Wells Fargo isn't anti-arts, everyone

Editorial

Can't we place this ad - perhaps poorly worded as it was - next to all the stories about how universities take too many arts students for the number of job opportunities, about getting suckered into too many pay-to-sing summer programs, and all the times that passionate artists finally stepped back from the pressure of making their passion their livelihood?

Amy Winehouse & the power of an audience

Editorial

What struck us about her story is the apparently objective frenzy that audiences have over the human voice. Singers of all genres are made to understand early on that their voice is only part of a puzzle (albeit a vital part); they need self-discipline, they need to hustle and make business contacts, they need to want their career to happen, and to make their career happen.

How to empathize with singers

Editorial

When pianists and singers work together, they're basically trying to connect to how the other approaches music, and combine their skills and ideas. For young pianists, it can be a huge learning curve to start to think like a singer. Fortunately (or unfortunately, for the shy), the fastest way to build your singer empathy is simply to become one.

Adele & knowing your audience

Editorial

It must be a strange thing to know that you're an artist who's in demand enough to be on a realistic list of artists who may sing at an event like the Superbowl, but that you're not the kind of artist to give a good show in that context. Artists of all calibres, and particularly opera singers, get put in plenty of little situations where the idea of the gig is better than the reality.

The brief history of made-for-TV opera

Editorial

Do television networks, publicly funded or otherwise, have a responsibility to foster underdog-like forms of art by keeping them visible to the public? Are commercial networks like NBC or CBS or HBO free from the responsibility of exposing viewers to what they may enjoy - may learn from, even - and not just whats been statistically proven to get high ratings?

Why we're in love with Morgan James

Editorial

Want to hear something nuts? Check out the video above, where she covers Aqua's "Barbie Girl" (remember Aqua??) with Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox. For the truly impatient, skip to the "human theramin" bit at 2:07. Like, come on.

6 opera houses, Google-reviewed

Editorial

It seems that $7 sausage/beer deal is appealing, if a distant goal: "Only complaint is that the concession stands are too far away to make it there and back comfortably during intermission." The only other complaint? The length of Les Troyens: "It was much too long at 5 hours with two 30-minute intermission breaks."

Musicians, sexual harassment, & blurred lines

Editorial

Jokes about double-entendre music terms ("fingering," "tongue tension," "G-string," etc.), invasion of personal space (teaching by demonstration), and (perhaps) innocent flirting; all of these commonplace pieces of sexual harassment are perhaps more dangerous when combined with a captive audience of sorts.

What else are singers great at?

Editorial

When singers travel for work, they're not just choosing to spend time alone; for weeks or months at a time, singers are on their own in a new city, often without friends or family to keep them company. Loneliness can set in, or even boredom, both dangerous things when your job depends on your physical and mental health.

Great ideas: Portland Opera à la Cart

Editorial

A Portland Opera-style cart is a brilliant way of showcasing opera presented by one or several companies; in the same way that a picture is worth a thousand words, offering up short bites of opera to listeners is the perfect marketing campaign to lure audiences to future full-length productions.