A Fresh New Singer-Voice in the Blog World

I recently stumbled across a great new blog called The Graduate written by a recent Bachelor of Music grad from Toronto.  She is motivational and inspiring and I encourage you to check her out!

PS - I stole this image from her most recent post...it so perfectly depicts the complexity of our choices and lives as musicians!

Top Ten Things To Do For Successful Procrastination

Now that the academic year is over at the University of Toronto and those of us who are contract teachers are finished with our teaching, we have time to dive into all of the things one has not put 100% effort into...including my least favourite thing to do -  practicing. 

Yes, practicing.

Let me qualify that statement.  I hate the "thinking about", "getting ready to", "learning my music" portion of  practicing.  Which is how I have become one of the most efficient procrastinators*.

So on this rainy day, here is my top ten list of things to do for successful procrastination:

10. Write a blog post;
9.   Do laundry and miscellaneous housework like clean the knife drawer;
8.  Sort your jewelry making sure that all your earrings have backings;
7.  Email all the contacts on your list to update them on your professional life (ok, this is a legitimate and smart business thing to do!)
6.  Talk to your mother;
5.  Talk to your mother-in-law;
4.  Drink more coffee;
3.  Run on the treadmill that you haven't used all winter;
2.  Rearrange the pictures of your kids around the house;

And the number one thing to help you be a successful procrastinator....shine your husband's shoes. Yes, you  know you have scraped the to-do barrel clean when you have shoe polish under your fingernails.

Good luck to all of you out there trying to get your work done....and remember young singers - DON'T do as I DO but as I SAY!

PS - I love this article about procrastination with Netflix as an example!

*for the record, this is a joke only.

Canadians at the MET

As you may have read, there is much excitement at the MET over Canadian director Robert Lapage's new production of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust. Known in the opera circles for his Erwartung/Bluebeard's Castle double bill, Lepage is "practicing" for Wagner's Ring at the MET in 2011-2012.

Not to be overlooked is another great Canadian - bass baritone John Relyea singing the role of Méphistophélès opposite Susan Graham's Marguerite.

Relevant articles:

... and the devil takes his due

Robert Lepage prepared for opera by hitting Vegas

Video interview of Lepage at the Met

Singers of the Future - Operalia 2008

Operalia 2008 was a fantastic survey of up and coming singers on the world stage. Have a listen to the concert that was broadcast live by CBC Radio 2 from Montreal, Quebec last week. You can stream the finals here.


You can read more about the competition here.

Notice that we had a Canadian in the finals - bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus. Stephen holds a Master of Music in Opera from the University of Toronto. He is a member of Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal and has pursued further studies at the Banff Centre, the Britten-Pears Programme in Aldeburgh, England, and at the Centre for Opera in Sulmona, Italy. The 2008 recipient of the Herbert Cohen award for second place at the 32nd annual Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition hosted by the Oratorio Society of New York, Stephen will make his Carnegie Hall debut in 2009 singing Bach’s Mass in B-minor with the Oratorio Society of New York.