About Us

"The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusted in him, and I am helped;
therefore my heart greatly rejoices
and with my song, will I praise him."   - Psalm 28:7

                       Heather Maryanne Rupy Seaton

Connecticut Roots

Heather is a Connecticut native born in 1975. She has lived in New York,
Paris, San Diego and Hawaii- but New England is 'home'; it's beauty and
seasons offering a wealth of inspiration, particularly found in her poetry. In
1976, she was adopted through an agency in New London and went on to
live with her parents in the town of Mystic. The family then adopted a baby
boy and moved to the nearby rural town of Ledyard. Heather met her
birthfamily as an adult and experienced a happy reunion with them. Being
adopted was a factor that greatly shaped her life; at a young age, adoption
taught her about love, life, sacrifice, longing, selflessness, and gratitude.

In second grade, she was initiated into the world of theatre as a reindeer in
a school play; she has enjoyed performing in a variety of mostly comic roles
ever since! In fourth grade, after being asked to write a limerick, she began
what would become a passion for writing poetry; she estimates to have
written over 700 poems and is hoping to release her first poetry book soon.

In 1988, at the prompting of a musical friend, Heather joined the junior high
chorus- her first time performing in music ensemble; her ears began
absorbing how the musical lines were put together to create a piece... The
following year, at the age of twelve, she suddenly began composing at the
piano, without knowing how she was able to do so (she later learned that her
biological family was full of composers and musicians and accredits them
with passing down this predisposition). A stubborn girl, more interested in
creating than practicing, she quit piano lessons four times and struggled to
teach herself to play by ear- later acquiring tendinitis due to poor posture
and technique. A round of physical therapy and having to stop playing piano
for a time finally brought her a respect for discipline and technique, which
she later tried to impress on her own piano students. Her high school years
were filled with rehearsals and performances with the drama club, chorus,
band (flute) concert band (oboe) and youth orchestra (cello). These
experiences served her greatly as a composer, allowing her to hear how
pieces were built from the inside seat of rehearsing in an ensemble.

She graduated in 1993, voted by her class to be the 'most optimistic' and
'class individual'.   Heather expresses gratitude for having received an outlet
for her creative explorations during her twelve years of public school,
particularly in the form of an independent study in high school, in chances to
create 'scenes' within the drama program, and through participation in a
program for talented and gifted students, once offered in her elementary
school. These positive and critical opportunities for creative development,
along with patient support and encouragement from her excellent teachers
and parents, helped to nurture her creative potential.

New York

In 1993, Heather moved to New York to study music composition at
Manhattanville College. She studied composition privately with Mary Ann
Joyce-Walter, who encouraged her to study Bartok and explore
modal music. It was here that she first conducted a performance of one of
her pieces- a four movement chamber work; 'Rupaca,' which was inspired
by a National geographic article on Lima, Peru. The score cover was
covered with glued on pictures cut out from the magazine and the piece
began with the audience listening in the dark. She presented her piano
prelude at a concert, a la 'Victor Borge,' eliciting laughs with raised
eyebrows, an homage to years of theatre and a love of humor that would
appear in later works.

Paris

In 1995 she left the States to study abroad. Her adventure, which included
following a French boyfriend, landed her in Paris, France for three years.
Heather studied at 'La Sorbonne,' Univeristy of Paris. After an intensive two
years, she earned an advanced certificate in French Language and
Civilization Studies.

While in Paris, Heather was taken under the wing of composer Roger
Tessier, who decided to personally oversee her music instruction at the 'The
Darius Milhaud' Paris XIV Conservatoire. M.Tessier served as the school's
director and offered Heather weekly private lessons in composition and
orchestration. She continued to study music with other teachers at the
conservatory, receiving instruction in solfege, piano, harmony,
and sight-playing. Heather also pursued additional private lessons in piano,
composition, and orchestration at La Schola Cantorum, where she
orchestrated several piano pieces by Schumann for string ensembles.

Hartford

In 1998, Heather returned to the States to finish college and decided to
transfer to The Hartt School in Hartford, CT. She completed both her
Bachelor and Masters degrees in Music Composition at The Hartt School.
Her composition teachers included; Robert Carl, Ken Steen (+music
technology), Stephen Gryc (+orchestration), David MacBride, and Ingrahm
Marshall, who encouraged her to study Bulgarian folk music and modal
music once again. Heather enjoyed many opportunities to have her pieces
read, performed, and recorded. She was asked to help orchestrate a new
musical "Crazy Mary," which was presented by the Music Theatre
Department. In a collaboration with the school's dance department, she was
asked to create a three movement ballet suite for a student named Marlena,
for whom the piece was named. (Heather later walked down the isle to one
of the movements and has also choreographed and danced to the suite in
other performances).

In 2001, while pursuing her Masters, Heather organized and founded a
woman composers festival. The event was offered in March, as part of
National Women's History Month. She has returned to Hartford each year
to continue the festival, now in its eighth year. See Festival

See Education

The Hartford Conservatory

Upon her return from France, Heather began working as a teacher,
accompanist, and composer for the Hartford Conservatory. Working in the
summer music theatre program for children allowed her to use and explore
her love of theatre, dance, writing, and music. She loved helping the
students to choreograph and create original works for their summer show.
At the Conservatory, Heather took voice lessons with Laura Cook and
accompanied the Conservatory's Children's Chorus. While finishing her
masters in music at Hartt, she was also enrolled in the Conservatory's
Community and Dance Diploma programs. She studied dance for three
years in the diploma program and earned her certificate in the Spring of
2004. Her two dance internships included over 60 hours of work with
Footnotes Modern Dance Theatre and The Stafford Ballet. During this time,
she also taught several music courses at Central State University.
Dance Bio

San Diego

Her husband, Scot, is also from Ledyard and has been a big supporter of
her music, dance, and poetry projects. The couple married in their home
town in 2005 and lived in San Diego for a year. While in San Diego,
Heather performed with the San Diego Festival Chorus, where she also
served as a choreographer and dancer in their presentation of
Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker Suite'. Her adaptation of 'The Nutcracker' as a
ballet-play, called "Clara's Dream", was a work requested by the Wilhelm
Otto Schmidt Theatre. It was performed by dancers of The Jamul School of
Dance and featured Regina Roetzheim as Clara. Heather enjoyed working
as a music teacher at The Music School in El Cajon and also taught at St.
Ephraim's church school, where she became exposed to music from Iraq
and Lebanon. She was honored to be asked to set a poem about Mary,
written by Father Nabil; the piece was sung by the children of the church.

Hawaii

After San Diego, the couple moved to Hawaii, where they lived for almost
three years on the beautiful island of Oahu. Their family grew to include a
son, Gavin, and his furry orange companion, 'Kronk'.

While in Oahu, Heather studied Hula and Tahitian Dance and performed
with Mehetia Productions, MCBH Dance Academy, Co-lab, and Ballet
Hawaii. She competed in two Tahitian dance events in Hilo, Hawaii with
Mehetia Productions (pictured left).
On Sundays, Heather played organ and sang during worship services at the
United Methodist Church in Wahiawa, where several of her compositions
were performed.   In the Fall of 2007 season, Heather sang as a soprano
with The Honolulu Symphony Chorus. She became devoted to promoting
the music of Queen Liliuokalani and has endeavored to bring an
appreciation of Hawaiian music to the people of Connecticut.
Hawaiian Page

Festivals

Heather has founded two music festivals; 'Music for You' and the 'Annual
Women Composers Festival of Hartford', begun in 2001. 'Music for You'
was an effort to connect churches with the community through free concerts
provided by local musicians. The series was held at The Federated Church
of Willington and Ledyard Congregational Church, where Heather once
served as organist and music director.

The women composers festival is one of Heather's great passions and is
now in its eighth year. To sustain the festival and meet the needs of local
composers, she established the Friends of Women Composers Society
and the Friends of Women Composers Festival Chorus. The purpose of the
society is to promote women composers and their music through the
production of this educational outreach music festival, while the chorus
serves to present the many choral works featured in the festival's concerts
and readings.

Contact Heather

Friends of Women Composers Society

Festival Chorus