 Interview with coach and diction expert Ellen RissingerAs a singer, diction can be one of the hardest skills. Christine, founder and director of GVAI, asked coach and diction expert Ellen Rissinger about how to approach a song in a foreign language and how to enjoy the process.
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 American Tenor Brett Sprague Christine: Congratulations, Brett! You got hired at the Theater Erfurt in Germany!
This must be very exciting for you. You received your first Festcontract at a theater in Germany. Brett: THANK YOU! I am very excited for this opportunity! Christine: Many singers dream about getting a Fest contract at a German theater. What was your first reaction when you learned that you got the job? “If I had not had this agent on my team, I would not have gotten any of the theater auditions.”6/28/2018 Interview: An opera theater audition tour in Germany through the eyes of an American singer Brett in front of Theater Nordhausen in Germany American tenor Brett Sprague who recently won first prize of the Seattle Opera Guild Singer's Awards just came back from Germany where he sang for theater auditions. GVAI’s Director Christine conducted this interview with him. Learn and enjoy!
GVAI: Thank you Brett, for being willing to share your insights about your tour and your experiences with GVAI's young singers! Brett: It is absolutely my pleasure to share what I learned on my audition tour; it is information I wish I had from someone who recently had the experience. I hope my insights, however limited, can help!  Christine's Masterclass "Sing in German"at the CS Music Convention in Boston 2018 If you were at the Classical Singer Convention in Boston, thank you for stopping by the GVAI table and for attending Christine’s masterclass, “Sing in German.” Christine came back incredibly impressed with the talent she heard at the convention. Congratulations to everyone for participating - it’s hard work to go to and sing at a music convention. All of your preparation and hard work did not go unnoticed!
 Anikka sings with Paul during GVAI's summer opera program 2016. If you are a young professional singer, you may be headed off to a summer program or two to learn more about singing. OR you might be taking the summer off and planning to apply next year. Either way, it pays to do your research on summer programs before you pick the right one. If you are wanting to attend a summer opera program that has a focus in a specific language, you especially want to make sure it’s a good fit for your needs. For our purposes, we are going to consider German summer programs.
 Young singers visit GVAI's table at the CS Music Convention in Chicago 2017 Last year, we talked about how to prepare for your next competition/convention/conference (AKA your CCC!). If you missed it, read it here.
In the article, we talked about the four most essential steps to making your CCC a success. The steps were:
Following these four steps ensures that you are happy with your participation at your CCC, no matter what the outcome of it. You may not be able control the judges or recruiter’s opinions, but you do have complete control over your preparation. If you have already gone to a CCC and you are considering going again, it is important to determine if it would be a good decision to attend a second time. To determine if it is the right choice, now is a great time to pull out your pros/cons list! Your list might include cost, time spent, connections made, opportunities presented. If you decide to go a second time, it’s important that you will take something away from the experience, just as you did the first time. Now that you have decided to go to your CCC, this year, we’d like to add some steps to your preparation list! These further steps ensure that all of your practical items for your trip are ready.  As a modern day opera singer, it is not enough to simply be brilliant at singing. You also have to be brilliant at marketing yourself! In a world of social media, it’s important to be completely up-to-date digitally in order to present yourself in the best way possible.
There are many tools you can use to present yourself digitally and in print. High quality does NOT mean you have to spend a lot of money. Here are some of the necessities to market yourself as a singer:  It’s always been financially difficult to be a musician. Many professional musicians will not make a living from only performing – especially in their early careers. Most of us have to find alternate means of making money. Unfortunately, it’s hard to balance a day job with a professional music life. Here are some of the various ways you can make more money as a working musician:
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Personalized diction, voice & performance training, singing lessons online or in person
Most blog posts from June 2017 - June 2018 were written by GVAI's blogger Anikka Abbott who has just started her journalism studies. We already miss her. Learn more about her here or connect with her on Facebook.
Meet ChristineHello, I am Christine, the director of GVAI, a passionate singer, German diction, voice and performance coach. I love music, singing and dancing. Life is an exciting journey and I invite you to walk with me.... |
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