WHO WE ARE
What We Do
The Hummingbird Conservatory is a music school dedicated to the training and development of singers of all ages, with all levels of ability and training across all genres. We seek to provide conservatory-level training in a warm, wonderful, creative atmosphere fostering not just musical abilities but leadership skills, confidence and discipline.
Sing Your Heart Out!
OUR STORY
In the 2024-2025 school year, The Hummingbird Conservatory will celebrate 10 years of vocal excellence in Los Angeles and Ventura counties!
Founder and voice teacher Tara Wallace is in her 30th year of singing training and 13th year of vocal teaching. She began the Hummingbird Conservatory with two objectives – provide singers with excellent vocal technique and musicianship while giving them ample performance opportunities and collaborative experiences with other musicians and performers. Now in its 10th year, The Hummingbird Conservatory singers have been seen performing at New York's famed Carnegie Hall and London's Royal Festival Hall in National Honors choirs at both the middle school and high school level as well as on the LA Opera stage, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, in regional, community and school performances, including the Glendale Center Theatre, Panic! Productions, the West Valley Playhouse, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) Summer Program, Escape! Theatricals, the UCLA Summer Vocal Intensive, the UCLA Summer Musical Theater Intensive, the Eastman Summer Vocal Intensive, the LA Opera Summer Vocal Program, the Montrose Oktoberfest, the Montrose Christmas Tree Lighting, and the LA Opera 90001 Program to name only a few!
Students from the Hummingbird Conservatory have been accepted into some of the most prestigious collegiate programs in the country, including Eastman School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, The Jacobs School at Indiana University, Boston University, The School of Music at the University of Hawaii, the Music School at Cal State Northridge, UCLA's School of Theatre, Film and TV, USC's School for Dramatic Arts, Loyola - Chicago, San Gabriel School for the Performing Arts, and the Los Angeles County School for the Arts. Students of Hummingbird are musically affluent in other instruments and ensembles as well appearing with the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, the Los Angeles Youth Philharmonic Orchestra and Honors Choir and several notable honors ensembles. They have also performed in their school talent shows, advanced choirs at Rosemont Middle School AND Crescenta Valley High school, church performances and summer camps. Some have even appeared on KTLA news, the LA Times and on the cover of the Malibu Times!
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In 2024, several of the Hummingbirds received Superior ratings with the National Federation of Music Club's Junior Festival. Two of them received first and third place in the Scholarship competition. They have received music scholarships and awards from their local high schools and have received state honors with the Certificate of Merit Vocal Competition as part of the Music Teachers Association of California. Students of Hummingbird also competed and placed in regional music festivals, California Regional and All State Choirs with the Southern California Vocal Association, received Musicianship awards in the California Forum Music Festivals and were finalists with the LAYPO Chamber Music Series.
At The Hummingbird Conservatory, we are convinced that little voice inside that tells you, you want to sing is a singing voice waiting to be trained and shared with the world. Whether you have years of experience or just want to sound better out at karaoke with your friends, WE want to help you achieve your singing goals!
OUR FOUNDER
Tara Wallace
Hummingbird Conservatory founder, Tara Wallace is a dramatic soprano, musician and performer comfortable in many different genres of song ranging from the classical stage to cabaret houses. Her credits include the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, the title role in Il segreto di Susanna, Frasquita in Carmen with the Nevada State Opera Company and the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony; the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida and Casilda in The Gondoliers with the Ventura County Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company; Lily Craven in The Secret Garden with the Morgan-Wixson Playhouse; Mary Turner in Of Thee I Sing with the Simsbury Light Opera Company; and Mademoiselle Silberklang in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor with the Hartt Opera Theater; to name only a few. A frequent recitalist and cabaret performer, she has sung at the historic New York cabarets, Don’t Tell Mama and Upstairs at Rose’s Turn, and has shared the stage with Dick Van Dyke and Ed Begley, Jr. for the Golden Hearts Award Ceremony for the Los Angeles Midnight Mission.
Her rendition of “Song to the Moon” from the opera Rusalka, was featured in this year’s award-winning indie-feature Dealer, produced by Feenix Filns and released this past April. She can also be heard backing up Zach Galifianakis in the “Three Best Friends Song” from the hit movie The Hangover.
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Garnering dual Bachelors of Music from the Hartt School, where she attended on a vocal talent scholarship, Tara was a Vocal Honors Award winner, a National Choral Award Winner and a Port Jefferson Arts Council Award winner. She studies voice with Claudine Carlson and has coached with Rakefet Hak, Robin Buck, Barbara Dever, Rita Shane, Juliana Gondek and Kathryn Greene. She is the founder of the Hummingbird Puppet Opera Theater and Sing With Me on Youtube.
PARTNERSHIPS
The Hummingbird Conservatory is a Proud Sponsor of:
MORE INFO
Affiliations
Ventura County Federations of Music Clubs
Treasurer & Ensemble Festival Co-Chair
Junior Festival, Vocal Arts Chair
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Music Teacher Association of California - Pleasant Valley Ventura County Branch
Recording Secretary
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Music Teachers National Association
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National Association of Teachers of Singing
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Southern California Vocal Association
For more information about MTAC and their opportunities, please click here: https://www.pv-vcmtac.org/
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For more information about SCVA and their opportunities, please click here: https://www.scvachoral.org/