Christmas Gifts for Opera Singers - Part 1

(CLICK ANY OF THE PICTURES FOR MORE PRODUCT INFO)

10. The Opera Cooks - The opera singer can be quite lazy when they're not working.  Of course the many nights and early mornings belting away, while secretly cussing an over-zealous opera director that is trying to make a believable fight scene between a 280 pound, 6'6" baritone lead and a 5'3" 130 pound leggiero tenor, can just been exhausting.  Understandably, when an opera singer wakes up after noon the next day, they are completely starving.  This gift is a must for any opera singer that you haven't seen in several months because they work when you work and work when you sleep - and I bet they have a fierce appetite.  This cookbook is filled with interviews and recipes from the greatest singers on the planet.

9. La Traviata Children's Book - Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight woman who will die of tuberculosis soon.  Goodnight light and red shoes.  Goodnight mistresses.  Goodnight affairs.  Goodnight duel that, unfortunate to the audience, we never see because it occurs between acts two and three, NOT FAIR!  Goodnight lies. Goodnight Italian-speaking, sex-crazed, misogynistic French guys.  Goodnight brush. Goodnight mush. Goodnight opera people putting the incorrect emphasis on the word "Brindisi" (it's BREEN-dee-zee) and call me pretentious for pointing out your poor Italian, SHUSH!  -- Seriously, there is no better way to teach your children about lust, gambling, jealousy, cheating, death, and what a "pure" woman is than with a children's book of Verdi's opera La Traviata.

 

8. Lego Sydney Opera House - Lego states "It will look beautiful displayed on a shelf or counter".  Perhaps if you actually have a shelf or counter that this would look good on, you should consider purchasing a new shelf or counter.  Nonetheless, I really want a fat Pavarotti Lego man and Aussie, Dame Joan Sutherland Lego woman that has a face at least the half the size of her body, both in their La Fille attire to go along with this set.

7. Tenor/Baritone Scented Candle - What better way to bring the smell of the opera home with you than with these tenor and baritone scented candles.  Curiously, the Met Shop does not sell Mezzo or Soprano candles.  I assume these would sensuously smell of cheese, melting makeup, and leather - infused with slight sparkles of fear and vomit (tenor) and shameful dabs of cigarette smoke and Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Select Whisky (baritone).

6. Travel Luggage Scale - This is actually a useful gift for opera singers.  Many people may not understand the difficulties of traveling as an opera singer, but we have to carry lots of clothes (and lots of shoes if you're a Soprano or Mezzo), plus all the extra little things, hair equipment, makeup entourage, emergency medicine, unnecessary amounts of  extra music, computer, and large jackets that are needed down the icy chasm of New York's Broadway during audition week in December but are too cumbersome to wear on a Delta flight because they cook you like a toaster strudel.  This gadget will save some of us a small fortune!

Part 2 coming next week!

CLICK HERE FOR MY LIST FROM 2011

An Operatic Christmas Wishlist

I know I am a little late this week, but I wanted to throw some Christmas gift ideas out there for any opera lovers in your lives.  This week and next week, I will have five unique gifts.

1. Renee Fleming's album "Dark Hope".  Renee is one of the world's greatest opera singers, but last year she produced a pop album, singing remakes of famous pop songs.  Here is the closing track, Hallelujah - which was made famous by Leonard Cohen.

Renee Fleming - Hallelujahfound onChillout

There's not much I can say as far as a critique is concerned, because it isn't performed with intent of great vocal virtuosity, as are most pop songs.  Essentially, if you are entertained, then she did a good job in my opinion.  And, I really like this song.  You may remember, and I certainly do, that this song was sung as the "song of peace" at the 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremony.  I cannot play the video from the broadcast, but here is a home video from it.

Anyway, Renee certainly doesn't get as vocally involved as what many pop singers would, but the album is somewhat interesting for those who love and know her voice.  HOWEVER, don't be confused that I am hinting that I want this for Christmas.  I am certainly content with Renee's PBS Christmas specials.

2.  Perhaps I'm biased but these T-Shirts based on Kansas City's Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts are pretty awesome.

3.  Japan has a new trend! - which is great for us in America because we certainly need more things to laugh about in these gloomy times.  Behold - Pro Voice Pills!  They cost about $2.50 and contain Magnesium and Malic Acid - commonly found in Apple Juice.  On the onset, most singers would say, "oh! that makes sense" since many blindly revere Apples as a kind of wonder fruit for singing.  HOWEVER, this sweet-tart-flavored pill also, evidently, makes your throat slightly numb, thereby calming your throat and nourishing your body to create a great singing voice.  Numbing is a big no-no.  Pain is a good thing, because it tells you when you are going too far.  If you can't tell that, you can easily injure your voice.  Nonetheless, I'm sure - as many people often debate against me when it comes to "old wives' tales" - it's all in their heads.  I tend to rely on science when it comes to debating, and I am fairly certain that if anyone has any benefit from this, it must either be from a placebo effect or because they enjoy losing arguments.  This would be a great gift for those in your family who are musically challenged - however, they will likely try to sing if you give it to them...on second thought, be sure you have a glass of wine first so you can bear the torture.

4.  Pavarotti is for sale at the Haven on Earth Animal League in Fort Myers, FL http://capecoral.ebayclassifieds.com/cats-kittens/fort-myers/domestic-short-hair-black-and-white-pavarotti-medium/?ad=14191707

5.  I'm not trying to be pretentious (I just am) but I really want a "no coughing sign" to hold up during performances.  It would be ideal if it would light up so I can just hold it up while an aria is sung, so the old guy hacking in the back that doesn't want to be at the opera anyway would kindly leave so I could at least hear one whole phrase!  

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Last weekend I was privileged  to perform at the Kansas City Southern Railroad's winter ball at the beautiful Union Station in Kansas City.  Here are some pictures from the event.  The place is gigantic, like a capitol building, and echos about as intensely.  I performed some Christmas carols with two other singers, and sang a solo Ave Maria - sadly, the Schubert version...Bach/Gounod is my favorite, but I couldn't find the right key as I was looking for it at the last minute.

The place and event were gorgeous, as you would expect with brass choir, string quintet, opera singers, a red carpet with a bouncer.  The appetizers were set out along an enormous ice train sculpture (as seen below).  They had giant shrimp, crab claws, and oysters.  Oh, and for a plate, a giant seashell...how cool is that?  I only was able to have the appetizers, but it appeared as if they had bottomless wine!  I was jealous.

Conservatory Auditions

What a week it has been!  Thank you to everyone for your interest and support and well wishes!  For those who didn't see, you can read the big news by clicking here.  But, now it is on to more preparation and rehearsing.  I have been adding more to my schedule, which is very exciting.  I will be singing on some lunch time Bach cantatas, punned as "Bach's Lunch".  Oh, musicians...you make my sides hurt!

Also, on Saturday, I had the Conservatory Auditions for the upcoming opera season.  They are planning on La nozze di Figaro (the Marriage of Figaro) by Mozart, La Tragedie de Carmen by Brooks/Bizet, and a night celebrating the music of Carlisle Floyd directed by Metropolitan Opera conductor George Darden. I won't hear any results until later in the week, but weeks ago - since I'm primarily a Mozart-type tenor - I expected to compete well for the Figaro roles.  Well, it was later suggested to me that I should offer something higher and more lyric, obviously hinting that I shouldn't count out the role of Don Jose in Carmen.

So, I went out on a limb and prepared Questa o quella from Rigoletto, an aria that I have done many times - and for the record, do not enjoy it, but recognize that everyone else does (ugh!).  If they want to hear my high notes, they get most of what I have to offer in that aria.  My lesson and coaching times are at 10 am (which is preposterously early, I know) but it is nothing that Mr. Coffee and I can't tackle.  I say that because I have generally been preparing to sing that high aria early in the day, and I scheduled to have one of the last audition spots in the afternoon on Saturday.

On the audition day, I went to the Conservatory early, to practice some Bach stuff for another gig later in September.  By the time I was done practicing, my voice was in super high mode.  I waited for my audition, walked down the rows of the house and on to the stage after handing my music to my coach.  And boom, my voice was rocketing pretty high.  I am not sure if anyone noticed, but I sang the wrong verse.  I knew most people wouldn't realize it if I finished the verse with the correct high note.  Incidentally, I botched it exactly as Franco Corelli did in this recital.



I have always thought that Pavarotti sang this aria better than anyone that I have ever heard (and I have heard MANY).  The way that he approaches the very end is incredibly impressive - with easy and power (on an "ee" vowel no less).  It's stupid good!



Like I said, if you don't know the piece or paid enough attention, you wouldn't know that Pavarotti sang the correct verses and Corelli didn't.  But, when I sang, besides the switching of verses, it was probably one of the best times that I have performed it.  After I finished, the opera director said, "wow...well...I guess we'll hear your other piece as well".  And then I sang En fermant les yeux from Manon...messing up a few times on the diction. (thank you France for your simple language) And that was it, we then talked for a little bit about if I would be comfortable with the Flower Aria from Carmen, and I said that I would be fully confident in it.(secretly pretty excited because it is not too likely that a voice like mine would do Don Jose too often)  So, now we'll wait...  I have a callback audition tomorrow evening.  Here is a recording of the flower duet - in case you don't already know it.



As for my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the Kauffman Center Grand Opening, I have found out more information about the event, like costuming and set design.  I am hesitant to put anything online about that yet, in case they want to keep that secret as well, but it will be very exciting (and sexy) indeed.  That's all I will say for that right now...(ha ha, now you're probably very curious).  The first rehearsal is tomorrow afternoon, so I am very excited for that!

Lastly, I am planning a recital - a date has yet to be determined - but it will be a memorial to my ancestry, the Volga Germans, who 70 years ago were expelled from Russia by Stalin beginning the Forgotten Genocide.  All were either displaced, deported, or purposefully starved - over 300,000 died initially in the genocide and untold numbers (millions perhaps) died in Siberian labor camps.  To learn more, visit http://expelledgermans.org/volgagermans.htm

To remember them, my ancestors, I will be performing music of the region, which was greatly diverse and unique in Western Civilization as it was a crossroads between the east and the west.  Most of it will be Western music influenced by Eastern sources.  I'll have music by Bach, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Ravel, and a special collection, a world premiere, of Volga German folk songs in a more modern musical language, written especially for this recital by another musician with German ancestry.  As soon as I finalize the dates and whatnot, I will be publicizing this.  I hope some of you in the area will be able to come.

Check back daily for more updates...I have something special planned for later in the week!

SCHEDULE
(still working on this - there's a lot to keep track of!)

Funny Pavarotti & How to Memorize an Opera & USA vs. Brazil

Welcome back!  I found this video of Pavarotti explaining his most embarrassing moments.  It's hilarious!!

I'm almost ready for Chicago! I have been memorizing for a while now, and it appears to be going well. Every once in a while I will miss a word, but hopefully after a few hundred more hours, I won't miss a thing.

The cast received the schedule today, and I am somewhat confused with it. But in general, we will be in rehearsal from 2-10 pm most days. The reason for the late practice is that as singers, we are really grumpy people if we have to sing in the morning. For some reason, churches haven't caught on to this yet! Also, it takes a while for singers to properly warm up. We have to do some pretty taxing things, so we have to always take great care of our instrument.

As far as memorizing goes, many people ask me how I memorize my music.

HOW TO MEMORIZE AN OPERA

1. Well, first thing's first - I have to have the music.

2. Then I go through the music and highlight all of my parts.

3. If I'm not familiar with the opera, I will listen to a recording and follow along in my music.

4. The next part is the most tedious. I pick out just a couple of pages and and try to sight sing my music. I intentionally don't use the piano in this step because I will memorize it much faster if I'm sight singing. Singers get used to the help of the piano, and if nothing is there to help me except my brain, then I will quickly learn it. Of course the piano is always there to help if I am having trouble.

5. Once a few pages are learned, I go to a recording, play just that section and sing along.

6. I repeat steps 4 & 5, but when I play the recording, I end up playing everything that I've learned up to that point, so by the time I've learned the last part of the opera, I have already sung the beginning 20 or 30 times and have memorized a lot of it.

7. I run the whole opera twice a day and just softly sing along so I don't hurt myself and eventually I have it memorized.

As for myself, I have a lot of training in several languages, so I don't have much trouble there, but that may be an extra step for someone else. Also, I photographically memorize music, so remembering isn't necessarily the hardest part. Honestly, the hardest part is not to get bored after you've sung it 100 times. I start to daydream and forget to come in. Nevertheless, I've learned from my many mistakes and have a pretty regimented process for memorizing.

So how long does it take? Well, a normal three hour opera, for me, assuming that I sing at least half of the time, will take only about two weeks. However, if it involves recitative or some very weird music, it may take a little longer. That's just memorizing however, there is a lot of preparation involved outside of that including acting, artistic elements, translations, etc.

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This last week I was in Oklahoma and didn't get to watch my normal regimen of soccer games, like the US women's game at the Women's World Cup.  If you are not a soccer fan, you may not know that the US team is ranked #1 in the world.  So, when I got home, I watched the replay of the game on ESPN2 at 11pm...I kept rewinding it and replaying portions because it was completely incredible and didn't get to bed until 2:30 - it was one of the most exciting games I have ever seen - and I have seen maybe thousands of soccer matches.  It was so incredible that I want to tell all you Americans about it, whether you appreciate it or not (kind of like opera in a way).  In any case, it is one of the biggest stories in the rest of the world.

So at the Women's World Cup in Germany, the US (#1 in the world) and Brazil (#3) played in the Quarterfinals.  You must win to advance.  The US scored first when a Brazilian accidentally kicked the ball into their own goal in the 2nd minute.

As the game wore on, it appeared like the US was going to be in great position to win until the referee gave a penalty kick to Brazil late in the game, and on top of that, kicked a US player out of the game with a red card.    Players almost always make their penalty kicks and it is very unlikely to win a game playing down a person - the US had to now deal with both of these issues.  When the US goalie saved the penalty kick (one of the hardest things in sports) the referee said that it must be retaken (this is a very rare thing and still we have no idea why this happened; it either was an huge error on her part or perhaps the ref took some bribes to help Brazil win).  You have to watch it to believe it...



With a score of 1-1, the game ended.  So they went to 30 minutes of overtime; keep in mind that the US was a person short because of the red card.  Brazil scored early, after the referee blew another call and it looked nearly impossible for the US to come back, but then in extra time of the overtime, in the 122nd minute, literally with seconds left in the game, the US scored a miraculous goal to tie it at 2-2.



Then the game went to penalty kicks where the US won (skip ahead to 5:00 in the video below to see the end of the shootout).  So, the US advanced to the Semifinals on Wednesday and will play #7 ranked France.



This was the most exciting game since Landon Donovan's miraculous goal in the World Cup last year, allowing the US to advance with a goal in extra time at the end of regulation - seconds before the game would have ended.  It was called "the shot heard around the world".

SCHEDULE

July 21-August 7 - Sugar Creek Opera - Daughter of the Regiment - August 4, 5, 7 - Watseka, IL (near Chicago)

August 8 - Audition - Kansas City Symphony Chorus

The Art of Singing (for tenors) Part 3

Aria #3 - Nessun Dorma

We ended yesterday's post with some Lithuanian talent, and unfortunately that leads us to our last aria - let's see if his technique improved as he sings one of the most famed tenor arias of all time in the Semifinal round of Lithuania's Got Talent.  You may want to take your dogs outside now, so they don't howl for 3 minutes straight!



Yes, you saw that correctly.  He got a standing ovation. And, in case you have said "well that didn't sound too bad", let's get some things straight.

Besides the fact that there are thousands of tenors that can sing Nessun Dorma better than that, you probably are considering many other criteria and attributing them to being a "singer". For example, Susan Boyle is an average singer - technically that is - but some believe she is a great singer because of her personal story and that emotion comes across in her performance. It's ok to say that you enjoy her singing because you feel so inspired, but you are likely not separating her technical ability from things that have nothing to do with her voice.  This is really common in pop music - an average singer may be a very gifted performer - and with the help of techno beats and auto-tune, they are a multimillionaire.

Well, tenors, most Americans, as hard as they try, will have difficulty separating singing and performing.  So it is important to be proficient at both!  Some are so bad at determining a great singer that they will insist that Susan Boyle has the best voice ever given to a mortal.  However, from past experience, they are likely just trying to make you mad.  If that's the case, you should ignore them - or if they're family, a nice religious or political jab should do.

By the way, I am completely terrified to hear what Lithuanians actually listen to.  In the end our guy eventually lost to an accordion.  I give him credit for trying, but that just doesn't cut it, except in Lithuanian pop culture obviously.



So what does a tenor do in a world that doesn't know any better?  Well, Pavarotti made this aria a pop culture phenomenon because of his charisma and power and unfortunately many pop stars have tried their luck at it.  People will appreciate music for many reasons, just perhaps not technique - which is a strange thing since people throw around the word "talent" all the time.  In the end, tenors, if you capture someone's emotion beyond their reach of their own capabilities, that's the end game.  Being the best is one thing - being appreciated is another.

If you're not a musician, please take the time to consider technique, before you are "drugged" by the performance.  However, if you are a singer, make sure to always be accepting of peoples' appreciation.  Even though American's aren't the smartest when it comes to art music, they are very generous and have little contempt in their praise.  It can be depressing and lonely when no one appreciates your music like it was intended, but always remember that your performance can touch the inner self of every person out there.  That is the magic and beauty of art.

In the end, being a tenor takes great technique in proper resonance and in breathing, but it also takes a great mind and a performer's mentality to really effect people.  For most, it takes years of tireless practice to come close to being proficient in these things, however there certainly are exceptions.  Some people with little education develop great instruments - still very raw though - here's the story of one such tenor...

The Art of Singing (for tenors) Part 1

Last week was incredibly exciting on many levels: I sang the Canadian National Anthem at the Sporting KC game (video to come), I was able to go to the Populous Architecture Firm and see the designing of several stadiums including the Houston Dynamo's new stadium and the 2014 Olympic Skating Center; and besides playing tennis and golf a few times, yet another exciting thing has happened as well.  I won't say the name of the person to protect their privacy, but at the Kansas City Vocal Institute - the school of voice studios that I started here in Kansas City - a very special person has applied for lessons with one of our studios.

Now contrary to the many responses I get about these kinds of things, KCVI does provide legitimate professional music education for professional singers and performers.  I started KCVI with the idea to provide the most affordable music lessons in the area and helped to raise scholarship money for children living in poverty to take lessons with our teachers.  It also provides our teachers, all of whom have received a Master's or Doctorate degree in music, with a livelihood all during such a tough economic time.

Anyway, I can't really say much about the "special person" other than that they are an Emmy Award winner and they were in a movie that was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Picture in 2010.  Good luck guessing!

I have been memorizing like mad for my Chicago trip.  But in the meantime, and to keep my promise from last week, I would like to dive into the Art of Singing - for tenors that is.

I posted this video last week:

The obvious "good singer" is Alfredo Kraus and I have no idea who the bad one is, however this was kind of mean for Kraus to do to him.  They are singing the very end of "Celeste Aida", one of the most famous arias from Verdi's opera Aida.  Of course this singer has no shot of singing this well - because he has a lot of technical issues to work out first - but let's use this to bring up some problematic issues that effect tenors all around the world.

Being a Tenor in Three Arias


Aria #1 - Celeste Aida

This is one of the greatest recordings of this aria - if you love music, you MUST listen to the entire thing.  Even for Pavarotti it is an incredibly difficult aria.  It is so difficult that one of the greatest singers of today, Roberto Alagna, had trouble with it at La Scala (one of the world's most famous opera houses).  The audience actually booed and he "flipped them the bird" and walked off stage.  Shortly thereafter, the understudy came on to finish the role.  Watch the Italian news coverage below of the incident.



What can we learn from this?  Audiences LOVE to cheer for the singers, just like a sporting event.  Opera audiences know what the hardest arias are going into an opera and wait anxiously for them to see how their favorite singers will perform.  However, it certainly gives classical music a bad reputation when an audience boos.  That was very unfortunate and thankfully, you will almost never see that kind of reaction in America.

However, the tenor must perform the hardest arias well, or of course, they will probably not be hired to perform it again.  When tenors try to sing this aria, they must be very conscious about the placement of their resonance.  This is what Alfredo Kraus was showing in the Masterclass when he pretended with his hand to pull an imaginary string from between the singers eyes.  By focusing the resonance up high in the face, it will make it easier for the singer to sing.

Resonance in laymen's terms refers to the rattle that you feel when the air that you use in making a sound vibrates in your pharynx, mouth, nose, and sinuses (you can especially feel it when you have a cold or sinus congestion).  If you talk like a ghost, you are not maximizing your resonance - however if you imitate the sound of your alarm clock going off, you are likely resonating well.

For tenors (and classical singers), they need to effectively resonate, because it actually makes it easier to sing, and easier to hear as it cuts through an entire orchestra.  You don't have to woof out a sound, like what a basset hound would make, instead it is a much smaller but poignant sound - kind of like a duck's quack.  All of this exaggerates the feeling of course.

Difficult? Well, just wait...we don't want to sound nasal either; instead it should have depth (some space in the mouth to give it a more mature sound).  If you have the "quack" thing down, combine that with the voice of an umpire calling a "strike", and you're close to feeling what it is like to be a tenor.  Opera singers rely heavily on how their singing feels, not on how it sounds.  We're too dang loud to hear ourselves anyway!

So how do you make it easy so you don't get red in the face and run the risk of pooping yourself?...come back tomorrow for more...

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

July 21-August 7 - Sugar Creek Opera - Daughter of the Regiment - August 4, 5, 7 - Watseka, IL (near Chicago)

August 8 - Audition - Kansas City Symphony Chorus

much, much more to come!...soon, I promise!

Inspiration

I had the great privilege of being the Administrative Director for the 33rd Summer Choral Institute this last week.    I have to say that it is absolutely one of the most incredible weeks of the year. What's even more exciting is how we are so lucky to witness so many young musicians discovering for themselves their true potential.  My responsibilities were to organize everything about the week - so I have been working for hundreds of hours throughout the year.  The counselors were incredible and equally passionate to give the students the time of their life.  Also, Dr. Julie Yu and Dr. Joshua Oppenheim, the conductors, are not only incredible teachers of music but of life as well.  Lastly, but not leastly, we all give our gratitude to The Master Teacher Institute for the Arts and Bob DeBruyn for their passion and donations so we can bring these students to the Institute on full scholarships.

The students this year were phenomenal.  They are all high school sophomores and juniors.  Now, I listen to a lot of music, and I do not say "phenomenal" very often.  But I just want to give you a clip of one of their recordings from this week.  Remember that they are high school students.



I was so impressed by the recording - the maturity of their voices are years ahead of most other kids their age.  If you are interested in purchasing a copy of their concert, please contact choirs@ksu.edu - they are $10 each.

We had kids apply from many states and had several fly in from Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Little Rock, and other locations as well.  Just to let you know a little bit more about it, SCI is primarily a choir camp, but it's main focus is leadership.  Some of the very best singers in this part of the country participate and perform a concert at the end of the week, but they grow as a person tremendously throughout the week.

The students must learn their music proficiently and pass a screening on the first day to attend.  We have had to send home kids the last couple of years because they did not know their music well enough.  During the week, they attend rehearsals, recitals, concerts, masterclasses, seminars on jazz and the Alexander Technique - but that's just the musical side of things.  They also participate in a high ropes course, go to an art museum, swim and surf at a water park, have a talent show, play games and bowl, and do many other things as well.  I think for most, it is the first time that they meet so many people their age that share the same passion as they do.  Everyone lets their guard down and spends their time finding new best friends and dreaming big dreams about the future.

Certainly the best feeling that I have is seeing the confidence of the students at the end of the week, perhaps living the life that they want to live for the first time.  Musicians are criticized all the time for being foolish or wasting their potential, by friends, family, and the world in general.  This can be really depressing and very damaging to someone's self worth.  We all have stories about it.  But I am very confident that after this week, these students won't let anything keep them from their dreams.  It's so exciting to see how excited they are about themselves.

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On another note - I hope you listened to the lovely/horrific recording I posted last week.   I got to thinking a little bit and wanted to give a few more examples over the coming weeks on the art of singing.  As you know, operatic singing is the highest art of the solo voice.  Unfortunately many of your favorite pop singers aren't very good, when it comes to singing well.

Now, I don't believe in talent first of all - and neither do scientists - because the truth is that it is all about the time and work that you put into it.  Actually I feel it's kind of derogatory when people tell me I'm talented, because sometimes it comes off as if I didn't have to work at all for it - they are horribly mistaken.  Many pop stars just haven't put a lot of time into their voice, and they don't need to.  If they changed their voice, even for the better, they would probably lose money.  Part of it has to do with your physical make-up, but no one pops out of the womb singing Pagliacci - it takes lots and lots of work.

(climbing off my high horse)

Let's hear some examples of pop singers, even pop-opera singers, singing everyone's favorite aria, Nessun Dorma.  They may all sound pretty to you, and that's a good thing.  It's just that the quality of their voices are vastly different, and that is what matters in the art of singing.  We want to hear maturity and depth, no straining, nasality, or breathiness.  To use a food analogy,  many people like McDonald's but it's obviously not as great as Grandma's secret family recipe that has been honed and perfected for years.



Finally, I am so excited to go to the US National Team soccer game tomorrow, here in Kansas City, at the brand spankin' new Livestrong Sporting Park.  I will also be singing the National Anthem there at a Sporting KC game as well as the Canadian National Anthem when they play the Vancouver Whitecaps on June 25th.  Let me know if you want to go, because I may be able to get some tickets....maybe...

SCHEDULE COMING SOON...