With the NATS auditions coming up, I thought I’d address a couple of things about appropriate attire for performing. The studio gave a recital last week for a couple of new singers and the kids who are singing on November 5 at UWM. No one dressed horribly but there were a couple of missteps inContinue reading “What NOT to wear”
Author Archives: Mezzoid Voice Studio
REVIEW – The Singer’s Ego: Finding Balance Between Music and Life
I recently read Lynn Eustis’ above-titled book. Dr. Eustis is on the faculty of the University of North Texas and did 3 session on Mental Health and the Singer at the NATS conference in Salt Lake City this summer. They were excellent, often cathartic sessions on discussing just why singers are so neurotic. And howContinue reading “REVIEW – The Singer’s Ego: Finding Balance Between Music and Life”
Chick Singers
I was doing some thinking about female pop singers – aka “chick singers” – whose work I particularly enjoy. I’m not including musical theater singers who moved into pop (e.g., Streisand, Midler) because I wanted to be a purist about this, although I may include some who went the other way. Some of these singersContinue reading “Chick Singers”
2010 so far….
This is what I’ve accomplished in 2010 (and the few weeks before): 1. Got my nearly-blind eyes fixed. Sometimes I miss taking off glasses at night, because I’m so used to that being part of the going-to-bed process. But being able to see in the middle of the night – you can’t imagine what aContinue reading “2010 so far….”
Jane Pesci-Townsend, 1959-2010
A DC performer that I had the good fortune to encounter during the wonderful 9 year period I lived in the DC Baltimore area just passed away this past Friday. I did not personally know her, but she was an authentic performer and teacher who will be missed by many, including people who will notContinue reading “Jane Pesci-Townsend, 1959-2010”
What sort of diary….
Dominick Argento set parts of this entry as the opening movement (and returned to it in the final movement) of his brilliant Diary of Virginia Woolf, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1975. It’s the way I feel about this blog and my journal: “What sort of diary should I like mine to be? SomethingContinue reading “What sort of diary….”
The "Ecstatic Experience" and the Authentic Singer
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about authenticity, which makes me wince because I do not want to be a New Age-y cliche-spouting person, but all of a sudden I’m finding a need to define what it is I want to be, how I want to teach, and what I want to hear andContinue reading “The "Ecstatic Experience" and the Authentic Singer”
R.I.P. Richard Weber 1940-2010
Yesterday morning, as I was waking up in Monterey (on the final leg of my Westward Ho! vacation), I reached for the phone to see if I had any messages. I was sad to read (and even sadder to write) that the disappearance of my dear friend Richard Weber has been solved, and not inContinue reading “R.I.P. Richard Weber 1940-2010”
Singing in church for fun and profit (oh, and spiritual growth, too)
I just sat down this morning and thought about how many denominations for which I have I sung professionally in the last 20+ years…. Presybterian – Calvary, Milwaukee (my first gig for Richard Weber) Lutheran – First English, Baltimore; St. Mark’s, Baltimore; Bethlehem Lutheran, Milwaukee (again, for Richard Weber) Christ Science – a variety ofContinue reading “Singing in church for fun and profit (oh, and spiritual growth, too)”
You need something to fall back on….
There’s a phrase I have always hated. “Something to fall back on.” As if what you’re doing with your life is unreliable, frivolous, unimportant, and worst of all, something that you’re really not that good at so don’t even bother to pursue it, no matter now passionate you feel about it. But I’ve given thatContinue reading “You need something to fall back on….”