Milanda Ayres, WW-P High School, Class of 1994, will perform with bands, Hall of Mirrors and Potent Voices, at two upcoming concerts: The band’s annual Harry Chapin Tribute is on Sunday, June 29, in Mount Holly. On Sunday, July 6, the band performs at John & Peter’s in New Hope. Both concerts are free.##M:[more]##
Ayres, pictured at right, became involved with the band three years ago through connections at WW-P News. Vaughan Burton, from the production department, told Charlotte Dey, a co-worker at the time, that he was looking for a keyboard player for his band, Hall of Mirrors. A longtime West Windsor resident Dey knew Ayres since she was a small child and friends with her daughter, Cara. Ayres and Burton connected and Ayres visited with the band, played some songs, and was hired. Not only does she play keyboard with the group, but she plays flute, saxophone, and bongos in some numbers.
Born in West Windsor. Ayres attended Hawk School in kindergarten and first grade. When she was in second grade the family moved to Switzerland for three years due to her father’s job at Ingersoll Rand. She attended International School at Berne. “My family thought it was a good experience,” she says. Her older sister, who graduated from high school there, still keeps in touch with her classmates.
When the family returned to West Windsor, Ayres attended Dutch Neck School and then was part of the first class to attend WW-P Middle School (now Community Middle School) for three years. “We lived with the sounds of construction,” she says.
Highlights from her high school days include studying music theory and being a member of the chorus led by Dave Christensen. The group traveled to Vienna, Austria. She graduated from WW-P High School (now South) in 1994.
Active in WW-P’s long-standing Youth Teach Youth program, she taught music in elementary school while still a high school student. “It was the best experience I ever had. When I entered college I was the only student who knew exactly what I was getting into,” she says. “So many people go into college not knowing what their profession will be like.”
Ayres majored in piano and music education at Trenton State College (now College of New Jersey). Her major included the requirement to take lessons in other instruments, which has come in handy. She graduated in 1998 and has been teaching music for 10 years. She was at Carteret schools for eight years and has been teaching chorus and band at Valley Road School (K-8) in Stanhope for two years.
Her mother, Dordenda Ayres, lives in West Windsor. She works in the billing department at Medical Center at Princeton. Milanda recently became engaged to Jim Brennan, a merchant mariner. No date has been set for the wedding.
— Lynn Miller
Hall of Mirrors and Potent Voices, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 121 High Street, Mount Holly, 609-267-0225. Annual Harry Chapin Tribute. Sunday, June 29, 7 p.m.
Hall of Mirrors, John & Peter’s, 96 South Main Street, New Hope, 215-862-5981. www.johnandpeters.com. The band performs Pink Floyd’s “Animals” album, as well as progressive rock influenced original music. S
