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
Creative Artist & Arts Lover!

Founder & Director of the Women Composers Festival
Founder & President of The Friends of Women Composers Society
Member of the F.W.C. Festival Chorus

Roots...

Heather was born and raised in Connecticut. She has lived in New
York, Paris, San Diego and Hawaii, but New England is 'home.'
Inspiration from New England's beauty and the four seasons are
found in her poetry, music, and even Halloween costumes- she once
dressed as "The Autumn Wind." The costume featured colorful
leaves hanging off of a blue rain parka, holding tree branches,
and twirling while making wind sounds.

Starting Out...

Heather was born in 1975 and was adopted a few months later
through an agency in New London. She lived with her parents and
adopted brother, Shawn, in the coastal town of Mystic until the family
moved to the nearby rural town of Ledyard. The family enjoyed many
beloved pets and the children were lucky to find themselves in an
environment which encouraged and nourished their creativity;
both of them went on to study and work in artistic fields.

Adoption...

Heather's adoption had a profound and perhaps unusual impact on
her life and music. She spent years writing and rewriting an original
fairytale musical/opera about her adoption and a birthfamily she
never met.   As an adult, she was fortunate to experience a happy
reunion with members of her birthfamily. Heather is also the proud
mother of an adopted son.

"Being adopted and adopting a child, has taught me
important lessons on love, life, sacrifice, longing, selflessness,
identity, gratitude, and perseverance- for which I am truly grateful."

She attributes her adoption and feeling like she "got a second chance
at a good life" for her often 'extreme' optimism, a love of life, and a
determination to make the most of it. An adoption advocate, Heather
has appeared on TV in programs hosted by C.A.R.A.   She strongly
encourages adoption and discussions about it.

A Seed is Planted...

In second grade, Heather, and future life-long friends, were initiated
into the world of theatre as 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...

Time to Compose!

In 1988, at the prompting of a musical friend, Heather joined the junior
high chorus, where her ears began absorbing how the musical lines
were put together to create a piece... The following year, at the age of
twelve, she began playing flute and suddenly started composing at
the piano, without knowing quite how she was able to do so- or how
to read and write music. (Heather later learned that her biological
family was full of composers and musicians so she accredits them
with passing down a predisposition for this).

Piano Pains!
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
instilled in her a badly needed respect for discipline and technique,
which she later tried to impress on her own piano students.

High School

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 observe how pieces were 'built'.

She graduated in 1993 as 'class individual'.   Heather expresses a
deep 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 and community programs, 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 also presented her piano prelude at this concert,
a la 'Victor Borge,' eliciting laughs with raised eyebrows, an homage
to years of theatre and a love of humor.

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 ninth year.
See Festival

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.
Heather also performed and competed in two Tahitian dance events
in Hilo, Hawaii with Mehetia Productions (pictured left),
at the annual Tahiti Fete.

On Sundays, Heather played organ and sang with her husband
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. The season opened with a new piece
by a Hawaiian woman composer, which deeply inspired her. She also
became devoted to promoting the music and story of
Queen Liliuokalani
and has endeavored to bring an appreciation of Hawaiian music,
dance, history, and culture 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.
To sustain the festival and meet the needs of contemporary women
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 and support women composers
while educating the community about their lives and artistic
contributions, while the chorus exists to present the many choral
compositions which performed and recorded during the festival.

Contact Heather

Friends of Women Composers Society

Festival Chorus