A 2017 Retrospective

A lot of things happened in 2017. One of my friends did a chart with colored markers but I'm much more into typed lists than I am graphic design, so here's part of it:

• Directing Little Women at Third Wall Productions (directing debut and role debut as Marmee)
• In addition to doing a reprise of LoveSICK with Dyana Neal, Steven Lampredi and Jim Knost, I returned as a solo cabaret artist in two places doing The Not Here Cabaret with Michael Tan at Spotlighters Theatre and at Germano's.
• Performing in new venues:
• St. Leo's in Little Italy (Cantor)
• Friends' School (CAB)
• Third Wall Productions (See above)
• Germano's (See above)
• Shetler Studios in NYC (Hitchy-Koo 2017)
• The Belvedere (HOB Prohibition Gala - although no one heard us, because it was really loud, but that's okay)
• The lobby at the Lyric (with Lyric Holiday Carolers, a new group that I formed which may reappear next year)
• I'm working with a composer, Garth Baxter, who has agreed to set several Irish poems to music! This is a project that was supposed to happen in Milwaukee, but that composer didn't seem all that interested. (Basically, a reflection of how I was regarded in Milwaukee...)
• After a hiatus of 21 years, I received a contract for Don Carlo with Washington National Opera - my costume fitting was a couple of days ago.
• I joined the board of House of Bankerd!
• I did my first podcast for HOB's State of the Arts podcast.
• Joined the faculty at Notre Dame University of Maryland (down the street from my house!)
• I was cast in a reading of a new musical that will be performed next weekend, Do It Now! The Mayor Schaefer Musical, and got to know a whole bunch of new people and reconnected with some I sang with YEARS ago.
• I returned to blogging and was quite active this summer, but fell out of it when school started up in the fall.
• I started meditating and was doing it daily all summer, but fell out of it when school started up in the fall.
• I expanded my gym membership to take advantage of more Zumba classes, and was doing it 3-4x/week, as well as other classes, until I had an injury on Labor Day and had to put it on hiatus (are we noticing a pattern here?) for awhile. 
• We hosted 3 parties at our house, the cast party for Little Women, Thanksgiving dinner, and a Boxing/Bill Day Party, all of which were successful. (You know it's a good party when there's very little food left over.)
• A housekeeper! Well, actually two, since I fired the first one.
• My husband returned to the jazz stage (is it really a stage?) with the reunion of his old band (and I mean OLD - they hadn't performed together for 30 years), First Impressions. (The name of that band sounds like they should all be wearing powder blue tuxedos.) I'm hoping that he'll be doing more of this and that maybe, just maybe, he and I and maybe David Bell could do some cool 1930s cabaret show.... :D
• I quit Oldfields School.
• I continue to be an alto section leader and cantor at Cathedral of Mary Our Queen and in the professional choir at Temple Oheb Shalom. 
• I'm still in Concert Artists of Baltimore, with whom I did 4 concerts this year: St. Matthew Passion (4/1), Gershwin (10/8), Messiah (12/8-9), and Catholic Charities (12/14). 
• I auditioned for a straight play and thought I did a really good job. Wasn't cast, but I enjoyed the process.
• Saw a couple of shows - but not nearly as many as I should've. High point - Ragtime at Ford's Theatre in DC. Also Audra MacDonald at the Strathmore.
• We went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival five times. 
• I got together with friends in Milwaukee at the Journeyman Hotel's rooftop bar when I was there. Not as many as I would've liked. A lot of people simply didn't bother to respond to my invite....
• We remodeled our backyard so that we have a great place to throw more parties!! Next year: Renaissance Party 2018!!

The year didn't have too many downsides, personally. Donald Trump is still president, and I have hated him for 30 years just because of who he is. His presidency and "policies" are just icing on the cake. 

My husband had a close call, work-wise. It seems to have resolved itself, but it came at a very rough time and we did not know what the future was going to be. As it stands now, he wound up, through his own perseverance, with a promotion and more (and welcome) responsibilities.

The hardest thing, of course, was the diagnosis of my beloved Pippin with cancer, resulting in the amputation of his left hind leg. We don't know what his outcome will be. He's doing really, really well and we're meeting with the oncologist in a week to explore chemo and other treatment possibilities. 

Tomorrow I want to explore the things that will (or might) happen in 2018. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how this year went for my family and for me, professionally and personally.

Happy New Year!

"A creative adult is the child who survived."

Two blogs in one day!

Last night I did a cabaret show at Germano's Piattini in Little Italy - "The Not Here Cabaret" with Michael Tan. This was a reprise of a show we did at Spotlighters in June. It went, very, very well. I felt so at home in the format, with the audience, and with the music I'd selected.

This morning I saw this posted on Facebook:

89-Year-Old Japanese Grandma Discovers Photography, Can’t Stop Taking Hilarious Self-Portraits Now - Japan Inside

One of the comments I read (and I know, you're not supposed to read the comments) was: "A creative adult is the child who survived."

That's how I feel about doing cabaret. Creative. Fulfilled. Happy.

Oh, and I made a tidy little sum doing it last night, which was even better. #MakingMoneyAsASingerFTW (do hashtags work in blogs)?

Why a Bachelor's Degree?

A former student asked me to write a letter for a friend who was being threatened with deportation (!!) while doing a degree program in music. This person wants to be a voice teacher, and apparently TIIC don't understand why that career choice requires any kind of formal training. (Slowly I turn...) So I wrote this today:

To whom it may concern:
I was asked to write this letter to explain why teaching voice is something that would require a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. I cannot imagine how anyone would think it would not require extensive training at the collegiate level and beyond. Teaching voice is not just sitting at the piano and playing happy little ditties or simple scales. It involves an understanding of many facets of music and other disciplines. I would like to outline these requirements as I see them, as a graduate of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, as a private and college voice teacher/sole proprietor with nearly 20 years’ experience, and as a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).

• The voice teacher needs to understand the physiology of the voice - the laryngeal muscles, the muscles of breath management, and the musculoskeletal structure that allows a singer to develop his/her instrument to full effect. This study is offered in vocal pedagogy courses in both undergraduate and graduate programs.

• The voice teacher needs to understand music theory in order to convey to the student that the vocal line is only a part of the whole fabric of the piece. Knowing theory allows the teacher to show the student how each note, each phrase, each line fits into the entire piece. This study is offered in every year of the bachelor’s program.

• The voice teacher needs to understand history - both music history and world history - in order to teach the student how to interpret a piece of music in a way that is historically informed and appropriate. The style of a piece from the 17th century is radically different from that of the 19th century. And many times, styles recur in later periods (i.e., everything old is new again). A good teacher will be able to point this out to a student and help guide that student to an understanding that is deeper than just singing a song for the song’s sake. Again, music history is offered throughout a 4-year undergraduate program, as well as the gen ed courses in history available in most colleges.

• And finally, the voice teacher cannot exist in a vacuum. Music programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels allow (and usually require) people to work together in various ensembles, on stage, in concert, in chamber works, and in large choral groups. These experiences are invaluable in teaching the voice teacher about teamwork, in providing networking opportunities that go well beyond their college years, and giving them a foundation to draw upon when working with students.

Based on my experience, all of these skills require, at a minimum, a bachelor’s degree in music. Should you have any further questions, please feel free to email me at mezzoid@gmail.com or call the number below.

Sincerely yours,

Christine Thomas-O’Meally, M.M.

Mind the Gap

This morning's meditation again asked me to draw attention to the momentary gap between inhalation and exhalation (and vice versa). Although I reject the concept of suspension when it comes to teaching breath management, as I have discussed before, I do understand the value of taking a moment to reflect.

In England, there is an announcement at the underground (subway) for travelers to "mind the gap." This pertains to the space between the edge of the platform and the train.

In the phrase shown above, the late composer Truman Fisher says that "the pause is as important as the note." This goes along with the concept that I teach - the high note is only as good as the note before it. You have to be grounded on that note in order for the one after it to be successful - and if there is no note, you have to be grounded in the rest. A musical rest can be significant for expression's sake (much can be said when nothing is said), for grammatical purposes, or for preparation.

Sometimes I am so busy, particularly at the end of the semester (which always seems to involve academic, musical and personal commitments), that I don't take any time to breathe. I'm hoping that my newfound commitment to daily meditation will help me identify when I can find those moments, no matter how insignificant an amount of time they may be, and use them accordingly to find the time to reflect, to refresh, and to re-engage.

This semester, I'm going to try to

Home should be where the heart is

I am sitting on my bed in the Journeyman Hotel (a Kimpton Hotel) in The Third Ward of Milwaukee. Bill is on his computer and Pippin is between us. It's pretty much like any other morning except that we are in Milwaukee. Again.

We're here for Milwaukee Irish Fest, the world's largest Irish Music Festival. We are staying at a brand new hotel that is blocks from the festival grounds, so that we can walk to and from, take Pippin for walks as needed, eat non-festival food at one of the many decent restaurants in the area, and not have to worry about logistics. The hotel is a little pricey, but it's dog-friendly, so I didn't have to worry about boarding Pippin or getting a housesitter, so it balances out.

Last night we sat in the rooftop bar and had drinks with anyone who wanted to come by. I had created an event and invited people. There were about 10 people there, one former neighbor, one fellow teacher, one fellow singer and 4 people from HS. No other musical colleagues. No students. 

I think this is my last trip to Milwaukee. I don't feel anything when I come here. There are so many places I haven't seen - the Pacific Northwest, New England, South Carolina - and I'd like to go back to Ireland. I think it's time to cut all my ties with this city.  

I have a lesson scheduled with Connie today, and I'm singing at the Unity Church on Sunday. I'm supposed to have another lesson with her on Saturday and rehearse with the band on Saturday afternoon. Not sure if I will do the Saturday lesson. I don't think I'm going to do any more singing in this city after this point. 

It's time. I may have been born here, but this is not, and has never been, home. 

Home should be where the heart is.

Never were words so true.

My heart's far - far away.

Home is too.

Here's an interesting article a fellow expat wrote upon his exit from MKE. 

Attend the Tale of Lea DeLaria

I had the great fortune of going to see Lea DeLaria at Blues Alley in DC last night.

[quick aside - why on earth are women with beautiful Italian names pronouncing them so Americanized? Lea DeL/ae/ria --- Laura Ben/ae/nti? Seriously, folks, people would be able to wrap their mouths around the taller /a/ vowel without any problem; pronounce your names the way they're intended]

I have seen Lea DeLaria on TV since the 1990s, when she started doing stand-up as the first openly lesbian comic on late night and cable TV programs. And then I saw that she was doing Broadway, doing roles like Hildy in On the Town (with Jesse Tyler Ferguson as her love interest) and Eddie/Dr. Scott in Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

But my fascination with Lea DeLaria came when she played the psychic Madame Delphina on One Life to Live. OLTL was a bizarre soap - it used a lot of New York actors (who were often doing double duty in roles on Broadway) and was much more socially conscious than your average soap. Yes, there were people returning from the dead, evil twins, multiple personalities, etc., but there were also storylines about equal marriage and antiwar sentiments. It was quirky. And then she played a drag role, Professor Del Fina (you see what they did there?). As Delphina, she would hear voices and randomly turn around and converse with them, usually in a somewhat irritated fashion.

Of course, since then I've seen her in things like Orange is the New Black, where she plays Boo.

It was an amazing show. She's raunchy. Very raunchy. But her voice is capable of so much inflection. She can purr, she can growl, she can yell, she can croon.

I thought of Barbara Cook last night, even though vocally they could not be more different. Lea's carrying on the tradition. She's still telling the story, she's true to the text, she's authentic. There are still people out there who can tell the tales.

Suspending the breath - why I don't teach it

This morning, the subject of my meditation app involved a lot of focus on the suspension/stillness between inhalation and exhalation. The momentary pause that exists both before the initiation of each. It's infinitesimal and you really have to be aware to notice it even exists.

I don't really feel it and I don't find it all that valuable. When I first started studying voice, I was giving vocalises that encouraged finding that suspension. Exercises that consisted of:

Inhale - 2 - 3 - 4
Suspend 2 - 3 - 4
Exhale 2 - 3 - 4

The exercise gradually increased the numbers, cautioning the singer to be aware of maintaining an open glottis rather than shutting down or being rigid during the suspension. I dutifully did this exercise, and then I taught it, when I first started teaching voice. Because that's what you did. It was a basic vocal exercise that was included in all the pedagogy books.

But I feel as though breath is a continuous process and that to focus on what is a nearly imperceptible stopping of time creates unnecessary tension. In fact, I think that the act of extending the suspension beyond that split second reinforces the idea of "setting the breath," as opposed to just moving through it.

I have written in the past that my approach to the breath is that of:

Release - Receive

Release - Resist

Rather than suspend time, I prefer to think of releasing it and welcoming the next moment. 

(The point of the meditation was to be aware of stillness and use it in your life to avoid unnecessary conflict. In that case, it's a useful concept. But I'm writing a singing blog here....)

When I'm singing, I don't want to suspend animation, to enter into some kind of momentary vocal hibernation, but to continue to be animated, which is defined as being "full of life." 

So I'll suspend disbelief (or judgment), I'll keep people in suspense, I'll do TRW suspension work at the gym, and I'll milk a good harmonic suspension for all it's worth. But when it comes to singing, I'm just going to keep the air flowing.