The other day I was out for an early morning walk and I was listening to a podcast on VocalFri. This particular one, from April, featured voice scientist Christian Herbst, who was talking about the role of voice science in vocal pedagogy, and of all the tech-y, geeky, science-y things that that entails. But althoughContinue reading “Beyond a shadow of a doubt”
Author Archives: Mezzoid Voice Studio
Avoiding FOBO
I can hear you know: “FOBO? Christine, don’t you mean FOMO?” Nope. Today I was puppy-walking and listening to a new podcast called Money Girl (which I may or may not listen to again because the host has a wicked case of vocal fry that makes my skin crawl – not to be confused withContinue reading “Avoiding FOBO”
What is curiously strong singing?
For the last two years, I’ve used “Curiously Strong Singing” as my tagline. In the past year, I’ve established a performance coaching series called “Curiously Strong Performing.” The content on my website and in other places reflects the use of that phrase. But other than the relationship between mezzoid and altoids, which is what triggeredContinue reading “What is curiously strong singing?”
What are you fighting for?
On Friday, July 17, Mezzoid Voice Studio held its first online masterclass featuring an outside clinician. Our guest was Lissa deGuzman, who was a former student of mine in Milwaukee, and has gone on to perform as Jasmine in the national tour of Aladdin, as Ann Darrow (cover) in the Broadway production of King Kong, andContinue reading “What are you fighting for?”
Normalcy, Quirkiness and Authenticity
As an artist, I have long considered myself as not being “normal.” Not being satisfied with the status quo, not being a person who has a “normal” job or a “normal” life. I’ve thought of myself as eccentric, quirky, and maybe a little weird. And I’ve been okay with that. Mostly. But I was givingContinue reading “Normalcy, Quirkiness and Authenticity”
Dream big and work backwards
At the NATS conference last month, I attended a session on “Training Music Majors for a 21st Century ‘Mosaic Career.’” The point of it was to prepare young singers for a career that is not either elite performer or academic, but being involved in a little bit of everything. It was geared toward the collegeContinue reading “Dream big and work backwards”
World Listening Day – July 18
“Unless I’m willing to be changed by you, I’m probably not really listening.” — Alan Alda I went to a singing teachers conference last week and learned more about listening than singing. One session I attended was called “Children Will Listen” and covered the topic of teaching children between the ages of 5-12, a demographicContinue reading “World Listening Day – July 18”
An American Anthem
On September 11, 2002, I participated in a commemoration of 9/11 at my undergraduate alma mater, Alverno College. I brought a piece to sing at the ceremony that I had heard a few years earlier as the title track on an album by baritone Nathan Gunn. It was also sung by mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves atContinue reading “An American Anthem”
I learned something today…
The phrase, “I learned something today,” is one that is associated with the incredibly and self-consciously earnest sitcoms of the 1990s where there were always very special episodes. As soon as you heard that there was going to be a very special episode of a TV show, you knew that someone was about to learn a valuable lesson.Continue reading “I learned something today…”
July 17 Master Class with Lissa deGuzman
I am so excited to announce the first of which I hope will be many masterclasses featuring former students of mine who have gone on to thrive as working artists. Our first artist/clinician is Lissa deGuzman, who can both belt her face off and soar to the heights of soprano-land. When she studied with meContinue reading “July 17 Master Class with Lissa deGuzman”