RACHEL MENCONI: Rachel feels so fortunate that she is able to share her passion of the
performing arts through teaching, directing, mentoring, writing (songs, scripts), & performing!

With 25+ yrs of performance experience & 22+ yrs of professional training (singing & acting technique), Rachel has been able to share her voice, acting skills, & performing arts expertise with students as well as audiences for almost two decades.

She has been teaching voice, acting, musical theatre, and performance skills to children, teens, and adults for 16+ yrs. Her students have gone on national tours, released albums, are in bands, have been cast in regional/NYC theatre (Off-Off-Broadway/Off-Broadway), movies (Noah, The Wolf Of Wall Street, Top Five), music videos, commercials (Miller Lite, Beats By Dre, Optimum Business), and on TV (Royal Pains, Smash, 30 Rock, The Good Wife, Law and Order: SVU, Orange Is The New Black, Golden Boy, & NBC's The Voice competition).

Whether working in a private lesson or with a group class (small by design), Rachel is able to focus on each student's individual needs and develop their technique and skills at a comfortable pace. Each student is taught slightly differently to accommodate their personal learning style. This helps each student grow as a performer at their own pace. Rachel challenges each student without intimidation and without taking away the part of them that makes each student unique!

Rachel works with the philosophy that both the teacher and student must feel comfortable and work together (like a team) in the private lesson or group class at all times. Without this effort, the student cannot reach their full potential. Rachel's students come from all walks of life but they all want to be the best at their chosen craft.

Rachel is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, VASTA (The Voice and Speech Trainers Association), NATS (The National Association of Teachers of Singing, Certified), NARAS (The Grammy Awards), NAfME (National Association for Music Education), NJMEA (NJ Music Educators Association), NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association), MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabaret and Clubs), BMI (Broadcast Music Inc), NSAI (Nashville Songwriter Association International), NJ Theatre Association, and NAMTA (North America Music Teacher Association).

Rachel has 22+ years of intense Bel Canto vocal training with a master teacher, 12+ years of musical theatre training, and 10+ years of Stella Adler, Stanislavsky, Meisner, and Chekhov acting training (theater/on camera). She has trained at some of NJ’s and NYC’s well respected schools like The Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Action Theatre Conservatory, The Barrow Group, Weist-Barron Studios, and TVI Studios.

As a performer, Rachel has 20+ years of experience including originating the role of “Antigone” in “Oedipus: The Musical” (NYC). Other credits include commercials, films, TV shows (One Tree Hill, AMC, Food Network), music videos, and numerous stage credits (Regional, Off-Off Broadway, Off- Broadway, NYC Theatre). Rachel is also a songwriter (15+ years), director, scriptwriter, and an international recording artist (8+ years). Her album, “Just Meant To Be”, is available on itunes and her original singles, “Don’t Even Try” and “You Will Love On”, can be viewed on Youtube.

Other honors include magazine covers, featured articles, studio recordings, albums, 2002 Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Vocal Performance in a Musical (“Miss Adelaide” in “Guys And Dolls”), and 2008 finalist for NYC Singing Idol Competition. Ms. Menconi has been fortunate to have worked & performed with many people in the business including Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award Winners/Nominees.

She is also the Founder/President of “Sunshine Face” a music publishing company. SInce 2014, Rachel is the show director, vocal/music director, choreographer, and sound/lighting designer for ArtQuest (a 3 week theatre camp funded by The Wayne Education Foundation). Each production and production received rave reviews by the campers, their parents, and each audience.

Rachel Menconi

Sunshine Face Productions

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