About Rochelle Walter

Rochelle Walter received her Master’s Degree in Music Theatre Performance from New York University, and her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance/ Education from Indiana University. After completing her Senior Showcase at NYU she signed with an agent and worked professionally in Equity theatres. In addition to performing, she has been a director of vocal music, theatre and dance for 30 years and has had the honor of receiving multiple Bobby G Awards including Best Musical Direction, Best Direction and Best Overall Production. She also received honorable mention for the 2024 Tony Award-Excellence in Theatre Education Award. Under her direction, one of her former students, Abby Lehrer, won the Outstanding Actress for the Bobby G Awards and was sent on to the Jimmy Awards. Abby later attended IAMT and went on to be a finalist on American Idol. Rochelle has had multiple students who found their “perfect fit” school and continued on with much success. Josh Rivera, another former student, attended Ithaca College in MT, and went on to tour with Hamilton. He later was cast as Chino in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, Sejanus Plinth in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and Aaron Hernandez in American Sports Story.

After going through the college audition process with former students and most recently with her own daughter, she has a ton of information to share from a performer lens and someone who lived in NY, to an educator lens who can help you fine tune what is unique about you and what you and the schools are looking for, and a parental lens to help you navigate the intricate details and deadlines involved. Her daughter applied to over 20 schools and received multiple callbacks, including some of the top MT and Acting programs across the country (Juilliard, University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, Boston Conservatory, Penn State, Pace, Elon to name a few). Her daughter is thrilled to end up at her "perfect fit" school, Texas State.

Rochelle wants to help other parents and students maneuver through this with as much knowledge, ease, and success as possible. There are so many amazing schools out there. It’s important to find one that you can afford, the one you can picture yourself in for the next four years, and a place where you feel safe and inspired to take risks and learn.