Auction, "Imagine", and Proper Hat Etiquette

Happy New Year to you all!

Yesterday, was the first day of the KCVI Charity Auction.  We just started our silent auction and every two weeks we will have 4 more items up for bid.  This silent auction is a great way to get items for cheaper than what our more public, ebay auction, will run.  Also, it will feature some very unique items.  It is very easy to bid: go to www.kcvocalinstitute.com, click the auction button, click on the item, give your bid and contact info, and you will get an email if someone has outbid you.

Our first four items are:
Lyric Opera of Kansas City Ticket Package - bid starting at $20
Stephen Flaherty Autographed CD "Seussical" - bid starting at $1
Gregory Porter Autographed CD "Water" - bid starting at $1
Eric Whitacre Handwritten & Autographed Score - bid starting at $100

The item from Eric Whitacre is very unique in that the winning bidder can select any of his pieces and he will hand-write the piece or a segment of it, dedicate it to whomever they choose, and autograph it.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR AUCTIONS

All of the proceeds will go to the items' respective scholarship fund.  Also, I will always update on this blog with more information about any new items.  Other items will be up for auction on eBay beginning in the middle of the month.

As to the New Year, I can't help myself from commenting on Cee Lo Green's version of John Lennon's immortal song "Imagine" at Times Square on New Year's Eve.  If you missed it, just listen.

I only have two thoughts for everyone on this, (1) he messed up the words and (2) listen to it again with your eyes closed and tell me that he isn't related to Roseanne Barr!  Seriously Cee Lo, it's a simple song. You didn't have to sing the last half up an octave.

Oddly enough, bad performances don't just bother me alone.  Evidently, the State of Indiana has some issues with people singing the National Anthem all crazy-like.  They are introducing a bill making specific performance standards for performing the National Anthem, which will be decided by their State Board of Education.  They will also enforce a $25 fine on any performer who violates the law.  I know I love to critique public National Anthem gaffes, but even I think that laws like this go a little too far.  It's certainly our American culture to have artistic freedom with such things; I don't think a law will change that.

Amazingly, other states have passed similar laws.  Little did I know that Michigan has made it illegal to sing the National Anthem with embellishments - good luck attracting the Super Bowl to Ford Field again!  Igor Stravinsky was warned not to play his arrangement of the Star-Spangled Banner while in Massachusetts in 1940 when a police officer told him that he would be arrested for playing an embellished version of it within the state.  Stravinsky didn't perform the piece.  And on a further note, I found out that it is a Federal Law for men who aren't in the military to remove their hats and place it over their left shoulder during the National Anthem.  

Perhaps I'm a nut, but isn't it quite strange that only men are required to do this?  And why do we do it in the first place?  Obviously, anyone would say that it is the right thing to do because of "respect".  In all seriousness, does anyone really know why that is respectful?  "It's respectful because it's respectful" as one internet source so logically put it.  Circular arguments are not good enough for me, so I found a very interesting article on the history of donning and doffing (putting-on and taking-off) one's hat.  Evidently it extends to a Dark Age ritual of Knights lifting their visors to show that they were friendly.  If people have the freedom to scream the National Anthem any way they want, shouldn't men be able to don and doff their hats during the National Anthem with freedom?

EVIL SWEDE'S GUIDE TO PROPER HAT ETIQUETTE

So, if you get angry when people wear their hat during the National Anthem, I fully expect you to take your hat off when speaking about your late great-grandparents, leave your hat on while eating at a diner or cafe, and tip your hat when asking an elderly man for directions as any respectful person would do. As for women, from what I have "researched", they have the freedom to wear a hat in almost any situation!  Good grief!

That's all for now, I'm off to Dallas this week to watch my Alma Mater in the Cotton Bowl.  Go State!!

SHH!!! Silent Auction!!! & My "Hollywood" Debut

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season, and the best of luck to you all during the new year.

I had an interesting last few days with my family.  A girl caught her hair on fire while singing on stage at the Christmas church service I went to.  I sang Schubert's Ave Maria after that but abruptly following me was the congregational hymn Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.  How's that for church?

Also, this coming Monday, I will share some great news about a new gig I got with film director and Senior Vice President of Talent for MTV, Randy Sosin.  He is casting something for the NFL that will involve me and we will be filming early next week!  I'll let you in on some secret info then, so be sure to check back.  Amazingly, I will be paid as part of the Screen Actors' Guild!

Anyway, this is the final blog entry for 2011 and I wanted to give you a peak at the KCVI Celebrity Auction that will begin next month!  If you don't already know, one of my biggest passions is the Kansas City Vocal Institute.  We provide free or greatly discounted music education to children and families in Kansas City.  Also, it is a free service for all of our teachers to use to acquire students during this tough economic time.  We have 19 teachers and all are either earning or have earned a graduate degree in Music.

I am so very proud of everyone who have given their time and talents to this, and part of keeping the price of lessons at significantly low or free of cost is with the use of our scholarships.  Last year, we had 24 scholarships created and sponsored by some of the world's greatest artists and musicians including: Angelina Jolie, Maya Angelou, David Cook, Melissa Etheridge, Yo-Yo Ma, Randy Newman, Stephen Sondheim, John Williams, and many more.

Last year, I asked our donors if they would provide any autographed items that we could auction and have all the proceeds go to their respective scholarships.  Because of how successful it was, we again asked our donors to do the same.  Many donated items once again toward their scholarships and we created several new scholarships as well.

This year, we will have a private and public auction.  The private auction will be a special silent auction for some items and the public auction will be utilized with ebay.  More information will be made available on New Year's Day at www.kcvocalinstitute.com.

So, here is a list of items for our second annual KCVI Celebrity Auction.  Some of these items may only be available in our silent auction, so if you are interested in any of these, be sure to apply for our silent auction online starting January 1.

List of current donors entering items into this year's auction:

John Williams (5 Oscars, 4 Golden Globes, 21 Grammies) once again has graciously donated the front page of the Star Wars orchestral score!

Eric Whitacre (world-renown composer, Grammy Award nominee) is donating a handwritten, autographed manuscript of one of his pieces to be selected by the highest bidder

Morten Lauridsen (National Medal of Arts recipient) donated an autographed score of "O Magnum Mysterium" and autographed CD of "Sure on this Shining Night" and a "Lux Aeterna" score

Zubin Mehta (former Director of the New York Philharmonic) donated an autographed baton.

Stephen Flaherty (Tony Award winner) donated autographed CDs of "Suessical: the Musical" and "New York Pops"

List of new donors and their items entered into this year's auction:

Joyce DiDonato (world-renown operatic soprano) donated two autographed posters from her production of "La Donna del Lago" at La Scala.  It is signed along with others in the production including Juan Diego Florez, one of the most famous opera singers in the world, as well as, John Osborn, Daniela Barcelona, and Roberto Abbado.

Kronos Quartet (Grammy Award winner) donated an autographed photo and an autographed CD "Rainbow"

The Kansas City Royals (Major League Baseball) donated four premium tickets to any game during the upcoming season.

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City donated 2 redeemable certificates for two seats to any upcoming operas this season or next season in the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Esperanza Spalding (Grammy Award winner) donated an autographed CD of her album "Chamber Music Society"

Chanticleer (Grammy Award winner) donated an autographed CD of their album "A Portrait"

Betty White (7-time Emmy Award winner) donated two different personalized autographed photos 

Donald Trump (business magnate) donated an autographed photo

Martina McBride (4-time CMA "Female Vocalist of the Year") donated an autographed photo

George Porter (Grammy Award nominee) donated an autographed CD of his album "Water"

Neil Armstrong (First Man on the Moon) donated a photo

Stanley Clarke (Grammy Award winner) donated an autographed photo

And there's still more to come! So, be sure to visit www.kcvocalinstitute.com on January 1.

Flibbertigibbets and Bananas

Both myself and my computer were sick last week, the latter having an awful problem in that whenever I pressed the "b" or the "n" on the keyboard, a million Windows Help screens would pop up and freeze my computer.  Finally, after two days, I rewrote the registry (a difficult process!) and disabled the part that was causing all the trouble.  And, I am so excited to write a lot of B's and N's once again!

Unfortunately, that has taken up so much time, that I will have to postpone the first post describing my audition process, but until then I will get you caught up on everything from this crazy week.  On Wednesday, I sang in a masterclass for Diana Soviero, a very famous opera singer.

I was asked to sing Questa o quella from Rigoletto. I had to wait silently for an entire hour before I went on, but when I sang, I completely botched the ending.  I had to wait for so long that my voice wasn't warmed-up right.  But,  we worked on my highest notes for the entire time.  It turned out to be a great thing because those notes ended up having great space and ring.  She was teaching me to do some bad habits that in the end cured some of my other bad habits.  Whatever the case, I will have to find a way to replicate that sound in performance (because it was awesome) without looking too crazy.  For instance, she had me cover my teeth with my lips, which gave some extra cover to my high notes, kind of like this picture:

Who knew they made pictures like this?  Anyway, then she had me sing out of the side of my mouth, like Bryn Terfel, or in this case, Jerry Springer:

It doesn't look pretty, but it sounds awesome.  Later on Wednesday, after being told several times that the opera Turandot would be sold out at the new Kauffman Center here in Kansas City, I took a chance and went there in person to see if I could buy an unused ticket or get a standing room ticket.  Well, I got there and asked, but right when I was doing that, their computer system broke down.  During the 20 minutes that I was waiting, I talked to the manager and we talked about the grand opening and how amazing it was to sing on stage that night, and by the end of our talk, he just decided to give me a comp ticket!  And, I could pick a seat from either the middle of the 2nd row or a seat in a suite - one of the boxes that overlooks the stage!  I chose the suite so I could hear and see everything well.

It was amazing - an enormous production.  The singers were great, Liu (Elizabeth Caballero) soared above the orchestra with her delicate high notes, Turandot (Lise Lindstrom) was powerful, dark but beautiful, Timur (Samuel Ramey) was obviously a great dramatic voice and certainly an honor to see live, and Calaf (Arnold Rawls) made it through - he is the tenor (and if you don't know Turandot, it is the opera that Nessun Dorma is from).  I hate to be critical of a tenor, but he had a tough night at my showing, in that it took him an enormous amount of energy and heft to get through the high notes, but he did - it just looked very painful at times.  The most exciting part of the show for me was the dramatic staging.  Before scene 2 of Act 2, the stage transforms into the King's Palace, and a gigantic set moved forward from the back of the stage silently, enormous 100 ft. tall statues descended from the ceiling; it was so well done that it could have been a movie camera effect if I forgot that I was in an opera house.  The finale was also a great explosion of color that was gorgeous to watch.  The opera began with snow falling on stage and ended with thousands of flower petals falling like confetti during the final chorus number.  The costuming was very elaborate as well, especially for the Princess Turandot.

On the downside, the sets were a little too minimalist - a lot like the Met's new production of Tosca.  The orchestra, as great as it was, overplayed the treble heavy instruments like the piccolo among other things - perhaps higher pitches bother me more than most, but it was almost painful at times.  Also, and this has nothing to do with the production, but at my showing I think everyone was suffering from whooping cough.  I think coughing is very distracting, because I am intently listening to the quality of the sound.  Every cough disrupts that.  Sound is sacred to musicians, we respond to it and absorb it in every sense.  Coughing is as annoying to musicians as instant replay commercial breaks are to football fans - one or two are ok, but after five or six we want to throw something.

Finally, I have some new KVCI donors to tell you about.  We will again be having our celebrity auction this winter, and I have already announced some participants in that.  This year, new to our charity event and along with new scholarships in their names, I am happy to announce that Donald Trump is wanting to contribute and we will support a scholarship and have items from him in our auction.  Also, Eric Whitacre is renewing his scholarship and this year for the auction, he has graciously offered to compose, by hand, a one page music manuscript signed and dedicated at the request of the winning bidder.  This is a really exciting and unique offer!  Also, I have been talking with the famous soprano, Joyce DiDonato, and she has shown great interest as well.  Nothing has been "set in stone" yet, but I expect that we will incorporate a scholarship in her name in the very near future.

In the meantime, it is offer to opera rehearsal for a production of Le nozze di Figaro (the Marriage of Figaro) in November.

To see my performance schedule, please visit www.bryanpinkall.com

Opera Singers Under Water & On Fire!

I know you all love the "good ol' days" of a brown globe background and the lovely orange links and titles of this old blog.  But as conservative as you may be - "times, they are a changin'".  The simple fact remains: it is somewhat ugly, and since last month saw more visitors to this blog than ever before - I think it's time to change to something more modern.  Soon, this will be the new look for my blog: http://bryanpinkall.blogspot.com/view/magazine

You can go ahead and try it out right now, but I am still trying to get all the kinks worked out.

Evidently, I have to step it up in the content department to keep this as entertaining as the last month has been.  Last month alone, I've had readers from 40 countries around the world - visitors from every continent!  Thank you all!  But seriously, I don't know how to top all of the Kauffman Center and Placido Domingo excitement.

But I'll take another shot at it with the help of some German ingenuity.  Anyone who knows me, knows my fascination with anything German (I think it's in my blood).  Well, over the summer, I was told of something crazy going on over there, and I just had to do some research on it.  And what is this showcase of German ingenuity? Underwater Opera!?



I wonder what it was like to audition for the role of Shelf Ice?

Obviously the large "environmentalist" overtone cannot be missed with the trash cans on the pool floor.  But a floating-plastic-bag-littering chorus!? - now that is art!  If you didn't catch it (because you don't understand German) they recorded sounds from 100 meters below the sea ice in Antarctica and played a mix of those sounds in the opera itself.   I am seriously impressed in one sense, that there is an area culturally healthy enough to support an endeavor like this.  HOWEVER, this whole thing is quite a strange idea.  Plus, the point of operatic singing is to sing acoustically (without amplification).  I would like to see the audience get some goggles and a snorkeling mask and have to listen to the underwater portions without the use of recording equipment - like the perspective in the following aria.



I was certainly interested to see what else these singers performed.  Low and behold they have made a "Flame Opera" where the characters literally burn themselves alive (with protective clothing, natürlich). I am wondering (and perhaps I should patent this idea) if the composer wrote in coughing attacks, for rhythmic purposes obviously. Take a look:



And then there is the more subtle "Culinary Opera" that uses the sounds of preparing a meal as the accompaniment.



The Flame Opera, awesome! The Underwater Opera, really awesome! But as for the Culinary Opera, I seriously need more ice cream and less nagging!  Watching her complain and cook, I can't help but feel as though I did something wrong, but have no idea what it was or why...guys, you know the feeling.  But the ideas are awesome.  I can't wait to find out what they do next.

Anyway, hopefully that's enough entertainment (torture) for right now.  If you hear of any other odd opera productions, I would love to hear about it - email me at bryanpinkall@gmail.com

Next week, I will start a segment about my audition process and how I go about preparing and actually performing in an audition - you'll know about all the places that I'm applying to as well.

This week, I will be performing a masterclass with Diana Soviero. She has performed at the Met, La Scala, the Royal Opera house, Paris Opera, etc.  I am very excited, and I will hopefully let you know how that goes as well.

Lastly, I wanted to let you know about how this year's KCVI Celebrity Auction is coming along.  Last week, I began contacting musicians, artists, authors, athletes, and other celebrities about donating to the Kansas City Vocal Institute to begin a scholarship in their names, providing voice lessons to area children and families here in Kansas City.  Well, already I have been in talks with the Kansas City Chiefs - nothing official yet, but I'm hoping to hear some good news from them.  However Zubin Mehta (one of the greatest conductors on earth), who donated last year, has contributed again this year to continue his scholarship fund.  This year we will be auctioning an autographed baton from him, and as always, whatever we earn will support his scholarship fund.

And the Kansas City Royals have graciously donated to the Kansas City Vocal Institute to begin a new scholarship.  This winter we will be auctioning some tickets for next year's baseball season.  And, if you are not a baseball fan, the Royals are the host for next year's All Star Game.  So it will be an exciting year, and you will be able to bid on those this holiday season.

For more, including my upcoming schedule, please visit www.bryanpinkall.com

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

What a stupendous week it has been! I cannot believe how many people have contacted me through email and phone calls and facebook. Thank you for your comments and well wishes, especially everyone from my hometown of Great Bend, Kansas. I miss you all! It truly has been incredible.

I have to say that my favorite story of the week came from a singer in the Symphony Chorus. He's a tenor and had an amazing story about when he sang with Robert Shaw - the "Father Abraham" of choral conductors. He casually mentioned that he was a singer in Shaw's chorus, the Atlanta Symphony Chorus and won five Grammy awards with them. Then he said that the excitement for the opening of the Kauffman Center was about what he felt when he sang in the Opening Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. He certainly did not know what that means to me. I literally have the opening ceremonies of the '96 games memorized...the television commentary; the rhythm, tempo, and timbre of Bob Costas describing the excitement of seeing Team USA ascending the ramp into the stadium with the quote "and the reaction" and the immediate fanfare of John Williams' "Summon the Heroes" as the camera shoots quickly toward President Clinton clapping, smiling with his jaw hanging open.

That event 15 years ago kicked my passion in music to a new level. The whole artistic portion of the ceremony was a giant opera about the history of the American South. Anyway, the Kauffman Center Opening truly was Olympic-esque. Here is a video of what was playing outside of the Kauffman Center of Opening Night.

Unfortunately, there isn't video yet from my scene that night, but I did find some great photos online from the final dress rehearsal earlier that day.

This last week was just a whirl-wind.  I have been incredibly busy and unfortunately I have also been suffering one of the worst allergy weeks of my life.  I finally "hit the wall" on Saturday and have been resting over the weekend.  It really puts drag on my practicing regimen with so much to memorize including an opera role.  I hope I will feel better so I can get back to 100%.

When I do, I will be preparing for an opera, Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart (the Marriage of Figaro), and for several other things as well.  As always, you can check my schedule at www.bryanpinkall.com to see what I have coming up.  Right now, most of the events are all in Kansas City, not surprisingly, but audition season is fast approaching, which will probably take me all over the place.

In the past, I have just given updates on the auditions as they happen, but this year, I have been asked by some singers who are just getting into the field, to go into a little more detail on how I prepare for auditions and what it takes to get a live audition and (if I'm lucky) win a role.  So, starting next week, I will be showing what goes on "behind the scenes" and you will all travel and see with me, how successful this audition season goes.

Lastly, I just wanted to announce that my charity organization, the Kansas City Vocal Institute, is once again planning to have an online auction to raise money for scholarships.  Last year was very successful and we awarded scholarships with donations from people such as: Maya Angelou, David Cook, Melissa Etheridge, Angelina Jolie, Yo-Yo Ma, Stephen Sondheim, Eric Whitacre, John Williams, and many more.  Hopefully, those folks will want to continue their scholarships through KCVI this year, and we are asking even more celebrities to contribute.  I hope that each of the coming weeks, I will be able to announce some celebrities who will be renewing their scholarship funds and will participate in this year's celebrity charity auction.  Last year, we raised $3,141.08 which provided over 100 hours of free or greatly discounted music lessons for kids and families here in Kansas City, however those scholarships quickly ran out, as many in this Great Recession took advantage of the free lessons.  Many more are still waiting, so I hope that this year, we will have a great turnout and that we can provide more with free professional music education.