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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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 singerAmerican 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!
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.
Can you believe that it’s already March? This means spring is just around the corner. Yes, that’s right. The official first day of spring is March 20th. As spring draws near, many of you are probably planning recitals, either for a school requirement or to add to your summer performance schedule. When planning a recital, it’s usually a good idea to plan your program around a theme, such as German art songs about spring!
If you are planning on travelling to Germany for an extended period of time (i.e. for grad school and fest contract auditions), you probably know that you must be somewhat proficient in German! This can be daunting if you are attempting to learn German yourself without the help of a school program. Have no fear! It is not impossible! Nor is it expensive! Here are a bunch of ways to teach yourself German without taking an expensive university course.
Hello all,
as a lot of you know, last week I flew from Seattle to Chicago to represent GVAI at the Classical Singer Music Convention. I want to thank all of you who came to our booth, invited me to their auditions, and of course, those who came to my class A Singer's Career in Germany and German Diction. I had lots of fun working with you on the challenges in vowels on Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” and your German already sounded so much better at the end of the class! The quiz about the opera business in Germany was fun, too! Congratulations to Gwen Paker who won the free online German diction voice coaching by having the most correct answers for the quiz questions! How wonderful it was to meet two singers from last year’s GVAI Summer Opera Program and to learn how they are growing their career. The competition and convention was really worth the trip. |
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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.... |