Dear singers, Last week, my husband came to visit me while I was on a gig in Florida. He asked how much money I was making on this concert, and when I told him, he joked, "That's a LOT for 8 hours of work!" It really was a joke - he couldn't be more supportive or appreciative of me and my work - but I got to thinking about all of the behind-the-scenes labor it takes to bring music to performance. Rehearsals, practice, listening, lessons, technical work, translation . . . We are paid (or not!)...
7 months ago • 7 min read
Dear singers, Have you ever played Humm . . . ble? It's an old charades-type game in which people hum tunes and earn points for getting their partners to recognize them. No Musical Talent Required! My husband and I played an epic game of late-night Humm . . . . ble with friends a few years ago, and had SO much fun. Just try humming the Batman theme - "Hmm-mm-mm-mm-Mm-mm-mm-mm-Hmm-mm-mm-mm-Mm-mm-mm-mm-MM! MM!" This summer, when I was planning an all-day music camp for my students, I thought a...
8 months ago • 2 min read
This week, I'm expanding on the same subject I covered in yesterday's YouTube video, so if you'd like to hear more about these ideas, make sure you check out the video! Dear singers, For a few years, I've been a part of the planning team for a wonderful music festival here in DC - the Epiphany Festival, where we assemble a volunteer choir to sing seldom-performed works, often in their DC-area premieres. This year, we are doing Einojuhari Rautavaara's Vigilia, and it is A: AWESOME and B: HARD....
8 months ago • 6 min read
Good morning, singers! This week, I came across a term that really struck me - have you heard of the Zone of Incompetence? Its opposite, the Zone of Genius, gets a lot of press - this is the "zone" of activity where we should be striving to spend most or all of our time so that we can be the most PRODUCTIVE! and create the most SUCCESS! That Zone of Genius idea has always sat a little funny with me. Like, isn't it ok to spend SOME time being bored and not being good at stuff? So I was really...
12 months ago • 3 min read
Dear singers, How's your voice these days? Are you singing well? Are you improving? I mean, if I were to grade my own singing, I would say my high register is more consistent than it was before, and I'm learning music pretty quickly, but my [i] vowels are really lacking resonance and onsets in middle voice are fuzzy. What's that, like a B+? An 82%? There are just so many elements of singing that it's hard to quantify success. Even with deliberate practice, (focused practice that strategically...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
Hi Singers! I am writing to you from a desk covered with music scores. This is the time of year when all the music for my various groups comes in and I get to dive in to the fall season's repertoire. Where to begin? Some of the pieces are old friends, and some are in a style I know, but some are totally uncharted territory. And although I know that those are the ones that obviously need the most work, I have a curious aversion to practicing them. It's more fun to polish up the stuff I already...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Dear singers, I am writing these words to you from my very own brain and fingers, without the help of Chat GPT or any of its fellow bots. I admit that I have already grown weary of both the promotion of AI and the pearl-clutching reaction against it, and I know we're only at the beginning. And I suspect that most of my discomfort surely comes from the Calvinist bootstrapping demon on my shoulder who is always telling me, "Do it yourself, loser!" For funsies, I asked ChatGPT to create an image...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
Dear friends, What's your life's purpose? Heavy question, right? I'm recording a solo album later this summer. This project feels so RIGHT, like a culmination of everything I've been working on for decades - my destiny project! But recently, as recording time approaches, the work has started to feel a little heavy. It's a BIG DEAL, and it could be GREAT, and all that potential has started to really weigh me down. . . . Then I read a great story about Elizabeth Gilbert (the Eat, Pray, Love...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
Dear singers, When I was a young singer, I used to spend a week each December at my Grandma’s beach house on the Jersey Shore, commuting in to the city to audition for opera companies. I did this for most of my early 20s, and I came to cherish that week in that empty house. It was almost like a retreat - walks on the beach and no internet. The only entertainment was a complete boxed DVD set of Everybody Loves Raymond, which my Grandma had loved. So I watched it. I watched a LOT of it, often...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
