ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com Owners Release MASTERING COLLEGE MUSICAL THEATRE AUDITIONS Book

ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com owners David Sisco (Founder & President) and Laura Josepher (Vice President of Business Development) published their first book, Mastering College Musical Theatre Auditions: Sound Advice for the Student, Teacher, and Parent, which is now available on Amazon.com.

The book, which has been vetted by musical theatre educators, parents, teachers, and industry professionals, is the most comprehensive resource for high school students wanting to give successful college auditions. Each chapter focuses on a question central to the audition process, with special sections for the student, teacher, and parent. A robust Appendix features up-to-date rosters of overdone audition material, recommended songs and monologues, and information on how to properly learn new material and make intelligent cuts.

Laura explained, "College auditions are hard. There's so much information to assimilate and everyone has to be on the same page if the auditioning student is to be successful. Our book will walk readers through every step of the process, from figuring out where to audition and choosing audition material to deciding where to attend."

David notes, "To us, this a natural extension of our growing website, which is the largest online database of contemporary musical theatre writers and songs. Given our backgrounds as teaching artists active in the industry (I taught ten years at Marymount Manhattan College, and Laura is a busy audition coach and director), we're passionate about arming students (and those who work with them) with as much practical information as possible."

ContmporaryMusicalTheatre.com brings a singular vision to the world of online publishing. The resource is the most comprehensive collection of contemporary musical theatre writers and songs available: over 180 writers and 550 songs, all of which have been vetted by industry professionals. In connecting creative and performing artists, the company is building a stronger community and unique educational opportunities for high school and college students.

ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com provides detailed information on each song, including: range, tessitura, accompaniment difficulty, transposition availability, notes from the writer and links to listen to and purchase the sheet music on our site.

Founder & President David Sisco first presented this business model as a poster paper at the NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Conference in July 2012. Being both a musical theatre writer and voice teacher, he saw the great chasm between the two disciplines and the problems it created (score piracy, etc...). The NATS poster presentation was met with great enthusiasm and the project was soon developed into its current incarnation with the help of web designer Joshua Levine.

ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com celebrated its launch with a star-studded concert at Second Stage (off- Broadway) on January 21, 2013, highlighting the work of twenty-four contemporary writers. Since then, the company has produced a concert of women musical theatre writers, headlining Gretchen Cryer & Nancy Ford (I'm Getting My Act Together...) at 54 Below, a 4-week developmental workshop at Marymount Manhattan College, a collaboration with City Center and The Future Project for Encores! Off- Center. In addition, ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com has presented masterclasses at the Kaufman Center, Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival (Region 1), NYU Steinhardt, and Rider University.

Theatre director, teacher and audition coach Laura Josepher joined the management team in 2013 to enhance the company's educational development and writer recruitment.

David Sisco is a member of the Dramatist's Guild and BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop (Advanced) and is an alumnus of the New Dramatists Composer- Librettist Studio in New York. He is the author of Here I Am: A Musical Personal Ad, Variations on a Theme of You, and BAIT n' SWISH. David is currently collaborating with Tom Gualtieri on two musicals: Falling to Earth, and a forthcoming project with book writer Michael Zam. A winner of the 2010 NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) Composition Award, David is a prolific art song composer. His songs have been heard at concerts produced by Friends & Enemies of New Music, New Music New York, Joy in Singing, Lyricfest, Songfest, Songfusion and at Carnegie Hall. Sisco has been commissioned by Manhattan Girls Chorus, Mirari Brass Quintet, Cayuga Vocal Ensemble, and Minnesota State University Moorhead. He has musical directed La Cage aux Folles (Wagner College), Our Country's Good (original score, Marymount), Searching for Romeo (NYMF), and Spring Awakening (original score, Marymount). With Alexandra Foucard, David has formed a cabaret duo called "Comes Love." The pair enjoys their artistic home at Tin Pan Alley in Provincetown, also performing to sold-out audiences at The Triad in New York. David has served on the voice faculties of Northeastern, Suffolk University, and Marymount Manhattan College. He currently maintains a private studio in New York and leads masterclasses and workshops around the country and internationally on preparing contemporary art song and musical theatre. With business partner Laura Josepher, David runs contemporarymusicaltheatre.com, a resource that helps teachers, students and professionals find well-written, largely unpublished contemporary musical theatre songs. He has served on the artistic board for Encores! Off-Center at City Center (Jeanine Tesori, Artistic Director). David earned a BA in Vocal Performance with Composition Honors from Syracuse University and a MM in Vocal Performance from Boston University. davidsisco.com

New York based theatre director Laura Josepher has been directing, teaching, and coaching professionally in New York City for the past thirty years. Recent directing credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling for the American Musical Theatre Academy (AMTA) in NY, and Searching for Romeo at the NY Musical Festival (NYMF) which won the NYMF/Stage Rights Publishing Award. She directed two concerts promoting ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com: Binders Full of Women's Songs at 54 Below, and A Celebration of Contemporary Musical Theatre at Second Stage Theater, and well as directing VOW at Marymount Manhattan College, an original musical workshop created in conjunction with the website. Other credits include David Sisco's Bait 'n Swish, Tom Gualtieri and David Sisco's Falling To Earth at Syracuse University, Dirty Blonde, The Turn of The Screw and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change at Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston, Dating Games at the Theatre Row Studio Theatre, NY and The Elephant Theatre in L.A., Anna Christie at Gallery Players, and Hughie at Provincetown Rep. For Rattlestick Productions: Winning and the award winning Car Pool. Laura has a Master of Arts in Educational Theatre, and a Bachelor of Music, both from New York University. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and a member of SDC. laurajosepher.com