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Singers Tension Podcast

Singers Tension Podcast

by Express Voice Studio

Performing Arts How To Self-Improvement

Season 2

Versatility As An Artist, Be A Star on Camera & Break Into Acting: Juliette Louie

Many artists come to Express Voice Studio looking for coaching on stage confidence and stage choreography, and have never mastered being in charge of their own photo shoots and feeling comfortable in front of the camera. This is some thing that you either have it or you don’t, unless you have an amazing coach who can share their tricks for camera work with you! Join me with Miss Hong Kong 2017, acting coach, modelling coach, and stage confidence guru Juliette Louie. When wondering how to stand out as a unique artist, the key is in knowing what the artistic persona and message you want to present is. Have you given any thought to who you are as an artist and if that entity is different than your day to day personality? Let’s talk about how to make music industry and arts industry connections by owning the room when you walk into it, what it means to be versatile as an artist and how to be hired as a commercial actor and model, and where do you begin if you decide that’s a road you want to take? . . Express Voice Studio is the only school dedicated to all things voice related and the top singing school in Canada with some of the best working artists providing lessons. Our vocal coaches are all active artists working in their field professionally who also teach. Contrary to other music schools, we only focus on voice. We provide lessons for singing, voice over acting coaching, artistic exploration, body awareness, and more. We only hire the best singers- who also demonstrate the ability to successfully impart their techniques into students. We make sure our teachers are paid what they deserve, and we foster a community of singers. We host musical events, not just recitals. We plan karaoke nights for our students and teachers. We offer mini masterclasses with other teachers, body movement specialists, and artistic coaches. This is a school for singers, beginners and professionals, adults and children. What are you waiting for? Learn to sing, work with artists, expand your own unique artistry and be a part of our community. Find a Montreal Teacher: https://www.expressvoicestudio.com Connect with a Toronto Coach: https://expressvoicestudio.com/toront...

Season 1

Launching A Teaching Career

What is the difference between casual teaching and launching your own full time career as an independent teacher? Jessica, founder of the JKW Vocal & Performing Arts Studio, and I talk about our two very different experiences and paths in setting ourselves up for careers as voice teachers. What does it take to rank #1 on Google? How do you build your brand and what is the financial cost? When do you know it is time to bring other teachers on board? Is teaching right for you, and how do you combat imposter syndrome? We hope this episode makes this new road for you, or maybe just a career choice you are considering, a clearer path.

Building Your Own Platform with Volare Tenors

This juicy episode gives us insight to the demands of building a personal brand and translating this to an online presence. The Volare Tenors also spill the truth on how much self-learning and collaborating go into this process and share invaluable tips on singing technique, fearlessly diving into the unknown, how to network, and who gets to sing the high notes in a trio of tenors. Canada’s quickest growing “popera” group, Volare is a Canadian vocal band of three classically-trained tenors making music that you actually want to hear.

Body, Image, & Confidence with STORRY

This episode, Juno nominated Canadian artist STORRY and I talk about the music industry's pressure to be young, beautiful, and sexy. A stopwatch has been started, and artists are reminded that they have a limited time to "make it big," before they are no longer marketable. What does this pressure do to us as artists- is it motivating or an archaic attitude still finding footing due to pop culture's idolization of prodigies. We also dive into her emotional song writing process, which draws on her fluency in countless styles of music and impeccable vocal technique. STORRY's unique journey from being forced into the sex industry, to losing and finding her voice, to reclaiming her sexuality and independence, is not only inspiring, but the back story to her unique and honest albums. STORRY is a JUNO-nominated, seasoned artist trained in classical music who performs Mozart arias with as much confidence as hip hop, R&B, and gospel. Fierce and multifaceted, she writes and produces all her music. STORRY's voice quality is second to none, and she uses and enhances her incredible sonorous gifts with prophecies witty, raw, and life-changing. She preaches from experience. Lots of it. Her songs offer an honest portrait of life as a woman: it's an image everybody can recognize, even if they don't want to. Her poetic and musical creativity is unapologetic and fearless. In releasing her music, STORRY is leaving the shadows and showing us the result of decades of artistic work. STORRY's debut concept album is a concept album. CH III: The Come Up was released on February 20 2020 to critical acclaim. Her single "Another Man" was produced by reggae royalty Sly and Robbie, and nominated for a 2020 JUNO award.

Navigating The Change: Student to Professional with Lyndsay Promane

Inevitably, every artist must face the transition from student to professional. Students of classical voice often hear that their career will be a long journey, perhaps not taking off until closer to their thirties. Singers will place suffocating expectations on themselves to hit specific landmarks in order to “stay on track” for their dream career, adopting ideas that to deviate in any way from the financially independent singer, would be a mark of failure. What does a singers’ life look like in reality, in these years post post-secondary education, and realistically, how do we forge a life for ourselves that is true to our dreams and gives us validation even when that life may not look exactly as we planned. Praised for "a genuine and deeply satisfying sound" (The WholeNote), Canadian mezzo-soprano Lyndsay Promane (she/her) has been described as a “top-notch performer” (Opera Canada) with "an arresting presence on the opera stage, and a thoughtful concert artist" (Schmopera). In 2020, Lyndsay earned a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble (Turandot, Canadian Opera Company Chorus). Recent highlights include the world premiere of Tap:Ex Augmented Opera (Tapestry Opera); solo roles in Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire (Orford Musique), Handel’s Messiah (Toronto Beach Chorale) and Te Deum (Hart House Chorus); Sokolovic’s Love Songs for solo voice (Resonant Frequencies, Los Angeles).

Acting Development with River Guard

Being able to tell a story and create a believable, relatable character on stage is a herculean task in and of itself: Now, how do we tackle this when so much of our time is focused on developing the singing voice? One of the best singer/actors I have ever seen on stage, River Guard, opens up about the best acting advice he holds near and dear, how to develop your own skills even if your training program doesn't have classes built into the curriculum, and how you can work on your acting abilities everyday without taking time from all of your other endeavors.

Breaking Into Jazz with Laura Anglade

In this next episode of the Singers' Tension Podcast, Jazz vocalist Laura Anglade shares her knowledge on Jazz vocals and the music scene in Canada and the USA. We talk her journey and breaking into the industry, finding musicians to collaborate with, stage presence, vocal technique, and her approach as a teacher to helping students. . Jazz vocalist Laura Anglade is currently making a name for herself on the Canadian jazz scene and beyond. Originally from a small village in the South of France and raised in Connecticut, she is influenced by her parents’ gypsy jazz and classical backgrounds. Some of her inspirations include Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Anita O’Day, Shirley Horn, Mel Tormé and Blossom Dearie. Laura has made several appearances on the Montreal, New York, Québec City and Toronto jazz scenes, collaborating with artists like Neil Swainson, Adam Arruda, Ranee Lee, Jean-Michel Pilc, among others. She has also performed in numerous Jazz festivals including the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. Her debut album "I've Got Just About Everything", which came out in June 2019 on Justin Time Records, has been met with praise by critics and fans alike. A second duo record is currently in the works, and will feature guitarist Sam Kirmayer. Laura has appeared on Global News, Jazz Today, Whole Note Magazine, and has been recognized by Radio Canada’s Ici Musique as one of the top 5 female jazz musicians to watch out for.

Opera v. Musical Theatre: Its not just the sound that's different.

In this next episode of the Singers' Tension Podcast, Mezzo-Soprano Alyssa Curto shares her experience as a former Opera student (U of Toronto; U of Ottawa), now returning to her roots working professionally in the Musical Theatre/Cross-over industry in Toronto Canada. . We really get into the differences of attitudes from teachers/conductors/directors towards young artists while they are still "in training." How do you find your voice and assert yourself as an artist even before you have a name for yourself? What are the sensational differences between singing the two styles? What is the University experience of music students who are a "favorite" talent? How does body image come up in University settings when grooming young artists?

Diversity, Community, and Mentors in Canadian Opera

Opera InReach aims to unite the historic roots of opera with an authentically representative new-world view of opera for middle school and high school students using connections with nation-wide mentors, established Opera organizations, and training institutions. Co-founder Andrew Adridge and I talk changing the face of opera, finding personal identity outside music, and finding peace in patience.

Practicing During A Pandemic

Episode one is a candid conversation with Montreal soprano Susan Elizabeth Brown on singers' mental health in the face of cancelled gigs, practicing anxiety, physical manifestations of stress and a look at the timely social rift: Should we work harder and achieve more during quarantine or show compassion and use this free time for stillness.