All Articles – Page 205

In our last installment of the Pedagogy 101 series, we discussed the importance of diction and its effects on healthy vocal technique. In this installment, we’ll tackle the somewhat controversial issue of choral singing, its effects on solo singing, and what experts, from choral conductors to teachers and vocalists, recommend.

Ensemble singing has long held stereotypes and misconceptions as well as valid concerns for the classically trained singer—from being hard on a singer’s voice, to “pigeonholing” a singer as forever

Tell us how we’re doing. Tell us about the articles that have helped you and articles you’d like to read. We would like to publish your comments, received either by e-mail at editorial@classicalsinger.com or in the mail at P.O. Box 1710, Draper, UT 84020.

Submit entries to the bulletin board by e-mail at bulletinboard@classicalsinger.com.

Those in attendance at the AudComps Finals Concert at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott Hotel last May need no introduction to soprano Katrina Thurman. Her fiery performance not only earned her first place from the judges, but the Audience Choice award as well. Read about her path to choosing a career as a singer, how she combats the rejection and doubts along that path, and what she sees on the horizon.

Singers are often left stymied when they are asked to name a fee for a prospective gig. Take some of the guesswork out of the process by learning some basic dos and don’ts about naming your price.

If you find yourself the proud owner of a new iPhone or iPod touch, you are in a good position to enhance your singing pursuits. Here is a list of downloadable applications, many free, that are useful to classical singers.

Once in a while, when the stars are aligned, when the director, conductor, singers, and designers are all on the same page and of the same skill level, opera has the potential to become what the composer in Ariadne auf Naxos calls “die heilige unter den Künsten” (the highest of the arts). What follows is not a review, but an appreciation of one recent occasion where singer and writer Lisa Houston saw that potential realized, causing her to reevaluate the possibilities for the art form of opera.

In the spirit of Adria Firestone’s recent series “The Singer’s Addiction,” one “retired” singer shares how she is transitioning into a new career as the artistic director of a concert series on New York City’s Roosevelt Island. Read about how she did it, the miracles that have occurred, and the challenges she’s still praying to resolve.

In this final installment of Firestone’s series on retiring from singing, Adria Firestone shares readers’ thoughts on this somewhat frightening prospect that looms in the future of every singer. Read what your fellow singers have to say on everything from retiring, to transitioning to new careers, to the joy, heartache, and hard knocks of this career.

I was running on the trail around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park last fall, with my music up loud, minding my own business. Suddenly a bird lit

Tell us how we’re doing. Tell us about the articles that have helped you and articles you’d like to read. We would like to publish your comments, received either by e-mail at editorial@classicalsinger.com or in the mail at P.O. Box 1710, Draper, UT 84020.