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Name: Carol Ann Dykstra
Classes: K-6 General Music, Junior and Senior High Choral Music
School phone number: (607) 326-4151
My email: cdykstra@roxburycs.org
A graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, I have always loved music! I began singing at a very early age, and started studying the violin in elementary school. Having an aunt who is a certified music teacher was an added inspiration (she had me drawing G Clefs before I could print my name!) By age 10, I had inherited my grandmother's piano and started lessons. Through high school I concentrated on music, studying piano, orchestra (violin), chorus, private voice, and music theory. As a Freshman in High School, I was one of the youngest members in the United States of the "Sweet Adelines" barbershop chorus. While at Westminster I sang under conductors, Roger Wagner, Robert Shaw, Wilhelm Ehman, Seiji Ozawa, Pierre Boulez, Anatal Dorati, Joseph Flummerfelt, Robert Simpson, and many others. I had the experience of performing with the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall.
Since moving to Roxbury 27 years ago, I have sung with the Community Chorale of the Catskills in their annual concerts, including summer programs with the Binghamton Symphony Orchestra and the Belleayre Festival Orchestra under the direction of John Covelli. In the summer of 2006 I sang in the Belleayre Festival production of Puccini's opera, "Tosca", in 2007 performed in Rossini's "Barber of Seville", and in the 2008 production of Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci". I sing weekly in the choir of the Jay Gould Memorial Reformed Church in Roxbury.
I earned my Master of Arts in Humanities Degree in 1993 from California State University - Dominguez Hills. The emphasis of that degree was music with a concentration on electronic/computer music. For the past seventeen years I have continued to hone my computer skills, particularly as they pertain to the field of music. This year marks my 25th year of teaching music to the students at Roxbury Central School.
I am married with two children and two dogs. I enjoy reading, cross stitching, quilting, knitting, photography, skiing, bicycling, gardening, and attending my children's music and drama performances and athletic competitions.
Working with the students from Kindergarten through graduation, I hope to form a relationship that builds a feeling of stability in their school lives and continues to grow through their years at RCS. I hope to instill an understanding and joy of music that they will carry with them throughout their lives.