Just wanted to share with you that my dear student Riccardo Foresi will make his official New York debut at the BLUE NOTE in Manhattan next week...will let you know exactly when - ( There is nothing like starting on the top)
How that all came about just a couple of days since his demo was completed, I cannot exactly tell you, but join him, he would be so glad to have you there.
As I have always said, when it's meant to be, it's meant to be.
The showcase will be at midnight...auspicious hour!!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Clarifications
Just wanted to make sure that everyone who arrived at this blog, students of mine or guests, understand that they are free to comment on all comments and articles alike.
As time goes on, I will start Postings for different student who have expressed the desire to blog under their own names and perhaps under different articles of particular interest to them as well.
Wherever you feel you want to comment, feel free to do so...no restrictions.
I do invite you to read all the entries...there is a wealth of information.
As time goes on, I will start Postings for different student who have expressed the desire to blog under their own names and perhaps under different articles of particular interest to them as well.
Wherever you feel you want to comment, feel free to do so...no restrictions.
I do invite you to read all the entries...there is a wealth of information.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Chuna ( Aaron) - an ongoing dialogue
As you must have gathered by now, I have some very special and extraordinary students... and not just from a singing point of view.
It stands to reason, at least in my mind, that if a person has the great desire to sing, which is the purest and highest form of G-dly expression- that this desire so strong, which literally moves his soul, comes directly from the 'source" and spurs him on to fulfill it from a 'soul level".
I have never met a student of mine who was not "different from the crowd"...it comes with my territory. No one "arrives" to study with me unless they are SENT!!!..and that, in more ways than one. I am difficult, demanding, a perfectionist, I go for the gusto and only desire the greatest output of potential. I cut no slack to anyone - my mission is to give and achieve 100% - all the time. That applies to every student and in that relationship (not to be confused with life that happens) I expect 100% in return. I expect the same dedication, demand for 'perfection', work ethic, integrity, loyalty and devotion from my students that I give to them. I am out for YOUR good and I am going to get it....and as long as you are my student, you are deserving of my personal and professional best.
The reward in it for me therefor is incredible - so ultimately I am selfish.
Chuna is a skeptic, difficult, incredibly talented, highly volatile, - but a real seeker and a great challenge, highly spiritually advanced, has a gorgeous voice. Hi is a sweet, giving and caring human - father of two beautiful children. Working with him, I feel appreciated. I can say that for most of my students, but he demonstrates his feelings for our work in some extraordinarily creative ways, which of course appeal to my sensibilities.
He always thought of using the voice for one thing (Rap etc.), but is more and more becoming aware, that there is much more there than he actually thought. Perhaps he will find his way into another form of expression. Whatever he chooses will be right!!
We are going to blog while I am in Argentina and I think that his comments and awareness's, his insights and communications will result in interesting pieces of development in what will, no doubt, become a stupendous instrument and career
It stands to reason, at least in my mind, that if a person has the great desire to sing, which is the purest and highest form of G-dly expression- that this desire so strong, which literally moves his soul, comes directly from the 'source" and spurs him on to fulfill it from a 'soul level".
I have never met a student of mine who was not "different from the crowd"...it comes with my territory. No one "arrives" to study with me unless they are SENT!!!..and that, in more ways than one. I am difficult, demanding, a perfectionist, I go for the gusto and only desire the greatest output of potential. I cut no slack to anyone - my mission is to give and achieve 100% - all the time. That applies to every student and in that relationship (not to be confused with life that happens) I expect 100% in return. I expect the same dedication, demand for 'perfection', work ethic, integrity, loyalty and devotion from my students that I give to them. I am out for YOUR good and I am going to get it....and as long as you are my student, you are deserving of my personal and professional best.
The reward in it for me therefor is incredible - so ultimately I am selfish.
Chuna is a skeptic, difficult, incredibly talented, highly volatile, - but a real seeker and a great challenge, highly spiritually advanced, has a gorgeous voice. Hi is a sweet, giving and caring human - father of two beautiful children. Working with him, I feel appreciated. I can say that for most of my students, but he demonstrates his feelings for our work in some extraordinarily creative ways, which of course appeal to my sensibilities.
He always thought of using the voice for one thing (Rap etc.), but is more and more becoming aware, that there is much more there than he actually thought. Perhaps he will find his way into another form of expression. Whatever he chooses will be right!!
We are going to blog while I am in Argentina and I think that his comments and awareness's, his insights and communications will result in interesting pieces of development in what will, no doubt, become a stupendous instrument and career
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Master Class - The Challenge!! on YouTube and MySpace
GREAT NEWS!!!!
I CHALLENGE THE WORLD!!!!!
You will now be able to view the Master Class on YouTube and Myspace and of course on the blog.
In a few days the whole thing will be up and you will have basically four hours of my teaching. I have decided to make this available to the world and with it I am finally offering my knowledge not only through my books, not only through the First Lesson CD, but now on the broadest level that I can think of internationally.
You will now be able to view the Master Class on YouTube and Myspace and of course on the blog.
In a few days the whole thing will be up and you will have basically four hours of my teaching. I have decided to make this available to the world and with it I am finally offering my knowledge not only through my books, not only through the First Lesson CD, but now on the broadest level that I can think of internationally.
I have FINALLY pulled out all the stops.
With it, I challenge the world of Voice Teachers, Vocal Coaches, Speech Pathologists, Ear Nose and Throat Doctors etc. around the world to demnd, finally that they wake up to the difinitive, unknown/untold truths of the vocal production of the greatest Singers/Speakers of the Century and beyond .
I am ready to take on anyone, in any forum and prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is only one way to reconstruct the voice to it's fullest potential once it has been taken out of it's original, natural habitat. I will go anywhere, anytime...it's time for great singing !!!!!
With it, I challenge the world of Voice Teachers, Vocal Coaches, Speech Pathologists, Ear Nose and Throat Doctors etc. around the world to demnd, finally that they wake up to the difinitive, unknown/untold truths of the vocal production of the greatest Singers/Speakers of the Century and beyond .
I am ready to take on anyone, in any forum and prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is only one way to reconstruct the voice to it's fullest potential once it has been taken out of it's original, natural habitat. I will go anywhere, anytime...it's time for great singing !!!!!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Lesson with Gary
Gary is one of my very special students worth sharing with you. He is a highly spiritual being, brilliant scholar and tone deaf...at least so he thought when we began out work together four years ago. We have not worked for a full four years because of various time lapses, but perhaps in his comments he can tell you just how many lessons he has actually had. For certain not enough to make up a full month of a usual 40 hour work week which actually means 160 hours. ( Imagine achieving a voice is less than a month of work hours on a normal job...quite amazing if you look at it that way).
We have certainly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that his 'tone deafness' is a non-existent myth and no more than a disconnect from the instrument and that what he actually heard when singing in the 'shower', was not what really his tue voice. Once the connection was re-established, what he hears 'inside' and what actually manifests 'outside' becomes one - the sounds are completly on pitch.
Since the voice is a highly demanding mental process which ultimately controls the physical, being brilliant is great in one way because 'getting it' intellectually is easy, but all the same, because of the real ' simplicity' of it the true 'complexity' becomes self evident.
Yesterday we made an incredible breakthrough. Gary has no idea of how big his voice really is. From the very 1rst lesson I told him that this is major, large instrument and I think he thought I was totally crazy. Today it made itself evident to such a degree that it actually blew him away and all of our conversations came back to haunt him.
It's interesting for me to see how the human psyche works in conjunction with the voice. They are intricately connected to each other and one does not do well without the other being supportive. In other words, the mental, psychological and emotional self has to merge in order for the entirety of the instrument to become 'visible' and 'audible'.
Most singers have no idea about that because they actually never get to hear and listen to their REAL instruments playing. What you think you have, is certainly not what comes out once the actual instrument is connected to the player, the speakers and the resonator. To find out what that means, you have to know the work, sorry, but in Gary's case we made huge strides in achieving the final connection - which will ultimately change his whole being.
This work is transformational in every way with all of my students. " When the voice comes together, your life comes together"...and that's the way it is.
We have certainly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that his 'tone deafness' is a non-existent myth and no more than a disconnect from the instrument and that what he actually heard when singing in the 'shower', was not what really his tue voice. Once the connection was re-established, what he hears 'inside' and what actually manifests 'outside' becomes one - the sounds are completly on pitch.
Since the voice is a highly demanding mental process which ultimately controls the physical, being brilliant is great in one way because 'getting it' intellectually is easy, but all the same, because of the real ' simplicity' of it the true 'complexity' becomes self evident.
Yesterday we made an incredible breakthrough. Gary has no idea of how big his voice really is. From the very 1rst lesson I told him that this is major, large instrument and I think he thought I was totally crazy. Today it made itself evident to such a degree that it actually blew him away and all of our conversations came back to haunt him.
It's interesting for me to see how the human psyche works in conjunction with the voice. They are intricately connected to each other and one does not do well without the other being supportive. In other words, the mental, psychological and emotional self has to merge in order for the entirety of the instrument to become 'visible' and 'audible'.
Most singers have no idea about that because they actually never get to hear and listen to their REAL instruments playing. What you think you have, is certainly not what comes out once the actual instrument is connected to the player, the speakers and the resonator. To find out what that means, you have to know the work, sorry, but in Gary's case we made huge strides in achieving the final connection - which will ultimately change his whole being.
This work is transformational in every way with all of my students. " When the voice comes together, your life comes together"...and that's the way it is.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Riccardo's NEW DEMO / Listen
Dear Friends,
When I work this morning I just knew it was a great day....three in one/ tripple play...here is Riccardo's new DEMO....a big contract is waiting and a great new star is definitely rising!!!!...so proud of you...what a difference from the first set, you are really coming into yourself to become the "Singer/Artist" you dreamed of being.
From Italy they arrived knocking at my door three and a half years ago....wait til you hear from Benedetta his "amore" , what a voice that is....opera...
I love you both and am so proud of all your hard work, commitment...your artistry....it's hard, but nothing in life that is worthwhile comes easy...the doors are opening wide and you my dears will walk through...
When I work this morning I just knew it was a great day....three in one/ tripple play...here is Riccardo's new DEMO....a big contract is waiting and a great new star is definitely rising!!!!...so proud of you...what a difference from the first set, you are really coming into yourself to become the "Singer/Artist" you dreamed of being.
From Italy they arrived knocking at my door three and a half years ago....wait til you hear from Benedetta his "amore" , what a voice that is....opera...
I love you both and am so proud of all your hard work, commitment...your artistry....it's hard, but nothing in life that is worthwhile comes easy...the doors are opening wide and you my dears will walk through...
Verena's new CD
Well, today is a really wonderful day for me....
just received Verena's new CD " Something Real" ...and so it is...listen to this, it's really beautiful...words and music and such a beautiful voice...I don't think there is anyone who can sing or has a voice like her, so high, so individual and such an ethereal sound.
I am so proud of her accomplishments...now the world has to discover her and we are on the way!!!
The joys of motherhood!...birthing a voice I think is harder than the actual delivery of a baby ...it certainly takes longer, takes much more effort and lasts a lifetime.
Congrads my dear...onward and upward and into greatness!!!
just received Verena's new CD " Something Real" ...and so it is...listen to this, it's really beautiful...words and music and such a beautiful voice...I don't think there is anyone who can sing or has a voice like her, so high, so individual and such an ethereal sound.
I am so proud of her accomplishments...now the world has to discover her and we are on the way!!!
The joys of motherhood!...birthing a voice I think is harder than the actual delivery of a baby ...it certainly takes longer, takes much more effort and lasts a lifetime.
Congrads my dear...onward and upward and into greatness!!!
Fantstic News from Miami and Peru
Just received an email from my student Elin who last week sang at the Miami Jazz Festival in Dolphin Stadium opening for George Benson, Chaka Kahn etc. ...TV and interviews and great happenings....from there she immediately left for the Jazz Festival in Lima, Peru and there again incredible successes.
It's very interesting to follow the goings on in one career, right from the beginning...when she and I met 9 years ago her chances for making an international career were all but non-existent. With very diligent work and commitment on both our parts of course, we have reconstruced the voice, built a beautiful instrument and it's amazing to hear the response of people when they hear her. They think, of course that she is great, no doubt about that, but they KNOW something is different about her singing, but they do not know what...and that, my dears is the secret of what I teach my students.
Everyone has a different instrument of course, some better than others,....but it's not about that..it's taking each individual instrument to the maximum potential of what it can achieve and bringing out the best in the Artist. If you have to worry about the voice, you cannot be free...and it's all about freedom and greatness....and Jazz is such a wonderful medium to express....Elin, it's time for a new CD!!!!!!!!!!! The world has to hear you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Important Chapter finished
"What Ever Happened to Great Singing" obviously is the title of my new book which I hope will be available by May. My first book "The Voice: A Spiritual Approach to Singing, Speaking and Communicating" - and the final The Revealed Version (three editions) tells much, but this one pulls out all the stops and brings to light the real technical secrets which made Enrico Caruso the phenomenon he was.
For those of you who do not know Caruso or who think of him only as an Opera Singer, I really suggest that you listen to him and familiarize yourself with some of his recordings. It is important to realize that here we are talking about an artist who did not have "digital potential" to make the voice sound like something...he had a megaphone, a horn if you will...what you hear is what you get...no editing in the sense that we are used to in toady's mode of recording. This is real singing. Truthfully, we cannot even comprehend the reality of his voice, because the recording techniques were only in infant stages, but can you imagine, if he sounds like that under those circumstances, how he must have really sounded ?
Well I have studied his voice for years, his and so many other great singers....They all have one thing is common: The vocal line is perfect and the throat is uninvolved in the production of sound. The instrument is seemingly floating on air and the possibilities are endless.
There is really a hierarchy of voices and for me it goes like this : Caruso, Bjoerling, Gigli...(tenors)and that is the top...everything after that is a slightly different conversation...for the women...Lili Pons, Renata Tebaldi, Joan Southerland(sopranos) ....then Ponsell, Lehman, Bidu Sayau...when you hear the quality of this kind of singing, what we have today blanches.
Yes to early Pavarotti and later Domingo, definitly Alfredo Kraus who never gave into the jet age pressures or mentality, he sang his repertoire and that's it...but a definite no to today's Renee Fleming, Bel Canto Diva extraordinaire - for me that just is not it...
Lili Pons sang at the Metropolitan Opera for 30 years and she left a DIVA, where are the singers of today after some years in the "business"?
What is the point of a great potential of a voice at the onset which after a few years fades into a wobbly mezzo soprano or baritone and then dies away?? Here, listen to some real singing and then tell me please who sings like this today????
Listen to Joan Southerland's "Lakme" and totally understand how the low notes and high notes are in the same place, listen to the incredible height of Lili Pons, savor Tebaldi's Mimi coupled with Bjorlings Rodolfo...
Whether you appreciate Opera or not is of no consequence to me, but the Voice...you have to be able to tell the difference between one and the other, between what you hear popular today and that which was considered the "standard" in the golden age....you have to be able to hear a throat based instrument and one that is sitting in the stratosphere....you have to take responsibility for your instrument and I as a teacher have to make sure that you achieve it all!!
Well, that is what this book is all about...
Genre does not matter, whatever you want to sing has to have a tune, healthy, non-forced instrument - work it to it's highest potential - find the appropriate niche vocally and be the best you can be - that what this book and my life's work is all about.
I invite your questions and comments.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
What is great about my students
First of all, I invite all who view this blog to read all the comments and express yourselves anywhere and everywhere.
The reason for this blog is to get to know each other and to share experiences.
I am very fortunate, as I think I mentioned before, that I have students from all over the globe and in all walks of careers...it is so great to hear from them...even if they are not around the corner, we are always in touch and are able to continue working. I teach on Skype and we progress incredibly well together.
Since I do not "sing" during lessons and my hearing guides me, seeing the person in front of me is not necessary. I hear the slightest sound change, a mouth that is too open, a push forward, everything ...thank G-d I know exactly how the system is working without having to "see" physically . My seeing is enirely iternal. It's great to get to know each other eyeball to eyeball in the beginning, but after about three hours of personal interaction, we have learned the new language which constitues the pre-reauisite of our learning and we can go from there. It is always good after a time of working log distance to return for a few lessons in person, but for the most part we can be apart for a year or more without seeing each other.
While working on the new book, I came across so many letters from people form so many different parts of the world and am now asking for permission to publish their notes to me.
The time we live in is amazing...the world is free and open and what was impossible a few years ago is well within the realm of possibility now.
Please feel free to contact me and interact...I so appreciate your comments.
Be well
MJA
The reason for this blog is to get to know each other and to share experiences.
I am very fortunate, as I think I mentioned before, that I have students from all over the globe and in all walks of careers...it is so great to hear from them...even if they are not around the corner, we are always in touch and are able to continue working. I teach on Skype and we progress incredibly well together.
Since I do not "sing" during lessons and my hearing guides me, seeing the person in front of me is not necessary. I hear the slightest sound change, a mouth that is too open, a push forward, everything ...thank G-d I know exactly how the system is working without having to "see" physically . My seeing is enirely iternal. It's great to get to know each other eyeball to eyeball in the beginning, but after about three hours of personal interaction, we have learned the new language which constitues the pre-reauisite of our learning and we can go from there. It is always good after a time of working log distance to return for a few lessons in person, but for the most part we can be apart for a year or more without seeing each other.
While working on the new book, I came across so many letters from people form so many different parts of the world and am now asking for permission to publish their notes to me.
The time we live in is amazing...the world is free and open and what was impossible a few years ago is well within the realm of possibility now.
Please feel free to contact me and interact...I so appreciate your comments.
Be well
MJA
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