VocalFri Podcast

Dr. P and Sarah address this week's controversial Ian Bostridge performance where he stopped mid song cycle to ask the audience to put down their phones and turn off the flash functions. It was a varied and weaving conversation with two sort of opposite perspectives. In the end, the take home point was, be courteous, consider others, and let's get audience members in seats. Join us.

The #VocalFam is joined by the Sparks and Wiry Cries duo of Martha Guth and Erika Switzer to talk about their joint art song centered project. They share about the importance of diversifying your career as a performing artist and how they both landed in the realm of art song. Also they share about Song Slams. Dr. P and Sarah had the chance to attend the Song Slam in Chicago at NATS National. If one comes to a city near you, do NOT miss it! A truly invigorating creative experience.

NATS President Diana Allan and President-Elect Alexis Davis-Hazell join us to preview the upcoming NATS National Conference in Knoxville from June 28-July 2. Please consider joining us for all the tremendous activities, sessions, and information this upcoming summer!

Coming off of Dr. P's recent faculty search and interview process Sarah was curious to hear more about what the job search process is like in 2024. Dr. P shares some thoughts on the overall academic music job market (the bleak part), followed by some recommendations for those applying for positions, and finally some hopefulness about why you still might consider pursuing graduate degrees in voice.

One of our VocalFri philosophies has always been not getting caught up on what terminology we use, as long as we can define and describe how we are using those words. We discussed this on an older episode, but we've seen a lot of recent posts regarding terminology and it seemed like a good time to revisit this topic. An interesting, winding conversation.

Sarah and Dr. P dove into various perspectives of repertoire selection in teaching classical, musical theater, and contemporary styles. Dr. P had revised his graduate repertoire for teaching course last fall and we finally had a chance to break it down. We did some life updates first. Rep discussions begins around the 15:00 minute mark.

#VocalFam we are back! Today's a special episode for a few reasons. First, we start with a pretty big announcement for the podcast.

Then, we are joined by esteemed guests Dr. Pasquale Bottalico, Dr. Joshuas Glasner, and Yvonne Redman to discuss their multiple studies investigating how room acoustics impact a singer's experience in a space. Any singer will tell you that they feel differently singing in various venues. This team is finally giving us data to support why that occurs. This is a conversation you MUST hear!

VocalFri's 7th Christmas Special! This year's special is a little different. Typically we just cover 1 pop culture happening for our holiday cheer, but this year Sarah and Dr. P finally covered their lean, mean, and green production ofCarmen. How could a small music department present such a large masterwork? Listen and find out, then tune in on Thursday for our two premieres of theCarmenfilm noirs. https://youtu.be/wfgOw29b8vE?feature=shared

Stick around to hear our review of the 3 Doctor Who Christmas specials. Come join the #VocalFam...at Christmas!

Happy Holidays!

Sarah and Dr. P are back from maternity leave! Well, at least Sarah is; Perna never left. The #VocalFam is joined by longtime friend of the pod Dr. Ian Howell to discuss his new book Advice for Young Musicians which is a perfect last minute holiday gift for any musician in your life. Hear some of our deepest insights ever as we explore not only Ian's book, but the music industry, the career paths of musicians, academic music, technology, and life lessons. The book is not only a perfect holiday gift, but this episode is a great listen for your holiday travel. Don't wait until your travelling on December 24th to buy the book. Amazon is fast. Not that fast. Buy the book here.

#VocalFam Theodora Nestorova returns to the pod to tell us more about her work at McGill during her PhD and their new inter- and intra-disciplinary Applied Performance Sciences Hub, housed within the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal. Theodora led us in a lively discussion about the need to diversify our possible career directions for singers and musicians. We also got a taste of the LEAP Initiative they have started through the collaborations at APS Hub.