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Takeaways from the NATS Conference – July 2, 2022

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Here is the second day of takeaways from the NATS Conference in Chicago – July 2, 2022 (additional comments below each session in italics)

July 2, 2022

  • “Pricing for Generosity” presented by Michelle Markwart Deveaux

Takeaways:

  • “My worth as a human being is not manifested in how much I earn”
  • Pricing should have impact and bring peace
  • Love + Data = Pricing
    • Give/Save/Spend
    • Brand alignment
    • Ideal Client
    • Self-loyalty and -love
    • Unique Value Proposition
    • Service/business model
      MMD has been a tremendous influence on my teaching these last few years that I’ve been a member of the Speakeasy Cooperative. It’s not just about making money!
  • “I Could Never Do That: The Musical” presented by Eden Casteel
    Takeaways:

    • Recitals aren’t necessary and that you should ask your students what they need in terms of performance opportunities – beginning of the school year survey (Google Forms)
    • Cabaret
    • Field trips to 
      • Karaoke/monthly open mics
      • Piano bars
      • Happy Hour/Sing For Your Supper formats
    • Each others’ shows
      There’s a lot about this that I would like to do – specifically, I’d like to see if Gourmet at Kenilworth would be open to doing a piano bar. Unfortunately, we lost Germano’s in Little Italy to the pandemic, because I was going to hold a studio cabaret show on 3/29/2020, but you know what happened there…. I completely agree that formal recitals aren’t necessary, but I think my studio showcases are unique in and of themselves.
  • Opening Ceremony 
      • Welcome followed by the National Anthems (SSB, O Canada, Schubert)
      • Introductions
      • Speech by Allen Henderson
      • Welcome/Conference Orientation by Rebecca Schorsch, Conference Program Chair
      • NATS COMMUNITY SING featuring Clarice V. Assad
      • Improvisation and group reading of her piece, “Amazonia”
        This was very different! Lots of creativity here – I would love to incorporate more improvisation in my teaching. And maybe I need to do a “National Anthem” group class. 😀
  • “The Unknown Arranged Negro Spirituals of Roland Carter” presented by Marquita Lister and Roland Carter (mini-recital)
    Takeaways: This was a wonderful, expressively performed and well-sung recital with some fantastic repertoire that I’m looking forward to seeing published!
    Marquita is a colleague in MDDC NATS and it was an honor to see her in performance.

Stay tuned for the July 3 takeaways in Thursday’s blogpost.

Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town

Published by Mezzoid Voice Studio

Christine Thomas-O'Meally, a mezzo soprano and voice teacher currently based in the Baltimore-DC area, has performed everything from the motets of J.S. Bach to the melodies of Irving Berlin to the minimalism of Philip Glass. As an opera singer and actress, she has appeared with companies such as Charm City Players, Spotlighters Theatre, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theater of Northern Virginia, Opera North, the Washington Savoyards, In Tandem Theatre, Windfall Theater, The Young Victorian Theater of Baltimore, and Skylight Opera Theatre. She created the role of The Woman in Red in Dominick Argento’s Dream of Valentino in its world premiere with the Washington Opera and Mary Pickersgill in O'er the Ramparts at its world premiere during the Bicentennial of Battle of Baltimore at the Community College of Baltimore County. Other roles include Mrs. Paroo in Music Man, Mother Abbess in Sound of Music, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, both Hansel and the Witch in Hansel & Gretel, and many roles in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Her performance as the Housekeeper in Man of La Mancha was honored with a WATCH award nomination. Ms. Thomas-O'Meally received an M.M. in vocal performance from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She regularly attends master classes and workshops in both performance and vocal pedagogy, and is certified in all three Levels of Somatic Voicework™ The LoVetri Method. Her students have performed on national and international tours of Broadway productions, at prestigious conservatories, and in regional theater throughout the country.

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