Happy World Piano Day! On this day, the 88th day of the year (one day for each key on the piano – except the Imperial Bösendorfer, which has 97, and certain digital keyboards, which have fewer), we celebrate the instrument that has given us so much joy, whether as a solo instrument, or for usContinue reading “Happy World Piano Day!”
Category Archives: General
Hitting the Right Chord: How Music Programs Boost STEM
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Technology) Education has become a major focus for schools, often to the detriment of a school’s music program (although somehow the athletic department always manages to keep their funding). As I’ve written recently, March is Music in Our Schools Month. But what if your school doesn’t have a solid musicContinue reading “Hitting the Right Chord: How Music Programs Boost STEM”
Teacher, Coach, or Mentor?
Teacher, Coach, or Mentor? What do you need? And what is the difference? I defined the differences between the services offered by voice teachers and vocal coaches in a previous blogpost (which was actually the content of a page I decided to keep as a link instead of separate page). I’d like to go aContinue reading “Teacher, Coach, or Mentor?”
I stand with Ukraine
Today’s post isn’t about music. It’s about what’s going on in Ukraine. (Well, there will be music at the end, but I didn’t know that when I started writing.) My parents were from Eastern Europe. My mother was from Estonia, one of the three Baltic countries that were occupied by the Soviet Union from 1940-1991.Continue reading “I stand with Ukraine”
I invite you to …
In the last year or so, I have noticed that a lot of teachers of various disciplines use the phrase, “I invite you to,” rather than “do this.” The first time I noticed this was when I took Peter Jacobson’s Total Vocal Freedom Alexander Technique course last year. The faculty would invite us to beContinue reading “I invite you to …”
Music in Our Schools Month
The celebration of Black History Month is over, although Black history continues to flourish and enhance society (check out my studio FB page for the 28 artists to whom I paid tribute during February). Now it is March, and it is Music in Our Schools Month! (AKA MIOSM) Not everyone knows this, but my undergrad degreeContinue reading “Music in Our Schools Month”
Qualities of a Good Adjudicator
I just finished adjudicating several categories for the MDDC NATS auditions and the first thing I had to do was watch a video called Adjudication 101: A MUST Watch (And they weren’t kidding. You had to watch it in order to proceed.) it’s an unlisted video so I won’t/can’t share it here, but I thinkContinue reading “Qualities of a Good Adjudicator”
Are you an Offensive or Defensive Performer?
I was looking through my blogpost ideas for today and came across something I saved marked Offensive/Defensive, and I thought it would have something to do with football (the Super Bowl is this Sunday). But it actually came from a Seth Godin post about offensive/defensive behavior and finding the place in between. It pertains more to marketing.Continue reading “Are you an Offensive or Defensive Performer?”
National Get Up Day
Today is National Get Up Day, a holiday created in 2017 by U.S. Figure Skating to commemorate the end of January (National Skating Month). For those of us with wobbly ankles who only remain upright on the ice with the assistance of well-placed friends on either side of us, how does this impact us? OtherContinue reading “National Get Up Day”
How Singing Mozart Taught Me To Count
[Warning – adult language ahead] Now that I have your attention: Today is Wolfgang Amadeus (although some write it as “Amadé”) Mozart’s 265th birthday (and he doesn’t look a day over 250). As a lyric mezzo-soprano, I have sung a lot of Mozart. I loved the movie Amadeus My favorite contemporary composer, Stephen Sondheim, has beenContinue reading “How Singing Mozart Taught Me To Count”