I just tightened up my website a bit (www.mezzoid.com) and am moving some text from there to here because I don’t want to lose it. It’s my raison d’etre, my mission statement, my philosophy, whatever you want to call it. I am a firm believer that singing is the coordination of natural functions in aContinue reading “Mission Statement about Curiously Strong Singing”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Golden age musicals – why you should bother
I hear this way too often from people: “Why should I sing golden age music? It’s so old-fashioned! I don’t know any of it.” Technique. Today’s musicals tend to be very text-driven, and aren’t necessarily vehicles for mastering things like legato and breath management. (And that doesn’t make them less than, just different.) Revivals areContinue reading “Golden age musicals – why you should bother”
We GOT this! (Showcase Recap)
Just wanted to dash off a few words about the recital (reworded from emails I sent out yesterday to the studio). I like to call the final recital of the year a studio showcase rather than a recital because recitals imply prim and proper stand-in-one-place and sing and that sounds boring to me. (In opera,Continue reading “We GOT this! (Showcase Recap)”
My take on studio recitals (subtitle: Hi, ho! Come to the Fair/Recital!)
I recently took a course on organizing my studio (not that I haven’t been running my own studio for 20 years, but hey, you can always do things better). One of the exercises that I did was to identify my strengths. This popped up when I was looking for past studio recital programs to useContinue reading “My take on studio recitals (subtitle: Hi, ho! Come to the Fair/Recital!)”
Stages of Grief (5? 7?) and Interpreting a Sad Song
I find that a lot of my students, both past and present, love to sing sad, heart-breaking songs of woe and loss. It goes with the emo-ness of youth, I think. Personally, I gravitate toward funny (some might say nigh-ridiculous) songs, especially in programming. People say comedy is hard. I think tragedy is hard. AtContinue reading “Stages of Grief (5? 7?) and Interpreting a Sad Song”
Voice Teacher vs. Voice Coach – Can they co-exist in the same person?
Years ago, I had a young student who walked into her half-hour lesson one day and announced, “Today I want to sing three songs and I don’t want to waste any time.” I said, “Okay.” We skipped the stretching and obligatory how-was-your-week discussion during same and launched into vocalises. She rolled her eyes and sighedContinue reading “Voice Teacher vs. Voice Coach – Can they co-exist in the same person?”
A critic and a performer can’t live in the same body (at least not at the same time)
Don’t try to create and analyze at the same time John Cage pointed out they’re different processes. Doing one will interfere with the other. What will you create today? You can analyze it tomorrow. https://seths.blog/2019/05/dont-try-to-create-and-analyze-at-the-same-time/ Years ago, I took a writing workshop that said, “You can’t be a writer and an editor at the sameContinue reading “A critic and a performer can’t live in the same body (at least not at the same time)”
She’s the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – with something to say
I am a huge fan of the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the fourth (and final) season of which I’m watching on Netflix right now. The star and creator and producer and writer of the show is the multi-talented (as well as multi-tasking) Rachel Bloom, who plays the title character, Rebecca Bunch. Each episode of the showContinue reading “She’s the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – with something to say”
If you’re going to make a mistake, make a BIG one
I read a blogpost the other day by a musician and psychologist named Noa Kageyama (aka “The Bulletproof Musician”) about the idea that making deliberate mistakes can teach you a lot. Kageyama’s focus, generally, is on being very deliberate and mindful in your practice. So I was doing some thinking when I posted this onContinue reading “If you’re going to make a mistake, make a BIG one”
"An instrument of discovery"
I just read this in a Facebook ad for former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins’ poetry masterclass: “I think of a poem as a flashlight, an instrument of discovery. I’m here to light the way for you, to show you what I’ve learned, and not just about rhyme and meter. I’ll also teach you aboutContinue reading “"An instrument of discovery"”