My agenda, and I do have one

I like to think that I'm an evangelist for singing. I think everyone can and should do it. It's good for the body and soul. And so I got a kick out of this message from a high school friend who has been following my adventures in singing on Facebook and here on this blog.

"You inspired me to take voice lessons! My teacher teaches at Belmont and has lots of kids for voice and piano. He's also a Jewish Cantor! Maybe I'll learn some good Jewish songs, although he suggested we practice "Wondrous Love" which fits best at Easter. And our Bluegrass Band finished our CD and it's available but not in stores. Send me you address and I'll send you a copy."

Along the same lines, a friend and fellow cast member in The Wizard of Oz production this past summer was apprehensive about a presentation he was planning to make to a big dental conference in Hawaii in November 2010. I told him about my singing lessons and how they helped build confidence in public speaking, too. I saw him a few weeks ago at the Chamber of Commerce Christmas Bazaar and he said the presentation had gone beautifully. He thanked me. He had take my advice and enrolled in some singing lessons in order to prepare for the event.

BlesSings of the season

Singing with Laura Owenby at church, December 19, 2010

It is a treat to be singing so frequently this Christmas. A bit stressful, but a blessing nonetheless. Here is the rundown:

• "Were You There on that Christmas Night?" duet with Laura Owenby at church, 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services, 4th Sunday of Advent, 12.19
• Performances 12.20 with Elizabeth Crittenden and Courtney Johnston of Eleanor LaForge's Christmas music and traditional carols at Magnolia Hills assisted living center and Habersham Home nursing home
• "Some Children See Him," accompanied by Joe Whelchel on guitar, opening solo for both Christmas Eve services at church, rehearsal 12.21 and 12.23
• 12.21--rehearsal for Frank Loesser show in January

If someone had told me three years ago that I would be singing this much--in public, no less!--during Christmas celebrations 2010, I would have said they were crazy. Now, I am so grateful for the adventure and for the opportunities to perform and learn. I wish I had done better at the 8 a.m. performance of "Were You There ..." with Laura. My voice cracked--I hate that! I had some a.m. phlegm issues that caused additional jitters. I didn't open wide enough for the note I cracked on and wasn't supporting it sufficiently. Thank goodness I have learned enough to know what I did wrong and to see that it didn't happen again for the 10 a.m. service. I was so grateful that performance went without a hitch. I need to keep reminding myself that I am still a newbie at this and thrilled to be singing with seasoned performers like Laura. On to new adventures later today!

But not before posting some comments just in:

"Such a treat to be with you and receive your gift of music this morning. SO beautiful.... "

"I enjoyed your singing and wanted to tell you that. I do enjoy the choir and am so thankful it's there for us. We are lucky to not only have a church that loves us but also one that has the music it has and the people!!!"

"The duet was really lovely. Thank you."

"You have a beautiful voice."

Lessons from Loesser

Frank Loesser smoked three packs of cigarettes a day, wore crisp, laundered shirts, Shalimar cologne and glassy green pomade in his hair. He also wrote beautiful music and some of the sharpest, funniest lyrics ever sung on a stage. Quite a package, you say? If his personal style is out of date, his music definitely isn't.

I've enjoyed reading about him in preparation for Heart and Soul: Sautee Celebrates the Music of Frank Loesser, a Sautee Supper Club show in which I will perform with buddies Laura Owenby, C.B. Henson and Barbara Luhn the evening of January 23, 2011, at the Sautee Nacoochee Community Center. (Mark your calendar now! It is going to be a great show.)

I like this advice to singers from one of Loesser's letters. The guy didn't mince words. "Don't sustain notes--any notes, I don't care if it's grand opera you're doing--beyond the point where they stop making sense, or beyond the safety limit of your wind or nervous system. Breathe your head off any time you want. Don't sing over-long phrases in one breath, because even a Kenny Baker can't do it without making the next passage suffer from lack of control. It beautifies nothing except your own private opinion of your vocal prowess--which is not what the public wants. They want entertainment."

What is your favorite Frank Loesser song?

In excelsis cole slaw

Saturday's performance at the Clarkesville Chamber of Commerce Christmas Bazaar was a learning experience. The sound system was lousy. Elizabeth, Courtney and I had trouble hearing our accompaniment track many a time. And there was lots of ambient noise in the place. At one point during a pause in Courtney's lovely Magnificat solo, in which she expresses Mary's angst at being the chosen one, I heard the barbecue vendor nearby yelling, "Cole slaw! Potato salad! Baked beans!" It didn't exactly enhance the music! Would I do it again? Yes, I say--without missing a beat. The more I sing the more I understand that you can study and practice your tail off , but the performance is when the real learning happens. I know as a result of Saturday's experience, my next performance will be better. I do hope, however, that no one is selling barbecue there.

What was your most harrowing performing experience?

Always nice to get these post-show notes

Hey all -

Congratulations again on a terrific show last night.  You were all a delight to work with, and we made yet another self-repairing ensemble that rolled with the punches and came up with an outstanding event to give to the people of Snacooch.

We’re looking at dates for Late Night Off-Center 2011, so start thinking now about what kind of madness we might want to offer in the spring...

Cheers

Lisa

Are we having fun yet? Don't.

I made the mistake this evening of saying I was having fun during rehearsals for Late Night Off-Center next Thursday. Our director replied, "It's not time to have fun yet. You can  have fun when it's over. For now, focus on breathing and singing." I know exactly what she means, and admire her for saying it. After all, she is the only person I know who sang and danced--and even had a speaking role--in a Broadway show. So yes, I listen and learn. Being out there singing and dancing (elementary steps, granted) takes concentration, but woe to you if you look like you are concentrating. Whew. It's a tall challenge. More later after our performance next week!

What was that about pulchritude?

It was fun to see the poster for the Nov. 11 event in which I'll be performing at SNCA with a bevy of talented beauties. Ya'll come ... at your own risk.

Back to basics

At my lesson today, I worked on the four classical pieces I am preparing for NATS in February 2011. It was the first time I had run all of them with Lilly, and there is a long way to go. On Luke Havergal, I broke on the line "Our of the grave I come." (How is this for a great Halloween song, by the way?) Lilly reminded me of one of the first rules of singing: Hold the vowel, carry that word's ending consonants to the beginning of the next word. Thus "grave I come" becomes "grah veye come." Simple lesson, but I had forgotten it, and as soon as I sang it this way I didn't have any troubles. Lesson learned, yes. Lesson remembered? Time will tell.

Just for fun

I added a new page to the blog this morning: Just for Fun. I like the idea of building a collection of music that moves friends and family who come to the site. So post a link on Just for Fun before the day is out. Tell us why. Don't be shy.

My entry for today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrsfLYKVOZQ&NR=1&feature=fvwp

The red tape behind the music

I recently worked my way through the labyrinth of a large music publisher's licensing and copyright department to obtain permission to perform a transposed piece of classical music at a college music festival next year. Not fun! It took a lot of time that I could have spent singing--or walking the dog, for that matter--but it was a learning experience

It all began in August when my singing teacher and I determined that a 20th century art song I really like--John Duke's  Luke Havergal--fits one of the required categories for entry in the festival, scheduled for February 2011. My teacher owns  a copy of the music--great!--but it is the "Medium Voice" version, meaning the range, with a high note of F above middle C--is well above mine. So the search began to see if Luke was available in a Low Voice version. After a hunt that included phone calls to a classical music library in Ithaca, NY, and e-mails to a European music supplier whose website promised what ultimately turned out to be a red-herring Low Voice version of Luke, we confirmed that Low Luke was not available and, indeed, had never been published.

An alternative was to sing the published High Voice version an octave lower to fit my range. Tried it.  Didn't work. I sounded like I was in the basement, or trapped in a mine in Chile somewhere. After further study of the festival's requirements for entry, we found that a version of the music transposed via software like Finale would be acceptable, as long as we obtained permission from the publisher. Thus began the dealings with the publisher's licensing and copyright department. Nearly a month after my initial request, permission arrived by e-mail yesterday.

My point is that performing music takes more time and involves more backstory than I ever imagined before I began my adventures in singing. Sure, I could have easily blown off Luke and found another piece that suits the festival's entry requirements, but when a piece of music speaks to you the way this one speaks to me, it's worth the effort. (More about that in a future posting.) I was thrilled when that e-mail arrived yesterday. Now let's hope the judges at the festival will be equally enthusiastic.

To what lengths have you gone to perform a piece of music you love?

Life does not have assigned seating

This blog isn't about singing as much as it is about stretching. Trying new things. As a professional writer for more than 30 years, I'm usually the guy with a notebook or laptop in the corner of the room. I've often adopted that posture in my personal life, too--sitting back, making commentary while others put on the show. With singing, I stand and join the chorus.

Why is that important? For starters, it's the people. Since I began singing two years ago, many new and wonderful people have entered my life. I share jitters, hugs and high-fives with teen-agers and their parents at recitals and local events where my singing teacher's students are invited to perform. With old friends, I've made harmonies that never would have been heard without my adventures in singing. And I made buddies from six to 60 in the community theatre production of The Wizard of Oz this past summer. How could I ever forget the kindergarten-age Munchkin who took my hand and grinned after every performance as the cast stepped downstage for our curtain call? That wouldn't have happened if my fingers had been poised over a laptop, now would it?

I am grateful for the constants in my life--a relationship, a family, a home, a job. But at 58, I am also beginning to understand that life does not have assigned seating. We are free to get up and move about, to enjoy the view from different angles, fresh perspectives. It might be comfortable, but we do not have to sit in the same pew at church every Sunday. Indeed, I believe we are obliged to take different ones as we go through life. The one near the choir? The one by the window? The one where that new couple is sitting who joined the church last month? Whatever the choice, you might very well make a difference in someone's life, and your own.

What are you doing to break out of your comfort zone?

Richard Kiley rules

Anyone know how old Richard Kiley was when he did Man of La Mancha on Broadway? 50, maybe? I listened recently to the original cast recording and was amazed at his range and strength, and the recording is fresh and crisp as if it were made yesterday. Listen to a wonderful sample at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45KxeBonUGI

The Village People: Why they rock

I have been working with friends on a comic number for an upcoming Late Night Off Center show at our community center next month. We're singing and dancing to "YMCA" by the Village People, but with different lyrics that satirize a hotly debated issue in the news today.

At our first rehearsal, our choreographer was talking about why this song has lasted. What qualities must it, or any song, for that matter,  possess in order to stick around as long as "YMCA" has? First of all, "YMCA" has drive. Its beat is insistent and proud. In addition, the melody "keeps going up," our choreographer observed. Each measure inches up and up and up, incrementally higher than the last. She makes a good point. We have had three rehearsals now and I never tire of running through this music. It's fun. It moves. And it's a spirit-lifter if ever there was one. Check out the original 1978 video for a reminder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k.

I also love what one viewer posted about the video. "It's weird but this song gives me a Christmas feeling." Says it all, doesn't it?

What songs give you a Christmas feeling?

Luke Havergal

Hear a lovely rendition of this John Duke song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NkdPSLYorU.
It is a setting of a powerful poem by Edward Arlington Robinson. I am working to perform this piece at two festivals in early 2011, if I can get permission from Carl Fischer to perform a transposed version in a lower key. I would love to hear your comments on what you think this piece is about.

[NOTE: I took this photo while biking in France in September 2010. These are Luke's "crimson leaves against the wall." Am I obsessed by this song or what?]

A regimen that worked

Singing Bernstein's "So Pretty" with Blake Rudeseal

I am a greenhorn, only in my second year of singing study. I love learning about the art and want to do whatever I can to be as good as I can be. This morning I wrote a recap of some of the steps I took this past weekend to ensure a good performance at church on Sunday morning.

I am happy to report they worked. Read about it on the Shaping Up.
What is your pre-performance regimen?

So Pretty

Sang the Bernstein/Comden/Green song at church on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010 at both 8 and 10 a.m. services, accompanied by Blake Rudeseal, a classical guitar major at UGA. When I first heard the song last spring, I wanted to sing it at church because of its powerful message of peace, and October--when peacemaking offerings are made at our church--seemed the best time for it.

I loved this Facebook review from a friend: "Mike, I just want to thank you for the beautiful and poignant song you sang this morning at church. You gave your all to it, and it brought me to tears. What a gift! ♥"

And another review just in: "Your Sunday song was beautiful.  You looked perfectly comfortable  and the song was so moving and so beautifully presented. A wonderful treat! Thank you."

I like this one, too. "Thanks for the song on Sunday. You and Blake did a beautiful job."

What is the favorite comment you ever received about your singing?