Opera Offstage

Musicians who don't bring their music.

Ensemble members who upstage you.

The people who hook up in practice rooms.

From the classroom to the stage, we all have our pet peeves that just  get under our skin and bother the HECK out of us, so today we're sharing a couple of ours and couple of yours that you wrote in! So join us as we laugh and cringe our way through some of these sneaky little annoyances.

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Jessie

Michelle

Role study can be a lot of fun and a great resume builder for musicians, but if you don't know where to start, it can also be a daunting and overwhelming task.

Which is why today is all about how and why you should be doing role study!

Now that many of us are stuck at home, there's never been a better time to experiment with your role study process. We talk you through each part from the beginnings of breaking down text all the way to performing on stage, taking you step-by-step through the many different ways you can approach each step and really explore your characters and music. 

So join as we talk about all the joys and pitfalls of role study!

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Jessie

Michelle

Are there hidden messages in our music?

Was Mozart poisoned by another composer?

Is A 440 secretly being used to control us?

Every field has it's own conspiracy theories, and classical music is no exception. From mysterious deaths to hidden government initiatives, classical music has its own secrets that many people have tried to explain. Some of the explanations are compelling possibilities while some are wild, speculative guesses that defy logic. Today we take a trip through some of the greatest (and weirdest) conspiracy theories surrounding our art form.

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Jessie

Michelle

Today we have an incredible guest on the podcast: Tona Brown!

Tona Brown is a violinist and mezzo-soprano who made history in 2014 as the first African-American transgender woman to perform in Carnegie Hall. She is also the founder of Aida Studios where she teaches voice and violin. Aside from her incredible work as a performer and teacher, she is also an outspoken advocate for the transgender community as well as for better representation across classical music. 

In this episode, we talk about paving your own way in classical music, why representation matters, bad teachers, teaching transitioning voices, and what it really means to be a good ally.

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Aida Studios

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Jessie

Michelle

Motivation lately seems to be at an all time low for EVERYONE. With all the cancellations and uncertainty, it can be tricky to feel motivated to keep moving forward on projects and goals.

So this week we give a bunch of tips and tricks for how to build motivation and keep it regardless of the situation! We talk about how to create effective habits, change up your social circle, inspire yourself, and make goals that you'll actually keep. These tools will help you gain control over waning motivation and make the most of any difficult situation.

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Jessie

Michelle

TW: Body Shaming, Diet Talk, Weight-Loss Surgery, etc.

Fatphobia is the dirty, little secret of the opera world. Hidden under excuses about costumes, "health" concerns, and pleasing audiences is a serious bias that effects every performer, from students still in school all the way to singers in top opera houses.

In this episode, we break down some of the reasons fatphobia is still so prevalent in the industry, discuss the problems of typecasting by body, read the experiences of a few world-class singers, and talk about the ways we as performers can improve the spaces we perform in.

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Jessie

Michelle

We've talked about singer drama, but composer drama is a whole new level of petty.

We'll talk you through some of the best fights, insults, and romances that have graced the classical music world.

Bonus: We'll talk about which composers could definitely Get. It.

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Jessie

Michelle

Nobody makes it all on their own in classical music, which is why networking is one of the most critical, yet under-practiced skills for musicians. 

For those with who haven't done it before, networking can be awkward and uncomfortable, but with help from our special guest, conductor and excellent networker Conor Whalen, we'll guide you through the world of cold emails, conversations, and follow-ups to help you grow your connections and find new opportunities.

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Michelle

"You should try out for American Idol!"

"What's your real job?"

"Isn't Opera dying?"

We love our non-musician friends and family, but sometimes the things they say drive us CRAZY. So we took your stories and a couple of our own, and now it's time to come together and have a couple of laughs at some of the funny, genuine, and unbelievably annoying things we've been told more than a few times. 

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Jessie

Michelle

Pursuing music as a career is high stress and time-consuming work, which means that it's not so much a question of if you'll get burnout as it is when you'll get burnout. Burnout can turn making music from a joyful experience into something you dread, which is why it's so important for us to understand it. Luckily there are some great resources to help us learn what burnout looks like, why it's so common in musicians, and some ways we can deal with and prevent it.

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Jessie

Michelle