Opera Singing in Germany and other adventures....

Well, hello all! Welcome to another Thursday morning, just like any other really, except for the nagging guilt of my taking time off of cadenza research and instead writing this blog post for you! Why do I write today, you ask? Does it have to do with the cacophonous collision of c's in the title of this blog post? Why yes, yes it does. My, aren't you awake this morning! Currently I find myself in a 'Groundhog Day' of sorts. One which was created by the dreaded task that faces all singers sooner or later, and especially those of my particular voice type: Coloratura Sopranos. Ha!- as if it wasn't enough that we have to sing the dang things, someone still decided to rub it in by naming our variety of Soprano by the very thing that is currently making me look for excuses to clean the house, namely, coloratura cadenzas. Coming up with cadenzas with coloratura passages that ultimately show off your voice but also 'fit' the style of the music is something that ...

In light of all the things which have been happening recently (especially the most recent mass shootings and bombings in Paris carried out by ISIS) and all of the terribly violent crimes against humanity that have happened in the recent past (the Ferguson shooting, all the horrible genocides taking place throughout Africa and the Middle East, the war in Afghanistan, the silent takeover of the Krim by Russia....the list could go on and on) I feel that I need to talk about our role as Musicians in society when circumstances like these provide us the opportunity to make a real change. Not that our music making wasn't already altering the lives of those who witnessed it, but rather, in situations of less volatility, our music's message may not have been understood with as much gravitas as is possible now. Why is it that whenever there is too much sadness in the world people look to music to give hope, provide insight, ease discomfort and affect change? (Of course there are those...