriculums at the Center. She is active in the music program at her church as well as Clearlakes Chorale. Quote:"Kindermusik builds community by encouraging parents and children to play together while fostering a love of learning and music that lasts a life time."
Joseph C. Rinaldi:Mr. Rinaldi is a new resident to Wolfeboro from the Washington D.C. area where he still performs with the Peabody Ragtime Ensemble and the Baltimore Jazz Orchestra. He comes to the Arts Center with over 50 distinguished years of music experience starting at the age of ten playing with the Elks Boys Band and later accepted to the prestigious Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Pa. He studied privately with Daniel Bonnade (clarinet), William Kincaid (flute), Michael Guerra (saxophone), Anthony Liuzzi (cello).
His experience includes traveling with the Big Bands of Harry James, Gene Krupa and Tony Pastor; playing with his own quintet and Maynard Ferguson’s Band at the Newport Jazz Festival as well as teaching 4-8 grade music at Sandy Springs Friends School.
He was Music Director for the Gas Light Clubs of DC, NY, Chicago and Paris, conducted Big Bands for the Italian American Balls, as well as the inaugural Balls from President Kennedy through our current President Bush. He was selected as the Music Coordinator for President Reagan, serving on the Presidential Inaugural Committee.Quote:"My philosophy through teaching is to instill in my students not only the application of the instrument but also the many gifts of life that come with the accomplishment. My style of teaching is warm and relaxed which I’ve found enables the student to also relax and the lesson becomes fun and a rewarding experience". He has performed "The History of Jazz" concerts to many universities in the United States, several segments have been filmed for Public Television.
You can hear Joe playing at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.
Shawn Snyder:Mr. Snyder received his BA in Mediation and Arbitration from the State University of New York. He also received his AS degree in Culinary Arts from the Birmingham College of Food in the UK. Currently a Real Estate Agent, he has 5 years of experience as part of a professional rock band which has been featured on the X-Games and ESPN. He has opened for many well known bands including Fastball, Boston, Badfinger, etc. Mr. Snyder teaches a variety of drum styles including rock, blues, shuffle, latin and funk. Quote:"Carpe Diem!"