healthy singing

i wish more people would appreciate good healthy singing. i’m not saying that only classical/operatic singing is acceptable because it’s possible to sing all styles of music with good vocal production. i guess more than anything else, i’m trying to say that i have a problem with people mistaking tense and strained singing for amazing vocal ability. it’s like people only perceive intense emotion when singers struggle to hit their high notes and overwork their vocal cords. but i don’t blame the singer, listener or anyone in particular. that’s just the normal perception. that’s what the average person hears in most music. anyway, i don’t have a solution, i just thought i’d share my thoughts.

“The making of music is the everlasting and inescapable act of creation. With the visual arts a work is completed. It may be viewed by men of succeeding generations, usually singly. But the life of music is reborn at every singing. It has existed in the composer’s spirit - but at each singing it seeks a new life. And the performer, though his craft is that of representation and his proper approach that of humility, cannot escape the responsibilities of creation.”
— Robert Shaw

i’m glad the pats didn’t pull off their “perfect” season. i’m also happy for eli, especially since he’s been criticized and compared to his brother for so long.

isn’t it a great feeling to expect the lakers and celtics to meet in the finals? i take back every bad thing i ever said or thought about mitch kupchak.

visit to claremont

yesterday, i drove to claremont college to do some research for a project i’m working on. i’ve been trying to locate a manuscript or facsimile of a work by Marenzio, a 16th century composer. i managed to contact Roland Jackson, an expert on Marenzio who has published many editions of his works, and he told me the original sources were on microfilm at a claremont library.

i enjoyed wandering around the campus because it had the aura of an east coast university. once i got to the library, i got even more excited because it was pretty big, at least compared to the uci lib. sadly, i spent the next hour just trying to find the microfilm section in the library. it wasn’t where the map said it would be, and there weren’t any librarians in yet to help. i was on my own, in an unfamiliar place, searching for rare documents. it kinda felt like an adventure, in a weird scholarly way.

after finally finding the microforms, i spent another hour fumbling with the scanning machine. eventually, i got the hang of it, there was a moment when i was scrolling through the manuscripts and it finally hit me that i was a graduate student (as if the teaching and sleepless nights didn’t do it). there’s something special about getting off the computer to search through a collection in person.

Job

I have a job interview tomorrow! …well, in 10 hours. It’s for an after school program called Musical Minds that holds group keyboard lessons for elementary school students. Wish me luck! I need the money…but also, it would  be good teaching experience, even if it’s not choral or vocal.

I don’t wanna be a teacher of songs. I’d rather be a teacher of music. It’s got to be more than playing their notes on a piano, giving proper diction, saying, “Louder!” or, “Softer!” or telling them when they are out of tune.

stef likes beating me

stef likes beating me


Disneyland

went to Disneyland on Friday with Stef & her parents. we were there to watch her bro (RJ) perform in his high school jazz band.

space mountain was really really fun, even though i’d ridden it at least 10 times before. maybe because it’s been a while since the last time i rode it, but it also seemed much darker than the last time.

the fireworks show is the best fireworks show i’ve ever seen. and i didn’t even get to see the whole thing! they stopped it in the middle because of “high winds.” 

Our choir director, Joseph Huszti, is a special conductor, which is why I chose to come back to UCI for grad school. He has experience, has worked with the great teachers of the 20th century, has the knowledge, and communicates vividly with his hands and body, but so many conductors throughout the world share these same traits. The thing that makes him special is his natural ability to inspire and transform a large group of young people who can sing the right word on the right pitch at the right time into a choir that makes beautiful music.

There have been several times when I was leading a rehearsal or sectional by myself, and once Prof. Huszti took over and stepped in front of the group, the entire room was suddenly filled with energy, passion, and excitement. I hope that’s something I can learn to develop because it doesn’t come naturally for me. If there are 2 things I could learn from Prof. Huszti before I graduate next Spring, they would be his use of imagination and humor in rehearsals.

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”
— Frank A. Clark