I have written before that I grew up without any real holiday traditions. My dad was Slovenian (or at least that’s what I was told – in recent years, I’ve been told secondhand that he was born in Slovenia to Croatian parents) and my mother was Estonian. You would think that my childhood Christmases wouldContinue reading “Creating Your Own Holiday Traditions”
Tag Archives: cabaret
Fighting the post-show blues
As much as I complained about the effort involved in getting to rehearsals for the recent Come Home concert at WNO, closing the performance this past weekend has made me feel kind of … empty. Basically, I’ve got the post-show blues, or post-show depression. I don’t feel like I’m really depressed, but I definitely feelContinue reading “Fighting the post-show blues”
Reflections on Summer Goals
June 1! Officially two weeks till my birthday. When I was younger, everything after May 15 and before June 30 was related to how close it was to my birthday. That’s less of a big deal now. But I do see June 1 as the unofficial beginning of summer and a new year (forContinue reading “Reflections on Summer Goals”
Keep Calm and Sing On – But Not This Week
A week ago, my intention for today had been to write that the studio was open every day but Thursday because of the opera. Then the opera was cancelled. Three days ago, my intention for today had been to write that the studio would be open for in-person lessons for anyone who wanted to comeContinue reading “Keep Calm and Sing On – But Not This Week”
Creating a Cabaret FAQ
From last night’s Curiously Stronger Performing workshop (in case you weren’t there): “What is a cabaret? How is it different than a recital? Or a musical?” “Cabaret is personal musical theater” (Amanda McBroom). Cabaret Traditional Recital Musical VENUE Place where people are seated at tables, eating or drinking (or both) Performance hall or church; audience is seatedContinue reading “Creating a Cabaret FAQ”
What if I had just stayed “comfortable”?
If I never did anything new, I’d still be: Working at Fleet Mortgage Corp. as a customer service rep Living in Waukesha in a townhouse I didn’t really want to buy in the first place with my first husband Singing in the Florentine Opera chorus Dreaming of doing more with my life I wouldn’t have:Continue reading “What if I had just stayed “comfortable”?”
Dames in C – and D – and Other Keys
As many of you know, I love singing cabaret with a white-hot passion. And I want to share that love with my students, because I think that the idea of creating personal musical theater should exist in everything you sing, from art song to musical theater songs to opera. I’ve done some great things atContinue reading “Dames in C – and D – and Other Keys”
Practice Challenge – October 1-December 14, 2018
I have decided to pose a practice challenge to my students. And to myself, as well. A year ago, I made a recording of some songs I had commissioned by local composer Garth Baxter on poetry in both English and Irish Gaelic. The date of the recording was August 10. So, beginning about 2 monthsContinue reading “Practice Challenge – October 1-December 14, 2018”
The Performing Teacher/Teaching Artist
The biggest reason I moved back to the east coast from Milwaukee was because I was not performing at all. Or hardly at all. On the up side, this allowed/forced me to focus on developing my teaching/business skills, and I discovered that I’m really good at this. But performing was important to me, both becauseContinue reading “The Performing Teacher/Teaching Artist”
What’s Next? – It’s BIG
The other day I wrote a blog called A Year In Review about all the things that happened that were studio-related since about this time a year ago. Today I’m going to write about the things that I see on the horizon. This is what I’ve got planned for 2019-2020: Write articles for the Roland ParkContinue reading “What’s Next? – It’s BIG”