Stuck in the Seattle airport, waiting out a weather delay. Grant (Loehnig) is teaching us about Xhosa, the language he learned while studying abroad in South Africa. It’s a great language to sing in. The vowels are completely pure, like in Italian. And there are three different “clicks” represented by the letters C, Q and X.
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Some More Perspective
As I transition from a highly enjoyable family weekend in Seattle to the start of our audition tour this week, you should surf on over to some career and audition advice from Patrick Hansen on his blog. “Frankly, we all have talent. Some find the ability to access it easier than others. Many simply allow
Read MoreZen and the Art of the Opera Audition: Killing and Creating
Fourth in a series of audition season posts inspired by a recent re-reading of Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. “When analytic thought is applied to experience, something is always killed in the process… But what is less noticed in the arts – something is always created, too.” How loathe we “artists”
Read MoreZen and the Art of the Opera Audition: Stuckness
Third in a series of audition season posts inspired by a recent re-reading of Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. “No matter how hard you try to hang onto it, this stuckness is bound to disappear. Your mind will naturally and freely move toward a solution. Unless you are a real master
Read MoreThe Scenic Route
Congratulations to my WTOC colleague Lee Anne Myslewski for her first official byline! (in the October issue of Opera America) (Click to enlarge and read)
Read MoreColleague Post: Laurie Rogers
While I’m reviewing the last 100 applications, you may fill the hole left by my blog absence with this great audition season article by colleague and former WTOC coach Laurie Rogers: The Singer-Pianist Audition Relationship. :)
Read MoreZen and the Art of the Opera Audition: High Country
Second in a series of audition season posts inspired by a recent re-reading of Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. ________________________________________________________________________ “Few people travel here. There’s no real profit to be made from wandering through it, yet like this high country of the material world all around us, it has its own
Read MoreZen & the Art of the Opera Audition: Climbing the Mountain
First in a series of audition season posts inspired by a recent re-reading of Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. ___________________________________________________________________ “Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed… To live only for some future goal is
Read MoreZen and the Art of the Opera Audition
This summer, a number of things brought me back to Robert Pirsig’s classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I had read it the first time as as college student in 1975, and it was (as it should be) a completely different experience 37 years later. So, because it’s what speaks to me in
Read MoreThe Inspector Hits the Interwebs!
Our live recording of the 2011 premiere of The Inspector was available for purchase this past summer at Wolf Trap. And now…. it’s available online at Amazon.com and iTunes! The recording is a fabulous audio snapshot of the excitement and energy that filled The Barns during the premiere, captured here in NPR Classical’s review: “I
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