That wonderful musical cocoon you have been in while participating in whatever summer program you have chosen has or is about to wind down. It has been an amazing experience and you have been nurtured and surrounded by fellow musicians who are for the most part, of like mind. You have been allowed to leave […]
Over the summer I have had many singers ask me the best way to get the emotion, along with their ideas of the character into a role or even just an aria or song so it doesn't seem contrived or as if they were just acting. They wanted to know how to make a piece […]
Ever have a personal, business or career situation where there were words exchanged that didn't resolve anything, just making the situation even more difficult and uncomfortable over time? Or perhaps you, like millions of others, want to avoid confrontation at all costs! You just let everything slip past you hoping all will just go away […]
Mark found himself beginning to fully embrace the character of Pinkerton in Butterfly. It was a role he knew would become part of his repertoire at some point during his career. However, the opportunity to sing this role at New York City Opera was going to move him into a whole different category as far […]
In the Sunday, October 22, 2006 edition of the New York Times, critic Anthony Tommasini wrote an interesting article "A Lamentation on the Dearth of Divas." He begged the question, "Where are the singers to give voice to opera's grandest music? Probably tackling a wider repertory." He went on to say that everyone is singing […]
As a singer, performing was what I lived for. I loved being the character and telling the story by becoming part of it. I felt as if I were the one making the music happen and making the story unfold. I felt totally immersed in the emotional movement of the music and story; that my […]
In today's modern Western world many of us seem to have lost touch with that aesthetic, insightful part of ourselves, our "gut level" or heart feeling. It's been noted by many of today's prominent Medical Doctors and Scientists, that we, in the Western world, have become preoccupied with living in our heads. In fact most […]
I've noticed that so many singers today burn out before they even begin their careers. We lose some really great voices before they even begin because they simply give up. They get tired of trying to figure out how to get their foot in the door that will really take them to the next step […]
What do you dream of achieving not only in your professional singing career, but in life in general? In your wildest imagination what do you see yourself doing? Now, what is standing between you and the realization of that dream? There are so many reasons and excuses we use for not pursuing our dreams. Sometimes […]