Dear Editor: I can’t remember when I laughed as much as I did reading Les Dreyer’s “Devil’s Dictionary for Singers.” [April 2007] I shared it with a pianist friend and also one from Germany. The latter especially loved Les’s “translations” of the German words. If I ever start getting unnecessarily serious about anything, I’ll pick up Les Dreyer’s dictionary and laugh out loud.
—Betty Jean Rieders, Rushland, Penn.
Dear Editor: As a follow up to [Cindy Sadler’s] column in the May 2007 Classical Singer magazine, I wanted to tell you how I managed to get to Italy last summer. I asked a friend who has a beautiful, somewhat spacious brownstone in New York City to host a recital/party. I found out that if people donate money to the program I went on they would get a tax deduction. All they would have to do was earmark the money for me in the subject line at the bottom of the check. I e-mailed almost everyone I knew, inviting them to a recital at my friend’s home followed by a small reception. An event-planning friend helped me organize food, etc.
I did a full recital of art songs and arias, including pieces I would be singing that summer. Not only did I have a packed house, but I managed to raise more than the cost of the airfare and the program combined. Whatever monies were left over after the program was paid for were sent to me as a check to pay for airfare.
I was tremendously lucky to have the support of my friends, family, and community, and it was a wonderful opportunity to do an intimate recital for my friends. Best of luck to those fundraising now and in the future.
—Naomi Cohen, via e-mail
Dear Editor: Thank you so much for the two copies of your magazine. Even at 82, singing only with the church choir (due to my husband’s health), [my] past was filled with [what] everyone does as a singer and it is, indeed, a passion, isn’t it? So I am going to subscribe. Thanks again!
—Elizabeth Lewis, Pleasant Hill, Tenn.
