The Galaxy Center for the Performing Arts is St. Petersburg's premier Theater Training School. Guided by the steady hand of founder Kirsten Perea for the past 23 years, classes are offered for various age groups so that every child (and adult) can learn and experience the joy of the performing arts.

We offer:
• Theater Production Classes
• Music Theory and songwriting
• Hip Hop Dance
• Private Voice, Piano and Audition Preparation Lessons
• A Professional Pro-Tools Equipped Recording Studio
• Pop Music Workshop
• Photgraphy Classes

And much, much more!

We also offer a Scholarship Program, so call today to see if your child qualifies.

Faculty

Kirsten Perea
(Executive Director & Proprietor)
Kirsten was born in Denmark and raised on a farm named, of all things, Petersburg, and wanted to sing and perform from an early age, when she had her first experience in a theater watching a play. Although she cannot remember the name of the play, it clearly changed her life and she knew right away she wanted to be a performer in the theater. Her family, however, looked disapprovingly on this idea and did not allow her to partake in the available training at the Royal Danish Theater; young Kirsten found herself hungry for training and artistic freedom so she headed for New York City where she found an artistic home. With such affiliations as the Helen Hayes Equity Theater and the Metropolitan Repertory Theater, as well as her time as a member of New York’s famous Art Student League, she fed her hunger for art and adventure. Eventually love and marriage brought her to Saint Petersburg where for the last 22 years she has been actively involved in Children’s Theater, as well as raising a daughter and now, spoiling her three adorable grand children. This diva's wit, talent, and know-how show no sign of slowing down.

 James Weaver
(Composer in Residence, Piano Teacher)

James Weaver began his piano studies at age 9 with Rosemary Paulsen at Bringe School of Music in St. Petersburg, Florida. At age 12, he began his endeavors into composition. At age 18, he began his formal studies in composition under the instruction of Dr. Vernon Taranto at St. Petersburg College where he attained his Associates Degree in 2001 (SPC: 1998-2001). He has also studied with Patricia Chauvin, SPC professor of Humanities and Piano (1998-2000), SPC Piano Professor Luis Sanchez (Fall 2002), and has attended numerous master classes and teaching workshops, including Florida Southern Summer Piano Camp under the direction of Robert MacDonald (1996), Alfred Piano Series Martha Mier Workshop sponsored by Florida State Music Teachers Association (2000), workshops under various reputable Teachers/Composers hosted at Bringe Music Center (including Lisa Bastien), and Master Classes hosted by the Florida Community College Music Association's 2000 Winter Symposium at Stetson University, in which he placed first in the Piano Division Scholarship Competition.

Other awards include Third Place Instrumental Talent (1997) and Second Place Instrumental Talent (1998), Spanish Conference, Orlando, representing St. Petersburg High School, Second Place Classical Piano (1997) in the Ruth Eckerd Hall PACT Scholarship Competition, First Place Phi Theta Kappa Music Composition Contest (1999, 2000), and recipient of the Norman Duzen Piano Scholarship (1999-2000). His composition, Rhapsody of Remembrance: Auschwitz was premiered at Hillsborough Community College in the Fall of 1999 as part of a fund-raiser for the Tampa Bay Composer's Forum and Hillel School. SPC dance instructor Nancy Smith also choreographed the rhapsody as a part of a Palladium performance and SPC dance recitals at the Clearwater campus.

James has been a full member of ASCAP, student member of the Tampa Bay Composer's Forum, vice president of the Great Arts Society in St. Petersburg, and published with Musica21 Publishing in Palm Harbor. He works currently as an accompanist at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Seminole, and as a piano instructor at Galaxy Center for the Arts, and Bringe School of Music, each of which is in St. Petersburg. He has also taught piano at Gulfcoast Christian School, and has worked, off and on, as an instructor for St. Petersburg College’s Life Long Learning Program. He has published poetry through the International Library of Poetry and Noble House, and has been featured on numerous occasions in the National Dean's List for college students. He has already had two musicals performed as the Composer-in-Residence at the Music and Theatre Galaxy, and is working on a Latin Mass to be performed by the St. Petersburg College Choir in the Spring of 2006. He has written for Monomyth Productions and Trilobyte Productions, both small independent film companies in Pinellas County, Florida, and is founder of Performing Arts Education for the Children of St. Petersburg.

Valerie Lauser (Artistic Director)
Valerie Lauser is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University where she received her BFA in Music. She has been a featured soloist on Broadway and has an impressive track record performing in numerous shows Off-Broadway, including a National Tour of Pirates of Penzance and many regional shows in MA, PA, KS, and FL.  She has played a variety of roles, including Petra in A Little Night Music, Fay Templeton in George M, Phillis Dale in 42nd Street, Peep-Bo in The Mikado, and Clo-Clo in The Merry Widow. She is a seasoned teacher, sings (soprano) in three languages, and is an adept wig designer.

Jardelina Dias Souto:
Jardelina Dias Souto has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of Brazil. She also attended Columbia College of Broadcast where she studied Television/Cinema Production and Directing. Her Television Production background includes public service spots, commercials, live news programs as well as film directing, screenwriting, video/film editing, etc. She is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and English.