Is it really nearly Labor Day?!!? I'm still trying to figure out where the year has gone!
My head is still in Holiday Mode - we still have this week before our daughter is back to school, and my husband's and my own teaching schedules still have two weeks before they're under full sail, thus we're trying to make the most of these last free days particularly since the weather has cooperated and been atypically pleasant for late August in these parts. It's often brutally hot and muggy, but has this year been surprisingly low-humidity and "only" in the 80s, thus encouraging lazy BBQ evenings outside, capped off by watching the Olympics, continuing to marvel both at the miracles which the human body can perform, and also renewed acceptance that singing is far, far, FAR more like an athletic pursuit than an artistic one!
I can't say I'm 100% nose-to-the-grindstone just now ::cough:: but , like the athletes, the Work Of A Singer Is Never Done (I don't think that's a real quote, but it should have been). Like athletes, a singer's training never stops; even during holidays the voice needs the occasional brush up if only so the muscles stay toned and ready for action. Next month brings the next gig, with another one immediately after, and audition season straight after that, so these last moments of summer laziness need to be anything but lazy vocally. That said, without the pressures of rehearsal schedules and performances, it's easier to practice the way one wants; "lazy" practice can sometimes bring its own discoveries and rewards so, as long as it gets done, it's a good thing to take it a little easy sometimes.
In the meantime, another golden evening; sometimes summer lives up to its reputation.
My head is still in Holiday Mode - we still have this week before our daughter is back to school, and my husband's and my own teaching schedules still have two weeks before they're under full sail, thus we're trying to make the most of these last free days particularly since the weather has cooperated and been atypically pleasant for late August in these parts. It's often brutally hot and muggy, but has this year been surprisingly low-humidity and "only" in the 80s, thus encouraging lazy BBQ evenings outside, capped off by watching the Olympics, continuing to marvel both at the miracles which the human body can perform, and also renewed acceptance that singing is far, far, FAR more like an athletic pursuit than an artistic one!
I can't say I'm 100% nose-to-the-grindstone just now ::cough:: but , like the athletes, the Work Of A Singer Is Never Done (I don't think that's a real quote, but it should have been). Like athletes, a singer's training never stops; even during holidays the voice needs the occasional brush up if only so the muscles stay toned and ready for action. Next month brings the next gig, with another one immediately after, and audition season straight after that, so these last moments of summer laziness need to be anything but lazy vocally. That said, without the pressures of rehearsal schedules and performances, it's easier to practice the way one wants; "lazy" practice can sometimes bring its own discoveries and rewards so, as long as it gets done, it's a good thing to take it a little easy sometimes.
In the meantime, another golden evening; sometimes summer lives up to its reputation.
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This summer I also moved into a new flat, so I wasn't exactly in the mood for learning cadenzas and making sure my high g was in the right position after putting up bookshelves and unpacking boxes.
Anyway, it's back to Così.
Nicholas.