WHAT: Auditions for the Northwest Boychoir WHO: Boys Kindergarten – Third Grades. No previous music training needed WHEN: Saturday, May 21, 2011. WHERE: By appointment at 5031 University Way NE, NB2 at the University Heights Community Center WHAT ELSE: Call 206-524-3234 to make an appointment and learn more about the Northwest Boychoir – or email [...]
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Maybe I’ve been hanging out with too many ladybodys in Macau, but this is pretty damn cool. Lin Yu sings Dolly Parton classic on Taiwanese talent show Super Star Avenue, giving his all for the $1 Million prize. (Parton wrote and first recorded the song, which Whitney Houston later recorded.)
Be sure to watch the whole video. Lots of great stuff in here. Bravo! The Barbershop Harmony Society is proud to present your 2009 International Barbershop Chorus Champions performing their uptune ‘Seventy-Six Trombones’ by Meredith Wilson and arranged by David Wright. Representing the Central States District, under the Direction of Dr. Jim Henry…..the Ambasssadors of [...]
Continue reading about Ambassadors of Harmony – 2009 International Barbershop Chorus Champions
O sole mio: Trio Ginoble – Boschetto – Barone – Live
Continue reading about O sole mio: Trio Ginoble-Boschetto-Barone – Live
Approach to Bach with the Swingle Singers – with original member Ward Swingle. He says if we can listen to Bach in the morning we lead better lives because of it… I remember hearing the Swingle Singers a LOT as a kid in the early seventies. Great stuff and some of my favorite all time [...]
If you’ve been following along with the “Gloria Challenge” then this page has everything you might be interested in. Full instrument and conductor scores, rehearsal MP3′s, final performance MP3 and links to posts made during the process. The “Gloria Challenge” was to follow the footsteps of JS Bach to compose and perform a full scale [...]
Continue reading about Gloria Challenge Part V – The Performance
Famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who appeared on stage with singers as varied as opera star Dame Joan Sutherland, U2′s Bono and Liza Minnelli, died Thursday after suffering from pancreatic cancer. This is how I remember Pavarotti – Robust, bigger than life and holding his white handkerchief. When I was in high school I got [...]
During a vocal recording session I was producing for an album this evening several things came up that I thought might be good to address. Producing a vocal track can be a bit of a mystery in approach and there are many mistakes a producer can make in the process. Here’s my two cents worth [...]
If you want to improve as a vocalist it’s important you take private lessons. Voice is not like other instruments. It sounds different in your head than it does to other people. A good voice teacher will help you to visualize and master your own vocal production anatomy, which is a difficult task. You can’t [...]
I am a vocal instructor for the META Performing Arts summer theater camp. I teach two age groups: Teens and 8-12. I couldn’t find much online for live excercises with kids that would teach vocal technique and be entertaining. Here are some things I came up with that you might find helpful. Kids 8-12 Age [...]
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 Words: JuÂlia W. Howe, 1861, alt. This hymn was born durÂing the AmerÂiÂcan ciÂvil war, when Howe visÂitÂed a UnÂion ArÂmy camp on the PoÂtoÂmac RivÂer near WashÂingÂton, D. C. She heard the solÂdiers singÂing the song “John Brown’s Body,†and was takÂen with the strong marchÂing beat. She wrote the words the next [...]
Visit the Northwest Boychoir website at NorthwestChoirs.org I was a soprano in the Northwest Boychoir from 1976-1980 under directors George Fiore and Steve Stevens. It is still the most formative musical experience I have ever had. It was intense, disciplined and grueling. I cannot even imagine what music would be to me if I had [...]
What makes an accent real, and what makes it phony? What is really a Southern accent in the United States and what is someone doing a vocal caricature. What is a true cockney accent and what mistakes do Americans typically make with English accents on stage? I have no idea. But here is a variety [...]
Con Anima is a small ensemble of operatic vocalists from St. Petersburg, Russia. Small in number, but by no means small in sound or passion. They performed recently at my church, Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church. I could not find reviews of them online so I wanted to let you know what they are like as [...]
Continue reading about Con Anima Vocal Group – St. Petersburg, Russia
St.Petersburg, Russia – Con Anima is a vocal ensemble of Saint Petersburg. Visit the Con Anima Russian Choir website. Read a review of a Con Anima Church Concert. All singers in the group are graduates of Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Conservatory in Russia is a higher musical educational establishment. Term of training – 5 years. Conservatory [...]
The challenging part of vocal coaching is getting singers to understand the feeling of vocal placement for their particular voice. It’s common at some point to show a vocalist an actual anatomy picture of the throat and muscles involved in vocal production. After that, it’s a mind game to have them understand the nuance of [...]
Literally, “tessitura” is the Italian for “texture.” So it isn’t just the range of pitches that is included in the concept of “tessitura”, but also their arrangement. Examples of differences in tessitura include: does the piece have mostly sudden or gradual rises and falls in pitch; the relative number of very high or low notes, [...]
Pharyngeal Vowel Exercise: Excerpt: The next step is to work with the pharyngeal vowel exercise that I designed years ago. I have found it works with approximately 95% of singers. Have the singer sing a 5-tone descending scale with the tongue between the lips imaging the vowel space straight back behind the tongue. Then have [...]
Causes of Vocal Fatigue by David Jones (2001) VoiceTeacher.com. Causes: (1) Smoking or drinking alcoholic beverages. (2) Belting: using too much chest voice pushed up to high in the scale. (3) Using a technique with a tight solar plexus during singing. (4) Singing with a high larynx. (5) Singing with a low soft palate. (6) [...]
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