Former Catholic University’s Head of the Music Theatre Joins MSA

Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA) Performing Arts Academy welcomes Tom Pedersen, singer, conductor, baritone, producer and retired head of music theatre from Catholic University of Washington, D.C., to lead its new postgraduate program, for the 2019-2020 school year, beginning Aug. 19 through May 8. The program is geared toward students looking for additional performing arts preparation, before attending college. Pederson will also support MSA Academy recruitment and business development as well. For more information on the Metropolitan School of the Arts, go to www.metropolitanarts.org.

Pedersen, of Silver Spring, Md., began his career at a young age, appearing as Rolf in Sound of Music, Freddie in My Fair Lady, and appeared in Hello Dolly, Oklahoma, Carousel and The Pirates of Penzance. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Humboldt State University in California and studied with Martial Singher at the Music Academy of the West and completed graduate studies at the University of Michigan with Eva Likova.

He continued a 10-year span singing with the Detroit Symphony, The June Opera Festival and The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival on National Public Radio. He was a soloist for conductors like Maurice Abravanel Leonard Bernstein, Antal Dorati and Robert Shaw. He also worked with well-known television shows and actors, like Gary Sandy of WKRP in Cincinnati, The Bold and the Beautiful, All My Children, Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie, and Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop. Pedersen served as artistic director of Theatre Ten Ten, New York City’s oldest off-off-Broadway Theatre, where he produced and directed more than 20 productions and co-produced for legendary, country singer, Mel Tillis and his daughter Pam Tillis. Most recently, Pedersen has worked with creative teams on the world premiere of Kleptocracy and Jubilee at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage.

MSA’s Academy offers a new, postgraduate performing arts program in response to the increasingly competitive landscape for college acceptance and professional work. Created for the recent high school graduate, the MSA postgraduate program allows students to focus on in-depth artistic preparation before entering a performing arts college, university, conservatory or professional company. Students will be able to sharpen their performance skills, expand their professional networks, gain confidence in auditions, and cultivate artistic resilience. Tuition is $19,200 per year for new students and $17,200 per year for returning MSA Academy students.

Located just outside Washington, D.C., the second largest performing arts community in the U.S., MSA offers an opportunity to train alongside working artists and clinicians. While concentrations in classical dance and music theatre are offered, all students train in a cross-curricular and individualized manner, with 20 or more hours a week of performing arts instruction. Based on assessment, students will be placed in appropriate levels for each discipline and for maximum growth potential. The admissions process includes an application, audition and personal interview. Guided by professional teaching artists, collegiate level faculty and nationally recognized guest artists, the postgraduate program culminates in a showcase that is recorded and available for students’ portfolios.

“When we decided to offer a postgraduate program for high school graduates, we knew we’d have to find a program director that had the breadth and width of performing arts experience that our students would need; performer, singer, conductor---Tom had it all,” said Melissa Dobbs, executive director and founder of Metropolitan School of the Arts of Alexandria, Va. “We’ve always been committed to cultivating a faculty with real-world training experience, and Tom exceeds that standard with five stars,” said Dobbs.

The Academy at Metropolitan School of the Arts is a college preparatory performing arts program for emerging young artists, grades 7 to 12, who are dedicated to high-caliber academics and pre-professional performing arts education. Their cross-curricular approach to arts training fills each young artist’s toolbox with the dance, music and acting skills necessary to be a triple threat in the arts world. MSA’s approach to education is designed to develop independent, self-motivated, and skilled learners.

ABOUT METROPOLITAN SCHOOL OF THE ARTS (MSA)

Alexandria, Va.-based, Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA), a 501 (c) 3 organization, is the first Washington, D.C. area, private, secondary performing arts school, founded in 2013 by Melissa Dobbs. The MSA performing arts studios in Alexandria, Va. have taught dance, music and theater to more than 10,000 students since 2001. Noted for its world-class instructors, MSA offers high quality performing arts training in a ground breaking, holistic learning environment that cultivates creativity, builds community and empowers students. The organization was featured in Dance Teacher magazine, FOX 5 Morning News, WUSA9 Great Day Washington, ABC-7 Good Morning Washington, Northern Virginia Magazine, Washington Business Journal, Washington Post Weekend and Washington Families magazine. Many students from MSA studios go on to perform in prestigious arenas including Broadway, National Tours, The Julliard School, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Washington Ballet, The American Academy of Ballet, Universal Ballet Academy, The Kirov Ballet, The Hartt School, Marymount University (New York), Ford’s Theater and Mark Morris Dance Company. MSA offers a performing arts academy, a performing arts studio, a youth tap ensemble, a youth ballet, a jazz company, and a theatre program, as well as adult fitness and dance. Call 703.339.0444 or visit www.metropolitanarts.org, Facebook or Twitter.