@brrrring

Photo

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 21:13:28 -0400

This was such sweet night. w/ composer Gregory Spears at the...

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:57:46 -0400

This was such sweet night. w/ composer Gregory Spears at the Listening Archive Launch at Issue Project Room in Brooklyn.

Character work is fun, ‘specially when you get to play...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:28:00 -0400

Character work is fun, ‘specially when you get to play evil for half a morning.

For a museum show by Elizabeth Berdann called The Deep End.

Rebecca Ringle, Mezzo-Soprano, As A Siren, 2012, watercolor on ivory. 2” x 1 5/8 ” For exhibition click here.

As we shot photos for this tiny painting, I sang along to Ella Fitzgerald doing “Lorelei” by the Gershwins on my phone speakers.

So a month ago @NYTimesfashion called 2 ask about my friend, the gifted #CamillaHuey...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:13:52 -0400

So a month ago @NYTimesfashion called 2 ask about my friend, the gifted #CamillaHuey...

So the TEDxYale video is up. I’ve thanked everyone...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

So the TEDxYale video is up. I’ve thanked everyone involved in several ways, but the very short list is the radiant Charity Sunshine, Kevin Newbury and the entire team at Sing for Hope.

My voice teacher’s been know to say, “Fat neck! Fat...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:44:08 -0400

My voice teacher’s been know to say, “Fat neck! Fat neck!! Like Beyoncé!!” #opera ( #beyhive )

"To sing, I think is the most human. You are the vessel. Everything depends on how you feel as a..."

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:52:27 -0400

““To sing, I think is the most human. You are the vessel. Everything depends on how you feel as a person. And the first thing you do, which I did very early- it is not to be conceited… it is not to be impossible- is for you to hear how beautiful your instrument is. And you must be true to that. You must have joy to deliver this sound.””

- Leontyne Price.

Y’all, it’s the @MetOpera score dolly. For real. It...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:20:27 -0400

Y’all, it’s the @MetOpera score dolly. For real. It dates to the old pre-Lincoln Center opera house and has been carrying orchestral parts for over 50 years. Behold its chipped, sturdy, well-designed glory. And thanks to the librarian on duty for telling me all about it and letting me share his love for something so old and practical.

8mi hike on the #AppalachianTrail made a voice lesson the next...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:24:00 -0400

8mi hike on the #AppalachianTrail made a voice lesson the next day particularly awesome. Breath support for miles & words & notes seem to mean more. Anyone else ever have that happen?

How much do I adore Camilla Huey for putting a tousled, beached...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 23:00:00 -0500

How much do I adore Camilla Huey for putting a tousled, beached me in such fancy company?

Amazing google ad combo: @MetOpera on a @girltalk page…...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:04:06 -0500

Amazing google ad combo: @MetOpera on a @girltalk page… For a sec, I thought the crowds were the same.

TEDxYale talk. Outtakes.

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:07:00 -0500

I received an email in September from someone who knew someone who’d seen this talk asking whether I’d like to sing and speak at TEDxYale. I had loved TED for several years as a vacation into a room of brilliant people. The week before the email came, I remember thinking that it would make an insane bucket list goal: give a good TED talk.

As soon as I realized that this was really going to happen, I felt overwhelmed. I have more personal crusades than anyone should. After weeks of writing and grandstanding from my couch and in conversation with smart friends, I picked a topic that had a little of my career and a little of my real life, and one that I feel strongly about: The primacy of live performance in the life of a healthy society.

Even to get there, I cut out lots of fun dinner party conversations that contain info “worth sharing” that my crazy performer’s life has brought me. Real quick:

You can train your mind and body to stay calm in moments of high performance. Anyone can do this. It’s not a talent. It’s just practice.
You don’t have to have a cold for a whole week. You prolly just need some salmon, some greens drink (maybe this one but there are lots), some sleep and some Nyquil. Most of my colds are down to 1-2 days max. Please knock on wood as you read that.
Excellence is worth working really hard for. By excellence, I mean some complex task with objective standards, like singing a Bach aria in tune. Sometimes this involves fundamentals and boring things like repetition, but it’s so rewarding.

But even leaving all of that out, here’s more that we left out that was on the topic:

I never thanked the phenomenal Kevin Newbury for his help in structuring the talk.

From the cutting room floor this phrase was cut from somewhere: “These are both things we need right now: Focus, and a sense of mutual safety.”

I described an early version of the talk to a friend in Berlin last month and she told me the following profound/hilarious story about her father which we added and then cut for time: “My friend Pauline Sachse, a German violist was playing next to the bed of her father who was in an induced coma following abdominal cancer surgery that had almost killed him. She played lots of Beatles songs over the week as her family hoped for the best. On the day they were to bring him out of the coma, she played “Bei mir bist du schön,” one of the songs he’d taught her when she was a child. He began to regain consciousness and even to try to speak, but they couldn’t make out his first words. They thought he must be saying something profound and moving following such a huge ordeal until they realized he was whispering “Schneller” (“Faster”) because he thought she was playing the song too slow…. So at his recovery party weeks later, Pauline made an arrangement for string trio and they played “Bei mir bist du schön” very slow and then very fast.”

We cut the funding plug and I’m glad we did, but it went like this: “If you can, write a check to a live performance organization that touches you, especially if you live in America where the arts are mostly privately funded. It’s important and the torch for this has to pass to the next generation.”

That was all cut to get the talk under 7 minutes, but here are some topics someone should cover another time:

How genre is softening even among young elite classical musicians and how that’s kind of cool.
How good it feels to sing when it’s going really well.
How we overemphasize the concept of talent because it’s boring to talk about the preparation that really makes good performers.
The awesomeness of Joan Panetti who is playing the piano for me. She’s a treasure. If you’re into classical music, check it: the only small freshman seminar she ever taught produced Marin Alsop, Eliot Fisk, and Anthony Tommasini … from the same class. I’m still close friends with half of the people I took Hearing with. She won’t allow the word Theory and insists everyone call it Hearing. She changed the Copland arrangement all around and is even improvising a bit.

The Rome apartment came with a large palm tree. (Taken with...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:05:47 -0500

The Rome apartment came with a large palm tree. (Taken with Instagram at Piazza Giovenale)

The Paris apartment came with a piano, a garden, and wall art. ...

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:16:58 -0500

The Paris apartment came with a piano, a garden, and wall art. (Taken with Instagram at Cours Le Maitre)

Came home to a mailbox full of Bach.

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:56:23 -0500

Came home to a mailbox full of Bach.

Snapshot of a score from Mika Karlsson’s Tumblr, where you...

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:40:00 -0400

Snapshot of a score from Mika Karlsson’s Tumblr, where you can hear some of his specific, emotional, awesome work. Mika, I can’t wait either!

mikakarlsson:

A fragment of the piano part for the first aria from the future opera “Decoration”. I am writing the synopsis and libretto with David Flodén who is a good old friend, an architect and artist (he made the cover for Day Comes Apart… a song cycle by Rob Stephenson (text) and me).
Mezzo Soprano Rebecca Ringle will sing and workshop the aria as part of my fellowship with American Opera Projects‘ ”Composers & the Voice” program 2011-2012. Rebecca sings Adams and Verdi at the Met Opera, and has a very strong personality and musical path. She knows what works for her, and she seems like she will be completely honest about how the aria feels when we work on it. Intimidating, but more importantly… something to get better from! I can’t wait. I present the aria to her one week from today.

#foundbeauty : just a ferry video from a trip with my...

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:29:00 -0400

#foundbeauty : just a ferry video from a trip with my sister this summer.

Crackerjack article on Personal Bests by @Atul_Gawande starring @reneesmusings , some Topeka teachers, Rafael Nadal and a couple surgeons

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:06:00 -0400

Crackerjack article on Personal Bests by @Atul_Gawande starring @reneesmusings , some Topeka teachers, Rafael Nadal and a couple surgeons

Visited an old friend at the @bonappetitmag test kitchen and...

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:29:00 -0400

complex kitchen wirin'

Test pictures.

She shuns the paparazzi.

Bud, grey nails.

starring cardamom, cloves, pretzels

it's the Vogue closet but for food...

Visited an old friend at the @bonappetitmag test kitchen and they plied me with beer and gourmet cookies. Four-mile run the next day not pictured.

Spend the night in your backyard box fort. In the morning,...

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 07:53:00 -0400

Spend the night in your backyard box fort. In the morning, listen to audio books and have hot chocolate delivered to you. Bet you wish you were my cousin, S. Via Craft Nectar.