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SPOTLIGHT ON FOUR SEASONS 14 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MARCH 2017 By Sharon Bond Susan Youel, Four Seasons own voice coach, and her husband, Sheldon Craig, have lived in Four Seasons since 2011. When they moved in they joined the Performing Arts Club and a few years later became the Artistic Directors for the club. Susan and Sheldon met in a production of H.M.S. Pinafore in Santa Monica. They have performed together many times in plays, musicals and opera. They also performed for six years at the Gallery Theatre in Anaheim, even after moving here. Susan is a lyric soprano and sang a solo at the last Holiday Show during Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Susan grew up in San Diego and remembers singing at her aunt's wedding when she was nine, which is also when she started to study voice. She always loved to sing and dance. Susan has a bachelors degree in Vocal Performance from Occidental College and a masters degree in Vocal Performance from Cal State Sacramento. Susan has been a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing since 1979. She taught music for the Los Angeles School District until her retirement. During her career as a traveling elementary music teacher, she taught thousands of inner- city school children singing, movement, and playing rhythm instruments. In addition, she gave private voice lessons and taught voice for college music majors, community college voice classes, and community college choirs. For the past three years Susan and Sheldon have sung with the Pass Chorale, a group in the Pass Area. While she was living in Massachusetts, Susan taught a ten- year-old girl how to carry a tune. Later, when she was living in Northern California, this led her to invent a class called Singing for Non-Singers for the Davis Art Center. And now she has turned her talents to teaching Singing for Seniors for the lucky residents of Four Seasons. The initial classes were designed for members of the Four Seasons Singers and soon will be open to anyone interested in improving their singing or learning how to read music. Please email Susan at syouel@earthlink.net and let her know what you'd like to study. I have been taking the voice classes with Susan this Winter and can guarantee that if you are able to take the class you will not be disappointed. Songbird Susan Youel Teaches Singing for Seniors