I just came across the term “scenius” a few months ago in a blogpost – I’m not sure where. I thought it might be Seth Godin, but I didn’t find it.
Scenius is defined as “communal genius” that occurs in scenes rather than genes. It was created by musician Brian Eno and is intended to convey the extreme creativity that is fostered in groups of like-minded people who work together to inspire, facilitate, and create, rather than as something attributable to One Great Genius. More information about the concept may be found here and here.
I am fortunate to have been and to be in several of these kinds of groups.
- Wisconsin NATS
- MDDC NATS
- The Speakeasy Cooperative
- The Creative’s Workshop
and of course - Mezzoid Voice Studio (both in its Milwaukee and present incarnations)
This past year, I have been inspired to bring on board guests to help serve my students in their development. We’ve had Lissa deGuzman, Richard Carsey, Ryan Cappleman, Amanda Kaiser, and Matt Bender come in and offer people new perspectives on performing. We’ve initiated studio classes to dive further into Curiously Strong Performing, with every participant eager to support and contribute to the greater good of the studio.
And I’m looking forward to an upcoming project for World Voice Day, April 16, which, since it falls on a Friday, I plan to celebrate for the entire weekend, thereby making it:
In addition to a concert already planned for WVD itself (which I’m in the process of organizing), I am planning to host a variety of new and returning experts in voice (classical, musical theater, pop, and acting) in Q&As, workshops, masterclasses, and whatever else I can think of.
More information will be forthcoming as I actually know it because this came to me yesterday. And I’m going to be working with people to flesh this out and, if we’re successful, to repeating this again next year and the year after (when WVD also will fall on a weekend day).
Looking forward to working with my students and compatriots scenius to make this a reality.
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If you’re interested in being a part of World Voice Weekend, please contact me and we’ll talk about the possibilities!