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03:50 pm
[aprettynight]
[Link] |
britten!
Does anyone know of/have a recording of "Injurious Hermia" from Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream? I can't find one anywhere and I'm supposed to have it learned by next week...so that I can coach it with Shirley-Quirk. Yikes. I've never heard it before!
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11:55 pm
[jollymollie]
[Link] |
Music faculty
Does anyone know much about the music faculty at Yale University or Longy School of Music? I'm a full lyric soprano looking at grads schools and didn't know if anyone knew the faculty at either school.
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10:51 pm
[madamevoilanska]
[Link] |
The Consul
Anybody know what kind of soprano usually sings the Foreign Woman in The Consul? I've been listening to her aria and trying to get a feel for the voice, but I'm not really sure--I'd love to know what the weight of the role is comparable to. Also, are there any other soprano roles in the opera that aren't Magda ('cause I'm sure as shooting not a spinto!)?
Thanks,
Anne
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08:25 pm
[plur_na_gaoithe]
[Link] |
Pedagogy question!
If this isn't welcome, please let me know and I will remove it.
I have a pedagogy issue:
I recently went to a singing program in which I learned about a lot of bad habits I had gotten into. All of them are things that I can understand and upon feeling them, agree with, and for most of them I was given solutions to work on. However, one problem I was not given a solution to, and it's causing me some difficulty, because frequently when I focus on a problem without really knowing how to solve it it creates odd tension and makes things worse.
When I go up to high notes my larynx rises and my soft palate lowers, shortening the distance between the two rather than creating the necessary space. I know that the notes(anything A6 or higher, and occasionally a semi-tone or two lower on a bad day) are well within my singing range, and it's very apparent in other ways that I am a soprano; I just haven't figured out how to get the muscle coordination correct and have built in the wrong way of doing things. Does anyone know any techniques/exercises specifically for keeping the larynx stable as I get into that register? I feel like the soft palate will fix itself once I figure that out.
Thank you!
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11:20 am
[beetle_j1111an]
[Link] |
American Idol Auditions
Hello all! I don't know if this post is appropriate, so feel free to delete it if it's not.
American Idol is coming to my city for the first time (I live in Louisville, Kentucky) in two weeks and I'm considering auditioning. I'm a vocal performance major and my forte is in classical and sometimes musical theatre. I have four songs picked out and I'm feeling confident that I have the talent and charisma to get me to Hollywood. However, I've been thinking that maybe this isn't the way I want to become known as a musician. I don't like how American Idol picks the really talented or really funny/bad people and then exploits the bad people, making them believe that they're being seriously considered for the next American Idol before they go see the judges, then making them seem like idiots.
Do any of you singers have any experience with American Idol? I'd love to hear your stories and advice. Thank you so much!
-Jillian
Cross-posted to: ljschoolofmusic, musicmajors, broadway, singers, and vocalmajors
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05:39 pm
[plur_na_gaoithe]
[Link] |
Abingdon Summer School for Solo Singers
I know that this community gets a lot of posts like this, but I didn't know where else to post this, so sorry if this is annoying to anyone.
Has anyone been to the Abingdon Summer School for Solo Singers(http://www.abingdonsummerschoolforsolosingers.co.uk/) or know anyone who has, or can direct me to a more appropriate place to ask? There's lots of information on the classes and program itself on the website, but very little about the average ages/experience levels of the students(or how many come from where, for that matter) that go there, and while I'm obviously going to find out when I get there I'd also like to have a general idea about it beforehand so that I'm not caught off-guard if I happen to be at the higher or lower end of the age/experience spectrum.
Thank you. : )
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12:15 pm
[lunasebg]
[Link] |
audition advice
Hi all. I'm just starting to go out out and audition for companies etc. I feel as though before an audition, I get nervous and have a hard time really getting ahold of my support. Do any of you have a breathing or mental exercise you do before walking into an audition to help with the nerves?
Thanks!
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01:01 pm
[lotheuialien]
[Link] |
Sacred Rep Suggestions
Ciao Tutti :)
I'm hoping you'll come to my rescue with your wisdom and sage advice!
I have a regular church gig, and as the choir is a little bare during the summer our director has the paid section leaders sing solos. I have been asked to sing a solo during the offeratory June 29th. The problem is, I don't really have any sacred rep!
I would love any suggestions, or perhaps pointers or a starting place to being looking.
For reference:
I'm 20 years old and will soon be a junior voice major. I guess you could call me a mezzo (my voice teacher just says "willing female singer" at the moment, although she thinks I might one day be a spinto. We'll see about that. She has been giving me soprano rep all year, which has been interesting, to say the least). I have a solid high A, but much higher than that is iffy.
/edit/ I am familiar "Pie Jesu" from Fauré's Reqium...but that's what I sang when asked to do this last summer!
My teacher has me working on these pieces this summer:
"Auch mit gedämpften, schwachen Stimmen" by J.S. Bach (this is sacred, but calls for violin in addition to piano, and is a little long. I don't know if it would sound right minus the violin)
"All desio di chi t'adora" by W.A. Mozart (Mozart concert aria that replaces Deh vieni in Nozze)
Thanks all,
Lauren
Current Mood:  hopeful
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04:14 pm
[sondheim_e_dio]
[Link] | Does anyone here go to Northern Kentucky State and study with Richard Cowan?
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10:39 pm
[lunasebg]
[Link] |
Hansel and Gretel
So does anyone have a recording of Hansel and Gretel that they'd recommend? As in specific singers, Hansel in particular? Yesterday my coach suggested I learn the role. She said its an opera that's done alot, but Hansel is tough to cast, and she believes I'd be a very succesful Hansel. I don't know the opera at all, so I'd like to give it a listen.
Thanks
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04:58 pm
[h34th3rvi01in]
[Link] | Does anybody know what fach Hero in Beatrice et Benedict is?
Thank you!
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10:14 pm
[madamevoilanska]
[Link] |
Early faching
So I went to Dr. Bastian in Downers Grove, IL to get my chords scoped yesterday (which was an incredibly unpleasant, if important, experience), and as was to be expected, he asked me some questions about my voice beforehand. The conversation went something like this:
HIM: What kind of voice do you have?
ME: I'm a soprano.
HIM: What kind? Are you a lyric soprano, soubrette...?
ME: I don't know yet.
HIM: Well, is it a big loud sound, or high and light?
ME: It's pretty big, but it's still bright and high.
HIM: Oh, so a coloratura?
ME: I don't know. Maybe.
I'm only twenty years old, and I do sing a lot of soubrette rep. I also sing "Piangerò" and "Adieu, notre petite table." Odds are that I'm not going to be a soubrette forever--but the sound of my voice doesn't scream "full lyric" or "coloratura." My voice teacher once said, "Hmm, maybe you'll have the high notes for 'Durch Zärtlichkeit' someday"; then last week my vocal coach told me I'd probably wind up a fuller lyric--but for now I should work on Ännchen's arias from Der Freischütz. My voice does have a lot of flexibility; I'm also capable of a great legato and I can produce a ton of sound. So I think it's safe to say I don't know what "kind" of soprano I am.
Just wanted to share this experience, maybe get some discussion about fachs going. I've always been told that you shouldn't categorize yourself too early because the voice doesn't fully mature until later. But the way Dr. Bastian was asking me about it, I felt like I should have had a better answer for him. I'm curious to see what you all think of this.
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08:26 pm
[jollymollie]
[Link] |
Help!
I'm looking for a character skirt and shoes for an opera program and have no idea where to look! Does anyone know a good place online or a store to find these in?
I'm also looking for a theater makeup kit and don't know what is a good price to pay.
Thanks in advance!
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11:40 pm
[sing1118]
[Link] | What is your favourite opera? I've picked out two opera recordings that I'm going to get, and I get a third free (I work at Barnes & Noble, there's a promo going on right now). But I haven't decided what the third should be! So what is your favourite/what opera is a must-have for a growing collection?
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07:14 pm
[jollymollie]
[Link] |
summer workshop
Is anyone here attending the Harrower Opera Workshop in ATlanta? Just curious....
Jolls
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01:10 am
[shezadi]
[Link] |
Summer?
For those of you who only take voice during the school year, how do you keep in good vocal shape during the summer? I'm afraid of developing all sorts of bad habits and bad technique. Thanks.
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12:00 am
[madamevoilanska]
[Link] | As far as recitals go, how do you guys go about choosing rep? Do you take into consideration what other people are going to want to hear, or just what you want to sing? How much of what you do is strictly canon, and how far do you veer into the unfamiliar?
I'm mainly curious because I went to a recital the other day that was all music nobody had ever heard before and I had a lot of trouble sitting through it. And I'm already starting to plan my senior recital (I'm giving my junior recital in a few weeks), and wondering how best to choose a program.
~Anne
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02:11 pm
[shezadi]
[Link] |
Rate of progress?
So I assume that most people taking voice lessons in college have already taken before. I haven't taken seriously before college, though, and I was wondering how long it takes people to learn different stuff. How long do people sing exclusively art songs before they move on to arias? Just curious. Thanks.
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07:30 pm
[scythe79]
[Link] | So, I'm among the recently graduated singers who's working a day job until I deem myself financially ready to go get a Master's Degree or pursue music full-time.
Until then, I've been working a government day job and doing music stuff in the evenings. Besides singing at churches, in a couple community groups, I've been taking on students and have 3 regular ones with 3 to 4 people who call me on occasion for coachings.
Here's my dilemma:
I had a beginning student who decided after 3 months of lessons with me that she wanted to be a voice major at the local university. She auditioned for it and got private lessons, which for freshman is 30 min/week. I was glad for her, a little bummed to lose a good student and the income but still, she worked really hard and progressed a lot.
After about a month, she asked if she could still take lessons with me. So she's been paying for 1 hr lessons with me once a week in addition to the 1/2 hour lessons with the voice professor. It started out as she just wanted coachings, and practice (I sightread piano well enough to accompany). Now it's every week.
Because she's going to be involved in the music program for the next four years, I've been trying to push her towards asking her teacher questions instead of me. I'm aware that her teacher and I have very different methods as well as personalities, so I've also been trying to make sure that I'm not contradicting anything that her professor says. The student hasn't told her other teacher that she's still taking lessons with me on a regular basis.
I feel like I'm betraying an ethics code of some sort...it's the student's choice, and I understand wanting extra help that you can't get with a busy professor.
At the same time, I'm afraid that if her professor finds out, my student will be disadvantaging herself (this professor is not the most forgiving) in terms of department politics, not to mention if/how it would reflect on me.
Any feedback is appreciated.
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09:53 am
[kathryntgreat]
[Link] |
More Foreign Languages...
This might be a stupid question, but does anyone know of any operatic music in Arabic?
Hope everyone is having a good spring!
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