Chelsie & EarthBeat Music
Chelsie found music everywhere as a child growing up on her family’s dairy farm. The sounds of the brook water running, wind passing through the trees, various birds singing by day and night, the cows calling to one another and the tractor engines humming in the fields were all part of the outdoor soundtrack. Inside the farm house, one could hear everything from opera to rock and roll emanating from the stereo depending on which family member was at the controls.
Chelsie pursued a degree in Music Education with a minor in Special Education at the University of Vermont in Burlington, VT. She specialized in classical voice and dreamed of being a choral conductor, particularly of global music styles. UVM and the greater Burlington community were a soft landing place for a musician and educator who was trying to find her authentic voice. She was part of a large funk and soul band, the Bella Voce Women’s Chorus of Vermont and many music ensembles at UVM. She played open mics and house parties, and performed in great halls and places of worship; but loved singing on Vermont mountaintops most of all!
A short study abroad to Chennai, India between college graduation and her first teaching appointment opened her eyes and ears to South Indian Carnatic Music. During this trip she was introduced to the veena, nadaswaram, khanjira, as well as Bharatanatyam dance. But it was the singing and the mridangam that captured her heart. Fun fact: a few days before leaving she met the esteemed Indian composer AR Rahman and toured his studio!
Chelsie’s first full time music teaching position was at a rural middle and high school in northern VT. During her two years there she created a school chorus program, introductory guitar and music theory classes, and co-directed the school’s theater productions. At the same time she was a conducting intern for Bella Voce; worked as the Operations Assistant for the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association; and volunteered as Choral Chair of the Vermont Music Educator’s Association (VMEA). In 2009 the VMEA awarded her with “Outstanding New Music Educator” at the annual conference.
Chelsie founded EarthBeat Music (formerly named Rural Soul Studio) in May 2012 with her colleague Katy Svatek. Their goal was to create a center for music that would complement and directly support music programming in local schools and community centers. From music camps, to parades and festivals, to protests and advocacy events, EarthBeat Music was invited to bring musical joy.
Chelsie has continued encouraging joy and peace through the arts for these 20 years. She has been teaching voice, piano and ukulele lessons in individual and group settings for all of her teaching years, and for the past 9 years has been deep diving and sharing her love and respect for West African drumming and movement with all ages and abilities. She has had the great honor of hosting and learning djembe, dunduns, balafon, krin, song and dance from West African Master Musicians M’Bemba Bangoura, Bolokada Conde, Sayon Camara, Moussa Traore, Namory Keita, Seny Daffe, Ismael Bangoura and more. She plans to travel to Guinea in the near future to pay homage to the peoples and places of these historically important traditions and expressions.
Chelsie’s most prominent program offerings are Drum in Joy!, Strum in Joy!, and WomenSing for Peace and has shared them in a multitude of settings, from schools to libraries to senior living centers. With her gentle teaching style, she strives to make everyone feel at home from the moment they begin making music. She has had the privilege of working with many different peoples, from babies to the aging population: children and adults with special needs, adults with Alzheimers and Dementia, adults struggling with substance abuse and on. Chelsie is also the founder of Schuylerville's Community Conversations, and participates in various community environmental and social activism groups.
She was awarded the 2023 "Women of Distinction Award" from Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner for her dedication to cultivating empathic and resilient communities through musical expression. She continues learning and loving music through all of the ongoing classes and workshops she leads; drumming, strumming, singing and dancing whenever possible; and joining a new upstate NY Brazilian Samba bateria!
