Blog: Open Intervals
"The Power of Music"
Warning: You'll probably need tissues. Or a handy sleeve. This left me in a teary puddle all over my desk, for so many reasons.
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The Power of Music from Life File Videos on Vimeo.
St. John Passion--Radio Broadcast on MPR!
Friday, April 6, 2012 at 10:00 am - on Minnesota Public Radio!
A radio broadcast from our sold-out performance on March 24th!
William Hite, Evangelist
Bradley Greenwald, Jesus
Carrie Henneman Shaw, soprano
Nicole Warner, alto
Roy Heilman, tenor
Aaron Larson, bass
Conducted by Paul Boehnke
Bach Society of Minnesota
Recorded LIVE March 24, 2012 in St. Mary's Chapel, St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, MN
St. John Passion with the Bach Society of Minnesota
Saturday, March 24, 2012 at 7:30 pm
William Hite, Evangelist
Bradley Greenwald, Jesus
Carrie Henneman Shaw, soprano
Nicole Warner, alto
Roy Heilman, tenor
Aaron Larson, bass
Conducted by Paul Boehnke
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Bach Society of Minnesota
St. Mary's Chapel
St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, MN
University of St. Thomas campus
2600 Summit Ave.St. Paul, MN 55105
We Need a Revolution
Are you ever disappointed to hear a band live in concert, only to realize they are really a “studio band” because they don’t sound very good live?
When was the last time you spent an entire afternoon listening to new music on the radio?
How many times have you heard someone speak about classical music and were totally turned off?
ENOUGH!
"My high school choir director told me I couldn\u2019t sing, but my kids love it when I sing to them. Should I take voice lessons?"
I can barely express HOW OFTEN I have heard this from adult voice students. People have come to lessons fearful and practically trembling because they so badly want to sing and someone once told them they couldn’t or they shouldn’t. For these students, it’s a particularly meaningful journey as we explore their voice and their musical creativity together.
As a music teacher, as a voice teacher, as an advocate for the arts, it’s baffling to me that so many people have this experience in th…
Fill Up With Music - 5 Ways
If you're busy creating music, re-creating someone else's music, editing someone else's music, or recording someone else's music, you're creating a lot of musical output and it's vital that you have some musical input. Here are 5 easy ways to fill up on music:
1. Pandora - Create a channel, listen to someone else's channel, and listen to your favorite music for FREE. Get more than 40 hours a month by paying their low, yearly fee. You can mix as many artists as you like; my main channel includes …
Sing for Free—A How-to Guide for Creating a Singing Donation Budget
In 5 Tips for Taking a Gig (or Not!) I brought up this rule of thumb (from Ratgeber Freie) on taking or turning down a gig:
Does it make me happy? Does it make me rich? Or does it make me proud?
There are gigs that definitely won’t make you rich AND they are incredibly valuable. Because it’s inevitable that people will call you up during the year and say, “We don’t have a lot of money, but…” or even “We don’t have any money, would you sing this as a favor?” Sing for free? I think not!
B…
How Much Do Singers Need to Practice?
How much a singer needs to practice truly depends on the person, the project, and the purpose.
The Person: Some singers want and need to practice every day, as it's such a strong part of their daily routine, their day would be incomplete without it. There are plenty of musicians who even take their instruments on vacation with them, as they want to keep their muscles in excellent shape. Other singers practice several times a week, and yet other singers practice only when they have a project or…
How Long Does it Take to Prepare for a Gig or a Concert?
It truly depends on the piece and/or the program. A piece like Mahler's 2nd Symphony is larger and takes more time to 'sink in,' so even though that concert is in May, I've already begun working on it. When learning a new piece of music, whether it's as long as a symphony or as short as Barber's "Sure on this Shining Night," there are several, over-arching steps to piece preparation:
- Wood-Shedding. This is the initial get-to-know-you stage, where you play & sing through a piece, look up and wr…
Are You a Guest Musician, Section Leader, or Ringer? And What is ‘Ringing,’ Anyway?
Let’s work backwards. Ringing is the term we use when a professional singer joins a choir, say a church choir, for a kind of limited engagement. It’s usually one week here, maybe another week down the line, and the main job of the singer is to ‘fill out’ the section. Sometimes solo work is included, but frequently not. A ‘ringer’ (the person who ‘rings’) is really hired to be a strong voice leading a section of the ensemble.
In the case of a church choir, a ringer is asked to attend one rehear…