Family appreciation day!

Singers! Do you have super supportive wives, husbands, kids and friends?  Show your appreciation by not being a diva for one day! ;)  Hugs and a big thank you to my husband, min beste venn, publikum og kjærligheten i mitt liv,TAKK! :)

*Lesson notes to myself:

1. Vowels

2. Full length of each note

3. Forte v.s piano 

4. Sostenuto v.s legato

5. Contrast the piano

6. Small breath

 

Opera lovers, did you pick it up?

 I thought I'd make a little cartoon someday about the aria, it finally happened! :]

It's Showtime!

The Fresh Start Scholarship Foundation and Wilmington Women in Business presents --

"It's Showtime!" 

 Thursday, November 7th, at Deer Field Country Club

It's going to be fun!! 

A VERY SPECIAL THANKS to all the entertainers on the program, and Alice Yu,  for volunteering for a great cause!!

the next forseeable 6 months

 It's busy with the capital B for us since the end of the summer.
I'll be understudying 3 operas- (Gretel) Hansel& Gretel, (Zerlina)Don Giovanni and (High Priest)Aida with NY Opera Forum, I will also be singing the role of the Shepherdess in Tosca.  All this is happening between now and April 2014--talking about deadlines! I'm excited, nervous and above all, can't wait to sing!

Rest In Peace, Richard

An extraordinary singer, Richard Angas passed away unexpectedly yesterday in England. Our deepest condolences to the Angas family and the singing community. Rest in peace, Richard. 

More reports/articles
 BBC

R.I.P Regina Resnik (August 30, 1922 – August 8, 2013)

One of my most favorite Mezzo sopranos, I will miss your superb technique and tremendous sense of humor.

 

Also, shame on you, Huffingtonpost, for being completely negligent to your "classical track"....!

Breathing, supporting and finally singing-- priceless lessons Sutherland, Horne and Pavarotti

Yesterday I had a coaching session where I was told to "sing ah-s with a smile to bring out it's expression". While I understand that it is the expression which brings the life and vibrancy to a piece, I don't believe one can constantly sing with a smile, it takes many muscles to form a motion such as a smile, and that would be extra work for singers when muscles are suppose to be "engaged" and not tightened. Today I tried practicing with an "artificial smile", some of the sound came out beautiful but I might have over-done it. Now I have a fatigued, sore and thickened cord. Em, lesson learned. Each singer has his/her natural vertebrato and tune, and the most important key in opera-singing is that the voice can not be put on stress at any time, it must surf with vibrancy and energy, all of which requires a solid foundation and good training. Technique is what we survive on, along with hard work and self confidence. When performing in front of hundreds of people, when you feel like you are about to have a heart attack, remember, this is done everyday and hundreds of years by many many singers--BREATH, SUPPORT AND PROJECT. :)

August report

I'm excited to be performing in this year's fundraising event presented by Fresh Start Scholarship Foundation & Wilmington Women in Business!  Many women have received scholarships, grants and most importantly, mentorship and guidance from FSSF & WWIB.  My mother was also one of the early recipients of this scholarship, that subsequently enabled her to be able to pursue her MD degree!  This is means a lot to me naturally! :) Save the date! For a great cause!

Last but not the least, our amazing original Yankee diva (no offense Joyce, NY has nourished quite a few great divas!) Miss Apreli Millo in the Met scratch tapes 1-6. THANK YOU armandcastelmary for posting these amazing moments in live opera!

 

 

 

 

 

Eh--Summer, consistency's biggest nemisis!

This summer I'm (trying) a daily practice for "Lucia" and "Gilda". I need not to mention the difficulty in practicing solo, right? :0/
I will upload some practice recordings of Mozart later.

Adieu! Natalie Dessay!

"I had started off as an acting student. That was my real passion. That is my real passion. It’s just a detour of thirty-three years—to finally get back to my first goal..."
                                                                                     ---- Natalie Dessay

 

 

 

I will miss your presence on the operatic stage, Natalie! And I'm looking forward to seeing your acting work!

Pavarotti Masterclass

I'm putting them up to remind myself to watch them often.

Love and Deception, or, just LOVE?

BRAVI!! What a great concert, my fellow singers!!

  

 

A little humor goes long way :]

"Becky Butterfly" at the Rotunda -- WHAT A FUN SHOW!

FantasyWeaver Production's "Becky Butterfly" had two successful shows at The Rotunda yesterday.
WHAT A FUN TIME for both the children and the singers! The writer and cast members worked so hard to bring a production about Bullying-- a serious subject in a form of fun dance, cheerful music and dialog to the children who might or might not have been bullied themselves.
Check out FANTASY WEAVER PRODUCTION'S --"BECKY BUTTERFLY" here!
Check out THE ROTUNDA'S SHOW SCHEDULE here!

click for website

 Cast & Crew

BECKY--KATE QUINN

KEVIN THE MALE WASP---------------------JOHN QUINN

FLOWER 1/ FORTUNA---------------------ECHO VOLLA

FLOWER 2/ SEVENA---------------------ALYSSA LEHMAN

FLOWER 3/ VANO---------------------RAJA VAIDYA

FLOWER 4/ SOREL---------------------STEPHEN RAYTEK

QUEEN WASP---------------------SHARON DERSTINE

Producer/Composer

KATE QUINN

Musical Director

TING-TING WONG

Stage Director

DOROTHY CARDELLA (Touch of Classics)

Assistant Director

CORINNE REISER

Sets

DOROTHY CARDELLA/GINA RENZI

Custome

LOIS BABBIT

Light Technician 

GINA RENZI

Sound Technician

TARIO HIPPS

Videographer

 TARIO HIPPS

----------------------------------------

UPCOMING CONCERT IN MAY

 

A intimate night of singing from various opera scenes with a group of young opera singers in New York--

click for singer's website

Anna Petrie

Amanda Hick

Boris Mitchell

Caroline Tye

Emilie Storrs 

Echo Shi Volla 

Gilbert Mendoza

Heather Fetrow
Jennifer Sin

Juan Blanco 

Lauren Alfano Ishda 

Concert producer

Georgia Duan

Echo Shi Volla

Special Thanks to 

Shawana Ferguson--American Leisure 

The Edge Williamsburg

Continue on with "What Makes a Great Soprano?"

 

 

What Makes a Great Soprano

Opera is probably one of the most difficult forms of art ever existed in human history. Such a vast combination of literary/ mythological references; music; visual art and acting all put together in a condensed time frame is literally unimaginable. It might seem effortless from eyes of the audience, however behind the seemingly effortlessness is at least 10 years of hard, boring and bone crushing work. Don't believe me? Try it!;)

Save The Date--Concert at The Edge Williamsburg

Singers

Juan Blanco

Boris Mitchell

Echo Shi Volla 
Jennifer Sin

Lauren Alfano Ishda

LaMarcus Miller

Emilie Storrs

Amanda Hick

Gilbert Mendoza

Heather Fetrow

Concert producer

Georgia Duan

Echo Shi Volla

Special Thanks to 

Shawana Ferguson--American Leisure 

The Edge Williamsburg

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions 2013

4 Bass-Baritone? Looks like someone's having a national shortage :) See you at the Met!

 Matthew Anchel – Bass

                                                         Michael Brandenburg – Tenor

                                                    Brandon Cedel – Bass-Baritone

                                                                Tracy Cox – Soprano

                                                       Sydney Mancasola – Soprano

                                                 Musa Ngqungwana – Bass-Baritone

Richard Ollarsaba – Bass-Baritone

Rebecca Pedersen – Soprano

Thomas Richards – Bass-Baritone

Efraín Solís – Baritone

Website launched!

www.echoshivolla.com

Rigoletto at the Met

Long before we saw the opera, we've had ear full of comments about its apparently flamboyant and modern stage design. I'm never against progression, so I was excited to find out with my own eyes about this opera. The brightest spot of the opera has to be Diana Damrau--what an artist, musician and wonderful character. Since my first very Gilda was Anna Moffo, naturally I expect vocal impeccability and drama. At the end, I'm glad to say that the opera was very successful, the crew were excellent singers as well as performers.

Maria Stuarda rehearsal at the Met

Someone asked how the rehearsals take place at the Met, here's the answer!

Joyce Didonato Juilliard Master Class

Joyce Didonato's Juilliard Master Class was an eye -opening one to me. It was fun, nervous and exciting ( she does has a ME degree). Many extraordinary singers have taught Master Classes at Juilliard in the past. Thanks to Juilliard's online steaming, we were able to participate without being there. The pro side of online steaming is obvious; the con, however, is the acoustic quality gets compressed and whatever we hear is inevitably lesser than there really is. Alas!
I tried to transcript the class, so that I can always revisit what was said by Didonato.  I'm sure the school will post the entire video on Youtube soon, it would be great to learn the arias and watch it again, even though they are not my fach, except the first aria.
 Here are some of the quotes from Didonato, I'm NOT guaranteeing the accuracy as they are to the best of my recognition to my own hand writing:)

 

Joyce Didonato Juilliard Master Class

 

Joyce Didonato Juilliard Master Class

1. "Progress, no finish product without progress..."
2. "[The singer's] Work never, ever ends..."
3. (Gestures during performance) -- do from your gut, not with your limb."
4. "Be your character before music starts, and let the music stay inside of you..."
5. "There's no separation between the cord and the singing..."
6. "Rests are for a reason... suspension..."
6. "Going back to the score and dissect it, diagram your music..."
7. "You don't want to "indicate" or "act" to be convincing.
8. "Use the music and gesture to demonstrate the mood.."
9. "You are not singing every note for the sake of the notes..."
10. "Keep the nore clean& clear, inner track string..."
11.There are two things on the stage 1. True; 2. False"
12, "Dot rhythms, slow triplate, pressure in different speed & dynamic.
13. "When it comes to French, give 500% to "je & san"
14. "[Doubles] in Italian, the fabulous doubles!"
15. "Guess what that was, it's [legato]!
16. "Hands? finish with dramatic intent"
17. "The emotion is eternal"
18. " Find the ground of the emotion"
19. "There is NO breath police in opera..!" (si!)
20. " Make sure the notes are spinning out to nothing..." (Even at the end of the a note, the spinning DOES NOT stop)
21. "A brighter Italian [A] for "Largo al Factotum, check out Thomas Allen.." (Audio below)

22. "[eyes] do the talk, you're having a ball doing it (to Figaro), making up as you go..."
23. "The [ball] is in the eyes... (LMAO!)
24. "Great... ...?" "Damn---!!" (on acting as Figaro)
25. "Dramatic pacing..."
26. "Punctuation is NOT magic."
27. "Pay more attention to harmony."
28. " Breath and phonate.."
29. (On the [evil voice] inside every singer) ..." You've got to be great; do the best work; work harder, fully engaged in what your doing, do NOT give that voice a spot anywhere.

Robert Alagna -- "Andrea Chenier" @ the Carnegie Hal snubbed?l

I did not see this performance, but have been hearing interesting things about it. Having seen him recently in "Aida", it's very curious to hear less than pleasant review about a singer you like so much. We all have good days and bad days, I'm guess that was one of the days he could use a nice cup of tea. You can read this article on Parterre Box. Alagna is singing again at OONY, let's send him some good vibes of support.

Soprano Only

"Vedrai Carino"