Meet Wimberly Thomas of Agape Music Studio in Covington

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wimberly Thomas.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Wimberly. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Born in Cocoa, Florida, and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, my love of music started at an early age. My dad was the pastor at Alta Woods Baptist Church and my mom was a local high school art teacher. I grew up in church music and was also classically trained in art techniques. I was very active in choirs, both vocal and handbell, and orchestras in addition to physics, yearbook, and drama clubs. In high school, I earned the nation’s highest award for band students, the John Philip Sousa award.

After high school, I went on to pursue my Bachelor of Arts in Music at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS, as well as one year studying abroad during my sophomore year at the University of Wales, Swansea. My voice teachers included Geoffrey Squires, Clint Nichols, Larry Smith, and Maryann Kyle. I studied piano with Lois Leventhal, oboe with Patricia Malone, and recorder with Dana Ragsdale. While at Southern Miss, I sang with two opera companies: Mississippi Opera and Southern Opera and Theater Company, in addition to other ventures, and performing such works as Carmen, La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, and Amahl and the Night Visitors. I also played baritone in the Pride of Mississippi Marching Band, sang in the Southern Chorale, Concert Choir, University Singers, Hattiesburg Choral Union, played recorder in Collegium Musicum, and rang on scholarship with the Carillon Handbell Choir for three years. My Bachelor’s thesis focused on holy minimalism and an analysis of Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum and Magnificat.

After my tenure at Southern Miss came to an end, I pursued graduate studies in the United Kingdom at the University of Wales, Bangor, eventually earning my Master of Arts in Musicology and Historical Performance. While in Bangor, I studied voice with Leigh Mason and sang in the production of Venus and Adonis with Bangor Baroque Opera. My dissertation focused on the spiritual madrigal cycles of Orlando di Lasso and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

Upon returning to the United States, I came to Georgia with an intent to pursue my Ph.D. in music at the University of Georgia. As years passed, I discovered it was the wrong place and time for such a venture and so I pursued my license in music education. I became licensed in 2014 and by that time, I had secured a contract with Livingston Elementary, Newton County Schools. At the same time, I also had my private studio, Agape Music, in Atlanta. While living in Atlanta, I was heavily involved on the music scene and was found singing among the ranks of the St. Philips Cathedral Choir and Schola, Atlanta Schola Cantorum, Atlanta Camerata Theater, in addition to singing as a staff singer at Northside Drive Baptist, directing music at Brookhaven United Methodist, and played for a brief stint with the Atlanta Concert Ringers before interviewing for the next chapter of my life.

Teaching children was not a foreign concept to me as I had worked in daycare centers and also taught pre-school music in Norcross. I was excited for this new adventure and found myself moving to Covington, GA, specifically a waterfront cottage on Lake Jackson. I became very involved in the community almost immediately after arrival. I became District 4 director and kayaking club captain of the Jackson Lake Association. I was involved with several church music programs. I also made sure my new music students became involved with their community by having them sing on the Lighting of the Square, in addition to assisted living facilities and other engagements.

My music programs in my home studio, Agape, and in my role as a music educator at Livingston, encompass my purpose on this earth: to change lives and encourage individual expression through the power and beauty of music. As a classically trained soprano, I frequently release recordings of my work in addition to always seeking to improve my technique through workshops, participation in choirs, and consultation with vocal coaches. As such, I like my students to see their music teacher as an active performer, clinician, and student of my craft. I am always learning and will be the first to admit I do not know everything there is to know about music. I tell my students and myself that I am allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.

As a music teacher, I believe in teaching the whole child: the singer, dancer, choreographer, composer, instrumentalist, critic, and audience member. Music is integrated into every waking moment of our lives and each one of us responds to it in a unique way. All humans have an artistic mindset, just some more than others.

My program at Livingston focuses on learning to read and sight-read music with fluency. In 2018, I developed a technique that teaches rhythm and note value by using fidget spinners. What a way to reach the kids through a toy they love and that which is frequently banned in schools. This is why I have a class set and I have seen a 90% success rate with this method. I have a choir which I lovingly refer to as my Songbirds and they perform at many community events each year. I am hoping to start a handbell choir in Spring 2020. Regarding musicals at the school, I aim for at least one Broadway-level show per year. To date, I have directed Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Seussical the Musical!, The Lion King, and this spring, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

I do not expect my students to major in music like I did. I do not expect them to sing or play all of their lives. I do not teach them music so they can relax or have fun.

I teach them music so they will be human, sensitive, have something to cling to and be closer to an infinite beyond this world.

I teach music so that my students will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good, and in short, more life.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Challenges of my work include teaching kids that are homeless, do not have common luxuries such as washing machines, running water, and three meals a day. These kids are the ones that need music the most because music is still there when everything else has gone.

Please tell us about Agape Music Studio.
Agape Music is a studio that specializes in voice, piano, recorder, and euphonium lessons.

I am proud that we teach children and adults to love something that is a universal language and that is beloved all over the world.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory from childhood was Summer Singers, a music program held during the summer at my church where we learned a full musical and then performed it at summer’s end in August.

Pricing:

• $50 per hour for all lessons.

Contact Info:

• Address: 746 Rocky Point Rd
  Covington GA 30014
• Website: http://www.facebook.com/wimberlysings
• Phone: 6015066012
• Email: agapemusicstudio@gmail.com
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wimberlysings

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