Emilyann McKelvey
Hello! My name is Emilyann Stein McKelvey. I am from Charlotte, North Carolina, where I was raised by two wonderful parents who have been life-long child-educators. I attended public schools in the Charlotte area and was heavily involved in theatre and the performing arts throughout my middle school and high school years. As a teenager and young adult I also studied classical singing outside of school. I decided against my plan to earn a degree in vocal performance and pursue a career in opera, but classical singing has continued to be an important part of my life. In 2010, I was nominated and selected to attend the very special North Carolina Governor’s School, where my area of focus was choral music. I moved to Asheville in 2012 to attend UNC-Asheville, and graduated in May 2016 with a B.A. in Spanish and a minor in History. I began working with young children during my final year as a UNCA student, when I was hired to work at Lake Lure Classical Academy as an interpreter/ESL tutor for a child whose family had just moved to the U.S. from Latin America. I found working with children to be a very rewarding and inspiring experience, and I have been happy to find that it just seems to get better and better as my skills and understanding in the area continue to improve. I enjoy travelling, learning languages, and making friends with people of other places and cultures. I have had the privilege to spend time in Cuba, where I studied at the University of Havana during my sophomore year of college. This past summer I spe
nt time in Ecuador, where I lived and worked on an agroforestry farm. I hope to do more travelling in the years to come. I spend my free time singing, writing songs and poetry, rehearsing, recording, and performing with my band Bendy Cat, and supporting my friends and family in their various endeavors. I sing with the Asheville Symphony Chorus and the All Souls Cathedral Chorus in Asheville, and I have a blast working as a band leader for the Experience Music Project of Asheville, where I direct a rock band of 9-and-10-year-old girls. I also teach a weekly ukulele class to 1st-4th graders at Isaac Dickson Elementary. I feel very lucky to have been chosen to be a part of Ms. Tori’s team, and I am so excited about all the things I will have the joy of learning and teaching at Asheville Montessori School this year!