Tori Richard – Director of show for The Enchantment of Beauty And The Beast
Mississippi Children’s Music Theater is happy to welcome Tori Richard as a production director for the coming at Spring The Enchantment of Beauty And The Beast!
Tori Richard is a graduate of Blue Mountain College with a Bachelor of Science in Vocal Performance and a Minor in Theatre and Speech. She has years of acting experience with multiple community theatres as well as directing experience with children's shows. Tori serves as a board member for the Madison Center Players. She currently works in ministry with the summer camp program at Camp Garaway in Clinton, MS. She lives in Clinton with her husband, John, and their dog, Rosie.
Faculty
Hristo Hristov, executive director of MCMT and assistant principal viola of Mississippi Symphony Orchestra since 2004 was born in Bulgaria. He holds a bachelor’s degree in viola performance from the State Music Academy in Bulgaria. While in his native country, Hristo was assistant principal viola of the State Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra in Varna, and the New Symphony Orchestra in Sofia.
In 1994-97, he was assistant principal viola of the Teatre Liric D’Europe, which has had more than 250 performances in France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal and the Netherlands. In 2005, Hristo received a master of music in viola performance from Southeastern Louisiana University.
During his graduate studies, he was involved with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and worked with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and the Jefferson Performing Arts Society Orchestra. Since 2004 Hristo is a member of Missouri Symphony Society and performs as assistant principal viola with Missouri Symphony Orchestra for Summer Nights Festival-Columbia, MO. hhristov@mschildrensmusictheater.com
Ausra Jasineviciute, administrative director, was born in Lithuania, where she began her studies at age eight. In 1997 she earned her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance from the Academy of Music in Vilnius, and two years later her Master of Social Sciences from Vilnius Pedagogical University.
In 2004 Ms. Jasineviciute earned her Master of Music in Viola Performance from Southeastern Louisiana University and in 2011 her Doctor of Music in Music Performance from Florida State University. During her graduate studies in Louisiana, she was a member of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and the Jefferson Performing Arts Society Orchestra. From 2004-2005 she was a member of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and a resident artist in the Teatime Concert Series in Tallahassee, Florida.
Ms. Jasineviciute is an accomplished chamber music player and was a member of the Southeastern Louisiana University String Quartet, which was a semifinalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2002. She also is a winner of the Music Teachers National Association Chamber Music Competition in the State of Florida Division.
Besides her career in performance, Ms. Jasineviciute has long term teaching experience that would include JPS string program, string program and viola class at Southeastern Louisiana University (as a faculty member) as well as viola class at Florida State University (as a graduate assistance).
Since September of 2005, she has been the principal violist of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra String Quartet. During summers she participates in the Summer Festival of the Missouri Symphony Society in Columbia, Missouri. ahristov@mschildrensmusictheater.com
Princess Thompson, music director for season 2017/18, is a native Jacksonian. She received her Bachelors in Music Education from The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg and also received her Masters from Mississippi College in Music in Clinton. She is also a National Board Certified Music Teacher and a mentor for the Madison County School District. Her passion is to teach children the same love she has for music. She teaches elementary music and keyboarding at Madison Station Elementary in Madison, MS and has taught in the Madison County School district for the last 14 years. She is a member of the Mississippi Federation of Music Clubs as a part of the Canton Music Study Club as well as a member of The National Association for Music Educators. In her spare time she loves to attend church at New Jerusalem Church, working out, and traveling.
Amanda Morato is originally from Brazil and came to the US in 2009 to pursue her Master’s Degree. She graduated from LSU in 2011 and received the Masters of Music with emphasis in Piano Pedagogy. She also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance (Unicamp, Brazil) and the Arts Diploma in Piano both from the EMPEM “Maestro Ernst Mahle” (Piracicaba School of Music)-Piracicaba- Brazil, and the Conservatório Dramático e Musical Dr. Carlos Campos (Tatuí Music Conservatory) Tatuí-Brazil.
For over 10 years Mrs. Morato has been a very active participant and instructor of Music Conferences, workshops and summer camps. In July of 2012 she was awarded with three scholarships that enabled her to fulfill the dream of participating in the International Dalcroze Summer Course “Cours d’ete” at the Institute Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva, Switzerland. This opportunity greatly expanded and articulated her knowledge of piano pedagogy, improvisation, music and movement, and solfège. She has also attended innumerous National and International Music Conferences including: Music Teachers National and State Conferences (MTNA), LMTA (Louisiana), MMTA (Mississippi), The International Music Festival of Pocos de Caldas (Brazil) among others. Mrs. Morato has served as church musician, choir director, accompanist pianist, and general music teacher since 2002. She has also adjudicated piano competitions in Mississippi, Louisiana and Brazil. She and her beloved husband Marcelo work for the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra teaching String Classes at the Jackson Public Schools since 2011. They are really happy for the opportunity to work and live in Mississippi, and feel honored to be able to share and learn music with this incredible community.
amorato@mschildrensmusictheater.com