Meet our voice teachers!
Kelly Burger
B.A., M.A. in Music Education, Minor in Vocal Performance
With over 20 years of experience as a dedicated music educator, Kelly Burger has been inspiring students at New Fairfield Elementary School, where she leads a chorus of 100+ young voices. A lifelong musical theater enthusiast, Kelly brings a wealth of experience from both onstage performances and behind-the-scenes roles as a music director. Specializing in musical theater vocal training, Kelly also offers private lessons in voice, piano, and ukulele, with a strong background in classical vocal preparation. Her passion for music and education has taken her around the globe, and she is committed to helping each student reach their full potential.
Taylor Dembski
Taylor Dembski is so excited to be teaching vocal lessons with Newtown Stage Co! She studied with New York Vocal Coaching and earned her BA from the University of Alabama. Taylor has traveled throughout the East Coast and beyond with her guitar, performing at venues across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia Beach, Alabama, Georgia, and more.
In addition to her work with Newtown Stage Co, she teaches private vocal lessons from her Southbury home studio and leads music classes for little music makers at Soulshine Arts. Taylor loves musical theatre, songwriting, and performing.
Kendall Purdy
Kendall Purdy made her first professional stage appearance at 13 when her middle school was chosen to be the children’s choir in the Broadway National Tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat! She studied at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and earned her Bachelor of Music (summa cum laude) from the Boston University College of Fine Arts, receiving the Ella-Lou Dimmock Award, its highest vocal honor.
She completed her Master of Music at the Manhattan School of Music and pursued further studies with the International Institute of Vocal Arts and VOICExperience Foundation. In 2007, she was the New York State Winner and a National Finalist in the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music’s Lotte Lenya Competition.
Transitioning to Broadway, Kendall starred as Maria in the 50th Anniversary World Tour of West Side Story and toured nationally in Cats as Jellylorum. Regional credits include A Wonderful Life, Music of the Night, George and Ira, and the Lincoln Center reading of Sycamore Street Kite Flying Club.
Before moving to Newtown, she served on the faculties of Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Musical Theatre College Auditions MTCA, and Western Carolina University, and was a member of Actors’ Equity Association. Kendall is thrilled to bring her passion for performing to the Newtown Community!
Stephen Purdy
Stephen Purdy is known as the author of MUSICAL THEATRE SONG: a COMPREHENSIVE COURSE IN SELECTION, PREPARATION and PRESENTATION FOR THE MODERN PERFORMER published by Bloomsbury and FLOP MUSICALS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY published by Routledge. About the former, the American Journal of Drama hailed it as “A major contribution to Musical Theatre Pedagogy.” He is on Musical Theatre Voice faculty at Westminster Choir College and formerly at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. He is also the founder and principal voice teacher and vocal coach at the New York Vocal Coaching Studio and his students have been
cast in the Broadway and touring companies of nearly every major Broadway musical of the last 20 years (including THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LES MISERABLES, COME FROM AWAY, WICKED, ALADDIN, KINKY BOOTS, FROZEN (and many others) and are singing on concert stages worldwide.
As a guest artist/instructor, he has taught extensively both nationally and internationally, most notably in China, Korea, and throughout Europe. Stephen has conducted and played for the Broadway and touring companies of many popular Broadway and off-Broadway musicals including Disney’s TARZAN, THE FULL MONTY, PETER PAN (Cathy Rigby), THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM
COUNTY SPELLING BEE, FRANKENSTEIN (Cast Album) and THE
FANTASTICKS. He spent five years in Europe with 42nd STREET, A CHORUS LINE, and GREASE, including a year in Paris.
American regional theatre credits include five years as resident Musical Director at Ogunquit, Westchester Broadway Theatre (19 shows), Alliance (Atlanta), Arena Stage, Helen Hayes, The York, Sacramento Music Circus, North Shore, Kansas City Starlight, and
Playwright's Horizons. Stephen holds a master's degree in Vocal Pedagogy from Westminster.