Biography & Resume
Born to a computer engineer and his wife in Kansas on July 22, 1989, Constable was allowed to start taking piano lessons at age five. Her early interest in singing was sparked by the 1986 Sandi Patty album “Morning Like This.” And from sitting on her grandfather’s knee as he sang “The Wabash Cannonball.”
Constable joined the Columbian Youth Choir in Wamego, KS, at the age of ten, and began taking voice lessons when she was twelve– also joining the praise and worship team at her church around the same time.
Continuing private voice lessons with multiple teachers, Constable also participated in the state-wide Golden Belt Vocal Festival from the ages of 15 to 19, and joined the Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale (directed by Dr. Reg Pittman of Kansas State University), of which she is still a proud member, at the age of 16.
In 2006 (at age 17) Constable initiated the process of recording and releasing a Christmas EP– and completed the project in “record time” (no pun intended?) after enlisting the help of a pianist, recording engineer, and photographer from the Manhattan area. “Treetops Glisten” was completed on December 18 of that year.
When the F.H.M.C. toured Europe in the spring of 2009, Constable was honored to be featured as one of the main soloists in the program. She has also had the privilege of performing as a soloist in other choral groups, including the K-State Women’s Glee Club in 2010.
Theatre experience came by way of K-State’s “Opera Workshop” program, which earned Constable’s particular group a chance to compete against other students from across the nation at the national convention of the National Opera Association in Atlanta in January of 2010, and via the Columbian Theatre’s 2010 production of “West Side Story,” allowing Constable to fulfill a dream of playing a part in her favorite musical.
An avid admirer of Leonard Bernstein, Constable journeyed to New York for three months in the fall of 2008 to attend the Leonard Bernstein Festival, and was delighted to be able to perform with other local musicians while there. She fell in love with the city of Boston on a weekend visit, and dreams of living there someday.
Constable is currently lead singer for the local prog-rock band “Lithus” and also half of the "hobo folk noir" duo “Hotel Gypsies”.
Select Musical Accomplishments
Choral
Columbian Youth Choir† . Golden Belt Vocal Festival †. Flint Hills Masterworks Chorale* . “Side by Side” Summer Chorus** . Kansas State University Women’s Glee Club†
* Soprano soloist, European tour 2009
** Soprano soloist, Pergolesi’s Magnificat 2009
† Occasional soprano soloist
Theatre
Donizetti’s Elixir of Love - Kansas State University Opera Scenes - chorus (2009)
(Finalists in the National Opera Association’s National Convention in Atlanta, January 2010)
West Side Story - Columbian Theatre - “Velma” and un-named Shark Girl (2010)
Concert
National Anthem vocalist - NATPA Regional Convention (3x)
Music in the Park - Waterville, KS
Junction City Idol - Junction City, KS (finalist)
Recording
Self-produced Christmas EP “Treetops Glisten”
Repertoire
Soloist:
Magnificat by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Great Day arr. Moses Hogan
Medley from “The Secret Garden” by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman, arr. Ed Lojeski
Esto Les Digo by Lange
Tantum Ergo by Gabriel Faure (Soprano II)
(soprano soloist on all pieces unless otherwise stated)
Choral Masterworks:
Christmas Oratorio by Saint-Saëns
A German Requiem, Op. 45 by Brahms
Mass in C, Op. 86 by Beethoven
Requiem by Duruflé
Lux Aeterna by Lauridsen
The Creation by Haydn
Otcenáš (The Lord’s Prayer) by Leoš Janácek
Vesperae solennes de confessore, K.V. 339 by Mozart
Mass #2 in E minor by Anton Bruckner
Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein
Te Deum Laudamus in C major, K.V. 141 by Mozart
Magnificat by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Messiah by Handel
Regina Coeli K.V. 276 by Mozart
Mass No. 2 (”Mass in G”) by Schubert
Gloria by Francis Poulenc
Requiem by Mozart
Influences: Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Leonard Bernstein, Jennifer Knapp, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Count Basie, Carole King, Leontyne Price, Christine Schaefer, Barbra Streisand, Charlotte Church, Crosby Stills & Nash (and Young), Billy Joel, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, all the old Jazz Legends
(Also) A. A. Milne, Jack Kerouac, Daphne du Maurier, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy Sayers
(Also) Louise Brooks, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, Elizabeth Taylor
Hobbies / Activities: Writing, reading, piano playing, geeking, computing, obsessing over classic Hollywood stars, collecting LPs, used-bookstore shopping, coffee and tea drinking, star-gazing, Ebay-ing, baking goodies for my guy friends, theatre-going, travelling
Birthday: July 22, 1989
Hometown: Blue Rapids, KS
Based in: Manhattan, KS
Training: Voice (10 years), Piano (11 years training, 17 years playing), Guitar (self-taught)
Voice type: lyric soprano (range- approx. G3 to C6)