Our director and teachers are passionate about music and the development of children.
They create a fun, informal, social setting that spurs engagement supports each child's musical development.
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Rhonda Plourde, Director and Certified Teacher
Rhonda found in Music Together® what she desired for many years, the opportunity to marry two great loves, working with children in early childhood, and doing it through music. Rhonda has been involved in music her whole life, but had never quite witnessed children learning music in the non formal, participatory fashion that Music Together encourages. She says, “Finding this program was kind of like finding home: it spoke to the child within, and immediately I felt thrilled to have the opportunity to share music in this way with our community.”
Rhonda has been formally trained in voice and has participated in many dramatic productions. Rhonda has led various children’s programs and even entertained as a clown. She has also worked in early childhood education as a preschool teacher.
In March 2006, Rhonda was awarded Music Together Certification Level I for outstanding achievement in teaching, musicianship, program philosophy and parent education. In the summer of 2005 she received her Certification I from the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association, an international organization of professional music educators. She is also a member of The Children's Music Network and has studied Dalcroze Eurythmics at the Longy School of Music.
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Lisa Boragine
Lisa joined South Coast Music Together in the winter of 2008. Lisa found Music Together at a yard sale, of all places. It was the small purchase of a cassette tape for her young daughter that started Lisa's journey toward being an SCMT teacher. Lisa enjoyed the music on that tape so much that she went to the national website and found out all she could about the music and the program. Shortly thereafter Lisa attended the Music Together teacher training where she met Rhonda, who saw in Lisa all the ingredients needed for a great Music Together teacher. By the third day of the training Lisa decided to take the plunge and become a South Coast Music Together teacher.
Lisa has an undergraduate degree from UVM in Environmental Studies and a masters degree
in Speech Communication from the Syracuse University School of Visual and
Performing Arts. In addition to teaching SCMT classes Lisa is a college professor, and teaches courses in
communication and public speaking. Lisa has taken piano and music pedagogy
classes and has performed in school and church choirs for many years. Lisa also has experienced early childhood education while working as a teacher's assistant at her daughter's childcare facility.
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Marcus Monteiro
Marcus Monteiro joined the SCMT teaching team in August of 2008. At that time Marcus was already a successful professional musician headlining the Marcus Monteiro Quartet. Having taught music to children in the past, and finding the formal teaching experience less than satisfying, Marcus found himself excited by the Music Together philosophy and practice of non-formal instruction. Marcus says, "Music Together gave me the tools to teach the way I believe music should be taught; experientially, with people, and children specifically, taking from the experience exactly what they need when they need it. That teaching style affords the 'teacher' and 'student' the opportunity to form a collaboration in learning, one in which each gain musical insight."
Marcus studied Composition and Performance at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. The Marcus Monteiro Quartet is a South Coast favorite with a sound that defies definition and appeals to fans of jazz, funk, rock, fusion, blues, and dance. MM4 has been playing for five years in a variety of New England venues, including Copperfield’s in Boston, MA, The Middle East in Cambridge, MA, The Alehouse of Portland, ME, and The Galapagos Art Space in New York City. In the fall of 2008 MM4 was invited to perform at the Cape Cod Jazz Festival. While music is a great love in Marcus' life it has been usurped just a bit by Marcus' newest love, Xavier. Marcus and his wife Debbie had their first child in November of 2008, and soon they will all be making Music Together!
For more information on Marcus, visit his website at: http://www.iammarcus.com/.
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