Founder and Artistic Director: Joanne Vecchio

Joanne Vecchio has been involved in music and performance for much of her life, singing and performing throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She studied classical voice with Blaine Corey, with Rebecca Parris at Interplay Jazz Camp, and has been singing professionally for more than 15 years. She has produced four recordings; her last two, About Love and Where Angels Peep Through are distributed digitally worldwide by more than fifty companies, including Apple iTunes. With a strong interest in teaching, Joanne created a musical story program, reading classic fairy tales and singing songs to elementary school students; she also created and taught a program, “The Music of Poetry,” during a summer program through SCOPE (Schools and Community Organized to Promote Excellence).

Her participation in the Arts Literacy Project, a partnership between Brown University and the Central Falls School District, has given her life goals focus. The Performance Cycle Technique from the Project pairs literature with artistic expression, helping students find the means of telling their own stories.

It is Joanne’s goal to apply the Performance Cycle Technique to all programs at Second Stage Studio. This technique provides teachers, artists, and youth leaders with the tools to engage students in a process of deep understanding by building a classroom community of learners that centers on a text. Students respond to the text and demonstrate this knowledge through high quality performances and artistic presentations.

Shannon Hagedorn-Ruiz

Shannon is a classically-trained pianist who has lived in Providence since 2002. She has played the piano since the age of 4, and has a musically diverse background, including extensive study of the violin, several years of voice lessons, and a wide array of choral experiences. She graduated from Providence College in 2005, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, with a concentration in Piano Performance. She has played the piano in many capacities over the years – as a solo performer, an accompanist, and a church pianist. She loves teaching all ages of children (and adults!) with all types of learning styles and varied musical backgrounds.

Shannon will also offer lessons in composition and will serve as the accompanist for Second Stage Studio.

Felicity Kelly

Director of Yoga Connect has been teaching yoga for ten years in northern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. She is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the 500-hour level and is an educator at the 200-hour level. She is a graduate of the Kripalu School of Yoga and is also an Anusara-Inspired teacher working towards national certification. Felicity has studied with many notable teachers and yoga masters in the United States and offers gratitude for all their teachings. With a strong interest in yoga therapy, she is a member of The International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Melissa Bowler

Melissa has been performing, writing and directing theater for the past ten years. She is currently a member of Improv Jones based in Providence and has been performing Stand-up comedy locally for the past four years.  Melissa has several writing credits including “Stellar Dreams” performed at Ashton Elementary School, “Out of the Looking Glass into the Fire” performed at Providence College and “Escape” performed at the Providence Black Repertory Company. Melissa will now be instructing various workshops and classes in writing, improvisation, and acting.

Jessalyn Link

Jessalyn Link is a visual and performing artist and flutist.  She has extensive training, private instruction, and experience in classical and  jazz ensembles and has had multiple selections as a solo performer. A Midwest-native, she attended McKendree University where she received her BFA in Art  and Minors in Flute Performance and Marketing in 2007.  Jessalyn was named McKendree’s 2007 Outstanding Instrumentalist by Alpha Psi Omega.  After graduation from college, Jessalyn had the honor of studying and performing with the international Rome Festival Orchestra in Rome, Italy in 2007.  She also participated in high school and college  marching band as the Head Drum Major and was involved in Flute Choir, Bi-State, and All-State.

Rachael Warren

Rachael Warren has been singing her whole life. A member of Trinity Rep’s resident acting company since 2002, she has starred in shows including My Fair Lady, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Fantasticks, West Side Story, and Peter Pan. Before coming to Rhode Island, she played theaters across the United States in national tours of The Who’s Tommy and Chess and Company. Regionally, she has worked at The American Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodspeed Opera House, Hartford Stage Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cleveland Play House, Virginia Stage Company and many others. She has also workshopped and performed new musicals in Chicago, Boston, New York, and Providence. As a cabaret artist, she has developed three pieces: Stories: 20 Songs, 20 Lives, A Woman’s Work and Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience which played at Trinity Rep in 2003.She received her BFA in Music Theatre from Illinois-Wesleyan University and is a graduate of the American Repertory Theatre’s Institute at Harvard University, where she studied acting. Rachael brings to her 26 years of professional performance experience a lifetime’s love of music and a deep connection to the unique storytelling power of song.

Steve Kidd

Steve is a graduate of Colby College, has worked at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and received his A.M. in theater from Brown University. He has taught acting at Brown, Wheaton, Colby, University of Richmond and Bowdoin College. In addition to playing the title role in The Gamm’s opening production of Don Carlos, Steve has performed in 17 productions at The Gamm over the past five years. He has worked as a teaching artist in the schools of Central Falls and Pawtucket, RI for the past seven years and for the past eleven years he has served as program director and board member for Camp AmeriKids, a non-profit camp for inner-city kids living with AIDS/HIV. He is also a 2008 recipient of the Lewis Hine Award for dedicated service to children in need.

Karen Dube

Karen Dube earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology in 1992, and immediately began working as a counselor with children and families.   She earned her Master’s in Social Work in 1997 and since then has spent the majority of her professional career working in alternative and public schools.  Karen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and a Certified School Social Worker in the state of Rhode Island, and currently works in a large inner city elementary school.

Karen works with students individually and in small groups on issues such as team building, communication and social skills.  Karen has worked extensively with girls who are targets of Relational Aggression (girl on girl bullying), to increase their self-esteem and assertiveness skills.  Karen also consults with and educates faculty on the roots and manifestation of Relational Aggression.

Sean P. Rogan

Sean P. Rogan plays guitar AND sings at the same time!  Rogan, a resident of Rhode Island, received “Best Singer/Songwriter” in the 2009 Providence Phoenix, was a semi-finalist in the 2009 WBRU Rock Hunt and plays locally as well as touring nationally and internationally. 

Sean has also spent the last 14 years writing, recording records and touring the world as a founding member of Boston’s Big D and the Kids Table.  With a built in fan base for his solo project, Sean continues to write, record and tour with Big D as well as on his own. 

When asked how to describe his music, Rogan said, “It’s good for campfires or coffee shops.”  Sean’s musical inspirations include Jack Johnson, The Beatles, Nada Surf, Bob Marley and the Flaming Lips. 

Rogan has his degree in Music Education from Berklee College of Music.  Besides teaching music, Rogan is a professional skydiving photographer.