Delaware and the Garden

Two concerts this past weekend. The first was a new festival just getting off the ground. Middletown, Delaware is a quaint little town with adorable cafes and friendly folks. We got there just in time (30 minutes before our set) and played a short list - just about 45 minutes. We hit on everything, but only had time to give the audience a sampler. They loved it and so did we! Had lots of fun. I was thrilled to share my music with Unicity. (Photo from the Middletown Transcript)

The next day we performed at an outdoor garden concert in Belvidere, NJ. The hostess was gracious. The setting was idyllic - against the backdrop of a beautiful victorian home punctuated with well manicured gardens we played an intimate concert for townspeople and invited guests. A casual acoustic concert with a homey feel, we enjoyed a couple of wine-song pairing selections during the concert. A light italian pinot grigio with hints sweetness accompanied the equally light "Piangero". A spicy Argentinian Malbec accompanied the saucy "Tango". As guests sipped wine and I sang on, the evening fell. Everyone lingered long into the night. We enjoyed more conversation along with an introductin to Algerian Wines (thanks to the guest that just so happened to import from this region). Darkness came and the conversations continued. It was a lovely evening.

Huntington, Long Island

A sticky summer afternoon, we pull into this quaint Long Island Town and unload for our first stop on a Summer Northeast Tour. We are greeted by a willing staff of technical gurus ready to get us prepped for an evening concert. The setting is idyllic - a beautiful park dotted with ponds and shady trees. The ampitheatre looks out over the grassy hill. We are eager to get on stage and excited to make music here.

People shuffle in, set up lawn chairs, spread out blankets and prepare for the show. Tonight, we'll switch things up a bit. Change the order. The beauty of my performance is that the audience never quite knows what's coming next. My musicians enter the stage to warm up the audience. I enter, looking a bit like a wood nymph in my spare white chiffon frock - legs steady in floral stilettos. The first song is a chilean-inspired love lament - flirty and bit aggressive. Next we move through the crossover set - A little English, a little Italian, a beautiful showcase of legato line and pure singing. Then we ditch the demure and take a turn to the Sexy with a fado-inspired Purcell aria and an Argentinian Tango. We end the set with a Little Summertime, Jazz and Blues... and I understand why that writer from The Record compares me to a young Streisand. In years passed that reference would have surprised me, but now I'm just honored.

A short break before we return and continue our musical tour. A little Gaelic, a little Pop then we land in our signature set. I take a brief respite and showcase the talent that I am priviledged to share the stage with. They play "Spain" and I return for the song that is quickly becoming my signature, "Malaguena". We end it with little Rumba sing-along. and Exit the stage to boisterous applause.

People ask me if I miss singing Opera. I've never looked back. I love the unexpected and the discovery of a new style. Challenging my self-imposed traditions/parameters and dressing my voice in the musical cultures of the world!

It's a good night. Thank you, Huntington.

Those who can...

This week, I am preparing for the Cal Lutheran Summer Vocal Institute (this is a program that I co-founded with CLU professor Angela Rasmussen). In the rush up to the start of the program, I find myself anticipating the tremendous week that lay ahead. Meeting new singers, having the opportunity to nurture young artists, being challenged as a master teacher, ultimately helping somone find her voice - all invigorating prospects...In all my successes in the performing world, I never have lost sight of the fact that music is communal and there is no better way to pass on the legacy of artistic life than to nurture it in others.

I've often heard it said, "Those who can do, those who can't teach". I challenge that. In many ways, you never really learn something until you've taught it to someone else. Until you watch the germ of your idea take hold in another and blossom into an entirely new discovery, you can't understand the power of your own knowledge.

Over the years, I have been priviledged to work with many gifted and talented singers. Some working on major studio albums, some building up their audition protfolio and some just wanting to enrich their lives with music. It never ceases to amaze me, the amount I learn from THEM. The first lesson always involves risk. Singing is a deeply personal event. There is no other instrument in the world that is so intimate. When someone opens up and allows you to hear their voice and invites your opinion, and yes, even criticism, it is a risk. I do not take this action lightly. It is an honour to listen, a priviledge to instruct and an absolute joy to guide. In the end, it is the student that finds her own voice. I simply get to be the informed tour guide.

I don't know what I will hear this week or who I will meet, but I do know that one week from today I will have done my part to nurture the voices of tomorrow.

for more info on the CLU Summer Vocal Institute see: www.callutheran.edu/summervocalinstitute

Breaking the Rules

For years, I trained. Even vibrato, pure vowels, verticle space, follow the conductor, watch the stick, not too much portimento, no straight tone...unless the composition was written in the seventeenth century, banish the chest, balance the body, work the form, focus... I crafted, I worked for perfection...trained.

Then one morning, I woke up...Is art or beauty the product of rules and restraint? maybe...you can't argue with Balanchine's technique or Stradivarius' form. But there is more to progress and art than a theory professor can impart. One part technique, one part practice, one part PURE talent, one part passion, mix that all together and add in the ability to throw it all away, if that's what it takes to sing the song that pulses through your veins.

That's where I am today. Paid my dues, mastered the rules, making my own choices now. Taking the music OFF the page, out of the abstract and living it. Everyday.

What is it? Where does it fit? It is the breath I breathe, the life within me, the story I have to tell. Like everyone, I can't be labeled with one brand - too many fit, but none encompass all that I am. So, I choose not to choose. I'm a bit classical, a bit world, a dash of soul, a dollop of theatre, swirl in some pop and finish it off with a splash of spirituality, still...not done adding...I hope I never am. I guess that's what makes life interresting. It's not where you come from, where you are or even where you're going....it's the evolution of the whole person that makes the journey so fascinating. learn the rules, follow the rules, earn the right to choose.