Singing

When the lady sang another country's national anthem at the olympics and just sang "la la la," I thought that was really silly. A national anthem represents a country, just as the sports teams who are playing the game represent the country. And for an official meeting between countries that calls for music, it can set people at ease and give them a topic of conversation. Music bridges a lot between nations.

A couple of years ago I was asked to sing the German Nationalhymne (national anthem), kno…

Now that I've moved to Milwaukee it's safe to tell this story.

My former neighbor, whom I'll simply call "Neighbor," was not what you might call the "communicative" type. If I said "hello," he would do a double-take and then say, surprised, "Hello." If I didn't say hello, he would just walk awkwardly past me.

And the woman that he lived with, she was even worse. I once saw her outside, turned to her to say hello, and she literally turned and ran in the other direction. (Needless to say I didn'…

I love singing at funerals.

And I don't care if anyone thinks it's weird.

I love singing at funerals.

It's probably the most human and the most humane thing anyone can do, to sing to those who are grieving.

Funerals are for the living.

In a high school a student two years younger than my class died in a tragic accident; it was a horrible event and shocked our small town.The high school choir sang and I was so mad because I didn't want to go--I knew I'd cry through the whole service and I th…

The Bel Canto Chorus is now accepting applications for their 2015 Regional Artist Competition. The postmark deadline for applications is Thursday, March 26, 2015.

The 26th Annual Bel Canto Regional Artists Competition is Saturday, May 9, 2015.

From the Bel Canto site:  "The competition was established to support and encourage singers with strong oratorio experience of any age who reside in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio.  Adjudicators come from a wide variety …

Every audition is a job interview. It's a chance to get one step further in your career, to get another contract, another paycheck, and another business relationship.

It's a chance to practice your skills and to prove to yourself what you can do.

It's also another opportunity for rejection. And it can sting. But it doesn't have to sting as badly as it might--here are 3 rules of thumb to keep in mind to prepare yourself well and, if need be, to take the sting out of the rejection.

1. You can…

The critical voice in your head probably knows a lot of rules.

Yucky rules.

Rules that, when broken, will probably reveal some light.

Break them. Break them good!

Rule #1:  You have to be doing "big stuff" all the time.

Rule #1 broken:  No, you don't. You need to be doing the real stuff--engaging with people, doing the best you can do on any given day. That's it.

We don't *always* need to be doing the big concerts, having the "big career," which by the way, doesn't exist in the same form i…

To accomplish this major feat, you need to know a few things. Because learning this shouldn’t take longer than the actual application, here it is short, sweet, and to the point.

1.    Decide if it’s really worth it.
Sit down, and for five minutes think about what this application could lead to—what are the possibilities? If it’s worth a lot later, then it’s definitely worth a few hours of intense work right now. If you don’t care very much, then don’t do it. You’ll only be annoyed with yourself l…

Practice Yoga from Anywhere in the World

This article used to recommend one online yoga resource and now I've updated it. While I use Grokker.com for yoga and exercise at home and on the road, and it's so far my favorite, down-to-earth exercise video resource, I receive no money for recommending it to you.

As you've discovered in the first 3 posts of the Yoga for Singers series, yoga can help you release tension, zone in on your best performance practices, calm you, and it can also energize yo…

What My Yoga Practice Has Taught Me (Besides to Stand on my Head)

We all have a common desire:  to feel good about ourselves and what we are up to in the world.  Many musicians choose to go into this field because they couldn’t imagine themselves doing anything else.  Anyone brave enough to say a wholehearted “yes” to make their true passion their living knows there are ups and downs along the way.   I know that I am living my yoga when I’m able to gracefully receive a rejection email and say to…

Beginner's Yoga Sequence for Singers

Let’s be real.  Starting to practice yoga can be intimidating.  Perhaps this is because of its inherent connection with having to be flexible (which you don’t) or needing to twist yourself into a pretzel (which you don’t).   A very wise yoga teacher once told me that yoga is a breathing practice, and the physical postures are there to facilitate a deeper connection to your breath.  One of my favorite singing teachers told me instead of thinking of singing wel…