Ch-ch-ch-changes - Welcome to Mezzoid: The Voice Studio of Christine Thomas-O'Meally!

Longer ago than I want to admit, I was in a choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception as a paid alto chorister. For those of you who aren't that well-versed (no pun intended) in choral music, mezzos usually sing alto in choirs. This is due to tessitura, rather than range. I'm more comfortable as an alto 1 than alto 2, but definitely not comfortable in S2.

Our conductor, Leo Nestor, was working through a piece, and turned to us and said, "Okay, altoids, let's go over this part," and I said, "Excuse me, but I happen to be a mezzoid." He said "What's the difference?" I said, "I'm still curiously strong, but I sing a minor third higher." (Cue music nerd laughter.)

Since that time, I've gone by mezzoid as an email address, first with AOL (in 1996!), then with wi.rr.com, and for the last 10+ years, with gmail. Then I got a website mezzoid.com, and then a personalized license plate (first in WI, now in MD). It's been my brand. When I check into conferences and workshops around the country, people recognize me from my posts on the now-defunct Vocalist bulletin board and other places.

So I have officially changed my studio name to Mezzoid: The Voice Studio of Christine Thomas-O'Meally (and I've changed the URL to MezzoidStudio). I commissioned a logo (below). I've updated my website and included Mezzoid as part of my identity.  I changed the URL of this blog from omeallystudio to mezzoidstudio.

New studio polices will be "dropped" on Tuesday, September 4, with some clarification of things to expect - from me to you and from you to me. Lots of ch-ch-changes ahead! And this is a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.

How Would You Want to be Introduced?

Today I went to the Women in Theatre Conference: Empowerment and Connection. It was incredibly empowering and I felt a real connection to the other participants (so I guess it was a successful conference). And something happened right at the very beginning that really struck a chord with me.

A few weeks ago, I listened to a podcast on branding yourself done by my friend Megan Ihnen. In that, she asks you to identify characteristics that you see in yourself and that your audiences see in you (this could apply not only to performers, but to teachers/students or businesspeople/clients). And then think of how you would introduce yourself to people - and then how you'd like to be introduced by people.

The first person to speak at today's conference was the Dean of the Arts and Humanities Division at Howard Community College, Valerie Lash. Although I am about to start my 6th year at HCC, I've never actually met Ms. Lash before. I have heard that she's a force of nature, however, and apparently, this must be the case, because her introduction included these two words:

Indomitable

Tenacious

These are such unique words to describe someone.

Indomitable: impossible to subdue or defeat.

Tenacious: persistent, determined, dogged, strong-willed, tireless, indefatigable, resolute, patient, unflagging, staunch, steadfast, untiring, unwavering, unswerving, unshakable, unyielding, insistent (I couldn't limit myself to just one word).

I didn't know Valerie Lash at all up to this conference. But now, based on those adjectives, I really want to know her better. 

This is how I want to be introduced, both by myself and by someone else:

• I am Christine Thomas-O’Meally, and I am a singer who helps people find their voices, either by listening to what I’m singing or by teaching them to sing. 

• This is Christine. She has made a difference in so many people’s lives with her singing and teaching.

How do you want to be described?

Pomodoro Technique

I'm working on becoming more productive. This summer has been a particularly terrific one for me - I learned 6 new pieces. Well, actually 3, but they were in two different languages. One set was in English, the second in Irish Gaelic, in which I've never sung before. I organized my practice time well, but I think I could do better. 

Today I read about the Pomodoro Technique, which was named after a Pomodoro Timer used by the creator to keep track of time. 

There are six steps in the original technique, found in this article in Lifehacker:

1. Decide on the task to be done.
2. Set the pomodoro timer (traditionally to 25 minutes).
3. Work on the task.
4. End work when the timer rings and put a checkmark on a piece of paper.
5. If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (3–5 minutes), then go to step 2.
6. After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, then go to step 1.

The stages of planning, tracking, recording, processing and visualizing are fundamental to the technique. In the planning phase, tasks are prioritized by recording them in a "To Do Today" list. This enables users to estimate the effort tasks require. As pomodoros are completed, they are recorded, adding to a sense of accomplishment and providing raw data for subsequent self-observation and improvement.

So, how can we use this for practicing? And do you need a timer shaped like a tomato? 

We all have timers. On our phone, on the microwave, everywhere. Maybe you don't have 25 minutes in a row. Maybe you have ten minutes to do vocalises. Set the timer for ten minutes. Then do what else you need to do. Then go back and work on one song, and really focus on it for another ten minutes.

Another great source for time management, specifically for singers, is a podcast by a friend of mine, Megan Ihnen. It's called Studio Class. The episode I listened to today was about "Diva Metrics," and one of the things that really struck me was the idea of the Ten Minute Meeting. (Podcast also available on iTunes.)

Check it out and see what works for you. I'm going to start with the Ten Minute Meeting tomorrow morning and then do things later with the Pomodoro Technique.

There's a lot to do before the fall semester begins! (Studio policies come to mind first!)

Ringing vs. Wringing (in Singing and Business)

I receive daily email updates from marketing guru Seth Godin, which have been inspiring me to make some changes in the way I approach my studio management. This morning's advice resonated with me in a way that transcended business. It was:

Ringing vs wringing

Ringing is resonant. A small force causes sympathetic vibrations, and magic happens.

Wringing requires significant effort and can even destroy the object it is applied to.

When you ring a bell for your clients, you’ve delivered with care and empathy.

But when you seek to wring every dollar out of a transaction, you’ve probably engaged for the last time

Of course, we talk about resonance in singing, which is frequently called "ring" (or "ping" or "edge" or "focus," but I like ring).

Ringing, in singing, is resonant. And when you engage things properly to cause sympathetic vibrations, magic happens.

Wringing, in singing, is manipulation and artificiality. You're doing something contrived and unnatural and it will, ultimately, affect your technique negatively.

When you sing in a ringing tone for your audience, you are delivering your message with clarity and in a way that is pleasing and moving.

But when you seek to wring every last overtone out of a note, you are singing with too much pressure and force, and you are not engaging your audience.

So when we work on a resonant sound, work on finding balance and freedom to create clarity and magic. I'm working on new vocalise sheets, which I will distribute at the beginning of the fall semester (post-Labor Day), and we can go over any exercises with which you're not familiar. 

Appcompanist - This is HUGE

When I go to exhibits at conferences (vocal or otherwise), I stop at booths (especially if they are offering something free, preferably of the food nature) and I have several standard responses to the things they're selling:

• That's really interesting! I'm about to go to [insert title of session here] now. But I'll be back later to look at this a little further. Thank you!
• This looks terrific. But I've made a pact not to buy any more books until I've read the ones I have. Thank you for this, though!
• Looks like you've put a lot of work into this. Wow.
• Huh. Interesting. 
• These cookies are really good!
• [Smile through a mouthful of cookies and run when the exhibitor's back is turned]

I went to the Appcompanist booth and saw a friend of mine standing there slack-jawed, watching the pitch of founder Darin Adams. That's not his usual look. I came in on the end of it and my friend asked a few more questions and then he left. Darin started his pitch from the beginning and I became slack-jawed. And then I responded with a phrase I've never used at a exhibit before:

HOLY CRAP THIS IS 

LIFE-CHANGING!

And then the next day, I went to Darin's presentation on the final day of the conference. And my mind was blown again.

Appcompanist is not intended to replace a pianist. Despite Will Zellhofer's dejected response to my FB post of, "I saw Terminator. I know how this ends," it is intended as a tool. 

Appcompanist has done pretty much what I've been doing in the studio when people need accompaniments for practice or auditions when there's no pianist - recording on my Clavinova onto a flash drive inserted into the USB, usually while the singer is singing, so the accompaniment is timed perfectly to their desired tempo, their breaths, and whatever rubato (or lack thereof) they plan to take. The difference is that the accompaniment recording can be manipulated to your future needs.

Want it faster? Slower? Do you need it in a different key? Do you want to take a fermata somewhere? Bring out the melody while you're practicing? Create a cut for an audition? Open that cut up? Do you want to create playlists for different purposes (mine are "student repertoire" and "songs for MEEEEE")? You can do all that.

There are thousands and thousands of songs available in both classical and musical theater (not sure about pop yet). You can subscribe on a monthly basis to either library at $11.99 or to both for $14.99 or do what I did and spring for a yearly membership ($149). Yeah, it sounds pricey, but it's working for me. I've got an audition in a few weeks and I'm rehearsing with a couple of pieces and it's really making practicing easy. (I am going to write to them about the end of "O rest in the Lord." There's a mistake that I can work around, but they should fix it.)

At the very least, I'm going to be using it in lessons from time to time. Especially when we're working on pieces that are ready to go out so you can hear all of the notes, and not only the ones I can play.

Check it out. The technology is amazing! (And no, I'm not getting any kind of kickback from them. Dammit.)

No one even breathed...

Last week at NATS, I saw a recital by the great opera singers Christine Brewer and Stephanie Blythe, accompanied by the amazing Craig Terry. Christine Brewer is a Wagnerian soprano, Stephanie Blythe a dramatic mezzo-soprano, and combined, their voices could knock you out of your seat (I can vouch for this because I was in the 3rd row). Craig Terry is a joybomb. Everything he did, both as a collaborative pianist and as a clinician, was full of joy and support for whoever he was working with. I shared with him as he was passing me, "Mr. Terry, I just wanted to tell you that you absolutely exude joy in everything you do." He stopped and said "Thank you!" and then held his hand out and said, "I'm Craig." (Yeah, I kinda knew that.) I shook his hand and said, "I'm Christine."

But there was a moment in the second half where Stephanie Blythe sang a song from her Kate Smith tribute show that was particularly special. The song, "The White Cliffs of Dover," was written at the height of WWII. She brought that enormous voice down to a silvery thread - so controlled, so perfect - and no one... even... breathed. No one moved. (Of course, that was when my right calf began to itch like crazy - I very carefully used my right foot to scratch it, feeling like a complete Philistine.)

It's hard for a YouTube video to capture the perfection of this moment, but I found one from a few years ago, with Stephanie Blythe and Craig Terry in concert. Enjoy.

Singer's Practice Plan, Log, and Journal - A New Tool for the Studio! (One of many!)

While I was in Las Vegas last week for the NATS Conference, I got a chance to review a planner that a friend of mine, Nancy Bos, has put together. Nancy is a prolific writer and an excellent teacher, and I've been looking for something that would help me us focus on our energies more efficiently in the studio. So I bought myself a copy to review it. If I thought it'd be valuable, I'd ask my students to buy it.

And then I went to the national meeting on the last morning of the conference and entered a raffle. Would I win CDs? A t-shirt? Would I win a new iPad? Would I win free registration to the 2020 conference in Knoxville? (That's what i was hoping for!)

I won 5 copies of the practice planner. In red. And I'm thrilled with the planner I bought (in blue), so I'm giving them out to people. You can do with it what you wish. There's a section on writing down when and how long you practiced, a section on setting goals, a place to take notes, staff paper to write out exercises (or have me write them in your book), a place to keep track of your repertoire (both things we're working on and dream pieces), and a journal section that you can fill out as you'd like. I've given out 2 copies so far, and I'm planning to give out the rest this week.

If you're interested in the book and you didn't get a copy (for example, you didn't have a lesson last week and aren't having one this week), then you can purchase a copy on Amazon. More info is here. If enough people are interested, I can contact Nancy and buy in bulk (10 copies or more).

I am using the book for my own goal setting, journaling, and record-keeping.

I also purchased iPad Pro and Apple Pencil to take notes at the conference and have started keeping lesson records on it, which is life-changing. Plus I'm moving a lot of my sheet music to it, and that is also life-changing.

Other things that I came across at the workshop and recommend:

Appcompanist: This is MINDBLOWING. We'll be using it in the studio, but if you want to use it at home, you'll have to get your own. IOS only for now. Android coming later. Free download and demo. Not cheap but incredible.

Voxercise: Free download (both IOS and Android) will give you 3 free vocalises (glides on a hum, on a vowel, and on a trill) and 3 breathing exercises. Additional exercises are $4.99 for a pack or $13.99 for all 5 packs. I just accidentally bought one pack while I was writing this (oops). They're pretty basic. But if you need to warm up somewhere, they'll do the trick. It also tells you if you're sharp or flat!

Things I hope to accomplish this summer:

1. Updating my own vocalises to be given out (this was last summer's goal, but I ran into a glitch with the software)
2. Possibly putting vocalises onto a YouTube channel that would be available to my own students
3. Actually creating official studio policies. I had very specific policies when I had my Milwaukee studio. I haven't done the same thing here yet because I haven't has any many students, my needs are different (I'm performing more, so I need to adapt some things to allow for that), and my client base is somewhat different. In Milwaukee, all my students were ages 11-18, with the occasional college kid coming back in the summer for a touch-up. Now, I range from 11-70, and I have to take some things into account. But I definitely need to set some policies in place - I can't expect people to read my mind. I'm pretty reasonable, though.

It's going to be a great summer!

Cabaret as Personal Musical Theater

I was looking through my past blogs to see if I've defined cabaret before and couldn't find anything.

This past Friday, I was thrilled to reunite with Ryan Cappleman to perform a revised version of my first cabaret, "Oh! To Be a Movie Star!" at Germano's in Little Italy (the revision includes the addition of the exclamation point after "Oh!" where there had previously been a comma). We had a terrific turnout, unlike the performances that Ryan and I did back in Milwaukee, and it was extremely well-received. It's nearly a week later and I'm still re-living moments that I felt went particularly well and not moments that went badly (this never happens).

There was one friend who had planned to come but didn't because he said he had a hard time getting his fiancée to go to concerts on Friday night, which is their date night. I was surprised that he said that, because he's a musician and actor as well. He thought that the performance was going to be something along the lines of a recital, rather than - well, what it was.

So I've done some more musings on exactly what cabaret is. And the title of this article is from something that was said to me by Amanda McBroom at a cabaret workshop I attended in Brookfield, Wisconsin, when she was asked to define cabaret. She thought a bit and said, "Cabaret is personal musical theater." It's taking pieces that mean something to you and developing a narrative from those pieces. It might be that you have a theme in mind, or it might be that a theme comes from the pieces you've selected.

In the case of this week's show, my theme was movies and movie stars, and the songs I chose reflected that. And more important, what movies have meant in my own life.

Another definition that I came up with was that creating a cabaret was like writing a script for a jukebox musical. A jukebox musical is a bunch of songs by one artist or composer around which an often-lame script is written. Now, I generally hate that genre. My own personal idea of hell would be sitting through endless productions of Rock of Ages, Jersey Boys, and Pump Boys and Dinettes. But a cabaret is picking songs - perhaps by the same composer, perhaps based on a theme or an era - and putting them together with a narrative of some kind.

However, in a musical, there's a full cast of characters. In cabaret, all the characters are played by a single performer (or a small group of performers) who might have some specific lines that she wants to say to introduce a song, but the songs are the script. They are what tell the story, through the singer's interpretation.

In Oh! To Be a Movie Star!, Ryan and I told stories of wanna-be actors, both from a humorous and a tragic perspective, of fans who admire and obsess over the object of their affection, of up-and-coming stars and those fading into obscurity. It wasn't a single narrative following one person from beginning to end. That's a different kind of show. And maybe it's one I'll do someday.

All I can say right now is that cabaret continues to be one of the most rewarding and creative outlets I have as an artist these days. It's not the only outlet, which it was in Milwaukee (and why not having an audience was so demoralizing to me), but it's the one that makes me feel the most like myself. It's personal. It's musical. And it's theater.

What I hope 2018 holds for me

I hope that 2018 is filled with good performances, good students, travel, learning, writing, playing, and open-heartedness among us all.

Things I have coming up (besides my regular Thursday/Sunday job at CMOQ):

1/5-6: Do It Now! The William Donald Schaefer Musical. Yes, there's a new musical about Willie Don, Baltimore's former mayor and Maryland's former governor. I'm in a reading of it at Stevenson University-Greenspring Valley (another new performance venue!), playing Bertha, a neighbor of Willie Don who escapes to the suburbs of Milford Mill after the riots, and Jean, an aide in his mayoral office. Friday is an open dress rehearsal, Saturday is the official performance. Donations accepted.

1/20: Audition for Washington National Opera's 2018-2019 season. Still trying to decide what to sing.

1/22: Rehearsals start for Don Carlo at Washington National Opera.

1/24: Start teaching at Notre Dame University of Maryland. Down the street from my house.

1/29: Spring semester starts at Howard Community College.

3/3: Don Carlo opens, closing 3/14.

3/26: Holy Week begins! NDM spring break begins.

4/1: Easter Sunday. Jesus is Risen! April Fools! (No, it's April Fools' Day. I wasn't being sacrilegious.)

4/2: HCC spring break starts. NDM's spring break ends. Figures.

4/13: Oh to be a movie star! at Germano's with Ryan Cappleman.

4/14: Workshop on auditioning for community theater with Ryan and Lance Bankerd. Location still TBD.

4/25: Rehearsals begin for Concert Artists of Baltimore final concert of the season.

5/12: CAB Concert at Gordon Center of the Performing Arts (a new venue for me).

6/22-26: NATS National Conference, Las Vegas, NV (baby).

And that's it for right now. I'm hoping to do the High Holidays at Oheb Shalom, but I won't get a contract till June.

I have a lot to do. I think the most important things to focus on right now are getting the cabaret show and the workshop pre-planned, because once school and WNO rehearsals begin, I'm going to be busy.

Happy New Year!