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beautiful women singing in a beautiful city

The Twentieth Anniversary Season Concert for Echo Women’s Choir happened this past Sunday. I had the pleasure and privilege of guest conducting a substantial portion of the concert. I don’t have any video or audio–yet–so you’ll have to take my word for it: these 80 women sounded wonderful. The program was pretty eclectic: some gospel, some worker/protest songs, an Arabic love song, a few pieces from the Republic of Georgia. The central piece was a composition called ‘Sun’ (conducted by my colleague Alan Gasser), with text by Eliot Rose and music by William Westcott–this full-on, massive sounding,insane piano-accompanying, hard-to-sing vocal… Read More »beautiful women singing in a beautiful city

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Beautiful City May 13

Beautiful City Echo Women’s Choir 20th Anniversary Season with special guest Suba Sankaran Sunday, May 13, 2012 3:00 pm The Church of the Holy Trinity (West side of Eaton Centre) Tickets: $12 advance/$15 door $8 children/seniors/underwaged For info and tickets: 416-588-9050 ext 3   This is it! Echo’s Spring Concert is almost here. I’ve been having an insanely wonderful time conducting this fantastic group of 80 women. Come and listen to us sing songs from many traditions–Georgian, gospel, South Indian, folk, and a whopper of a piece called Sun composed by Bill Westcott using a stunning visceral poem written by… Read More »Beautiful City May 13

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performance: voices in the dark

Voices in the Dark Earth Hour Arts Celebration Saturday, March 31, 2012 7pm to 10pm Church of the Holy Trinity (10 Trinity Square, by the Eaton Centre) Silent Auction and Cash Bar Tickets $25/Sponsors $100 To reserve/for more info: 416-462-9400 or mitsecho@gmail.com this flyer can be downloaded from http://www.echowomenschoir.ca Usually I’m not a fan of being in the dark, but if this year is going to be anything like last year, spending $25 to sit in a candle-lit 100-yr old church listening to music and stories could possibly be the best way to spend your 2012 earth hour. The event… Read More »performance: voices in the dark

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sing for love

At the risk of killing romance, I’m going to be honest: I hate valentine’s day. I buy pre-packaged branded valentine cards for my sons to give to their friends, and my kids will come home this afternoon with bags full of the same kinds of cards that bear not more than a tenuous connection to love. Same for the chocolates and roses we’re supposed to purchase for our lovers this one day: consumerist expressions of love. So I’m a cynic, a valentine scrooge: bah humbug on love, valentine style. But this morning, I’m rethinking the value of a day in… Read More »sing for love

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new singing experiences for 2012

Tonight is the first rehearsal of Echo Women’s Choir’s Spring concert season: their 20th Anniversary concert. I’m thrilled to be a guest conductor, alongside the wonderful Alan Gasser, while the choir’s other wonderful conductor, Becca Whitla, pursues her Masters research in Cuba. Echo is a community-based choir in Toronto. There are no auditions to particicpate, though you might have to have your name on a waitlist for a little while. If you’re interested in singing, there are probably hundreds of choirs in the city to choose from, many of which do not require auditions. Most choirs have fees to participate,… Read More »new singing experiences for 2012

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Sing in the Season

Well, ‘tis the time of year for seasonal concerts of all kinds. Here are a few that I’m involved in, or planning to attend. Maybe I’ll see you at one of them? Echo Women’s Choir: “Land of the Dreams” Sunday, December 11, 2011 @ 7:30pm Holy Trinity Church (West side of Eaton Centre) http://www.echowomenschoir.ca/ The concert is named after one of two pieces I arranged for them, both written by the wonderful singer-songwriter Laurel James. I’ve heard them rehearse and the evening promises to be warm and enjoyable with repertoire from regions around the world. Toronto Jewish Folk Choir: “Chanukah… Read More »Sing in the Season

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beginning and beginning again: six strategies in starting with a new voice teacher

I went back to school this week to begin the 3rd year of my Ph.D. in Music Education, and I was often cheerfully greeted with “Happy New Year!” In this corner of the world, September feels like the real start of the year. Whether you are in school, have kids in school, or have simply been conditioned through previous years of school, we approach September with the fresh optimism of beginners, even with a longing for a summer that has slipped by. This beginnings-time-of-year was underlined for me this week: I had several new voice students begin at my voice… Read More »beginning and beginning again: six strategies in starting with a new voice teacher

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Phenomenon of Singing in Phenomenal Newfoundland

Well, that was an incredible 4 days. Up at 4:30 am on Sunday to catch a plane to St. John’s for the Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium VIII, At Memorial University Newfoundland, the academic part of a GI-NORMOUS choral festival called Festival 500. Let me tell you, there really were no downsides to this journey. In fact, I’m not really sure what to say, or where to start. Highlights from the Symposium: Kate Munger, who began Threshold Choirs in California about 10 years ago–groups of women who singing to people who are dying. She was warm, thoughtful and best of… Read More »Phenomenon of Singing in Phenomenal Newfoundland

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it’s like falling off a cliff, over and over

The vocal pedagogy that I practice and teach mostly draws from the work of Fides Krucker. I just got back from a lesson with Fides, and through my vocal and pedagogical training with her, I’ve come to understand singing as an integration of contradictions that demands the quiet but complete bravery of leaping off a cliff. In one of my first singing lessons with Fides, back in 2003, she was coaching me through a vocal slide, trying to get me to find air flow without pushing or straining the muscles around the vocal folds. She told me “it’s like you’re… Read More »it’s like falling off a cliff, over and over

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Women @ Work: Echo’s Spring Concert

Sunday, May 1st at 3pm Church of the Holy Trinity Toronto, ON Tickets: $12 in advance, $15 at door ($8 underwaged/seniors/children) www.echowomenschoir.ca

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