Carrying the Summer within!

My mother in-law sent me this quote this morning;

Au milieu de l‘hiver, j‘ai découvert en moi un invincible été -

In the midst of winter, I have discovered that I carry inside me an
invincible summer. Albert Camus

Must admit that it is rather timely after awaking to a high BRRR factor
in Hobart this morning.

Apparently it is not yet winter here although
last night our little country house was battered by such ridiculously strong winds it caused me to ask my husband if we were likely to lose our roof and if that would be very dangerous. To which he nonchalantly replied 'Well it wouldn't be good!'

Tiger the cat even came trotting inside seeking refuge which is quite something considering he has been obsessed of late with catching at least 4 mice a day in his new home after we recently liberated him from his previous indoor apartment prison.

So as winter approaches I am going to keep the Summer within. How?
By singing of course!

Today I begin teaching voice lessons at IHOS Studio in North Hobart.
I am looking forward to whipping my new victims into shape and am happy to say I have been receiving a lot of inquiries from a range of singers in varying genres. Love it!

Fortunately for me, Jane Edwards,one of Australia's most experienced and acclaimed singers, is a Hobart resident after relocating back to Tas a number of years ago and am off to her this arvo for a vocal coaching session myself.

I might play the Beach Boys on the way!
Let me know if any of you have any good ideas about how to 'carry inside you an invincible Summer'. Am open to suggestions!!

p.s That is not a photo of Hobart by the way. I think it was a tornado in Florida!

Singing & Socializing in Sydney!

A brief jaunt to Sydney is just what the doctor ordered! Singing and Socializing! My 6 weekly teaching excursions are proving to be great fun. Not only do they allow me to catch up with my fabulous students and continue with their vocal work but also to catch up with them on a personal level and see how they have progressed since last time. I feel lucky to be teaching such talented singers who are open, interesting individuals and becoming wonderful friends.

Here's a snippet of what a few of them are up to;

Merenia has just returned from China where she has been singing with her band for a number of months. She did her practice religiously and has really developed her high notes. Oscar from 'Watussi' has been living quite the rock star lifestyle of late. Jet setting off to New York to mix his latest album followed by a South American tour. Their album will be released at the end of the year and let me tell you, I've heard it and it's gonna be hot stuff!

Talking about travel, our international pilot, Mark, is coming ahead in leaps and bounds although he probably doesn't realize it. Having been gigging around Sydney and focusing on his musical sensitivity he really is beginning to sound like a pro.

Now as for Therese, she just sounds like an angel. This girl has such talent. I keep telling her that the world is her oyster but she has to buckle down and study her opera repertoire this year. Hope she is listening! Antonia thinks she's a bit rusty at the moment after having had to focus on her 'day job' but what a voice and gorgeous tone. Go girl!

Tony is not singing enough but back into his duo gig as pianist. I say SING Tony! You may have been a pianist in the past but now you are clearly a singer too with a rich, strong voice. So use it and that's an order!

I had a new student while in Sydney whom I'd like to mention as I thoroughly enjoyed teaching her. She called herself a beginner but with just a few instructions on keeping her tone and resonance consistent, some breath support and remembering to open her mouth(yes seems obvious).....out her voice poured. Fabulous!

I had a vocal session myself with Simon Kenway in Sydney. I love Simon Kenway!
Sometimes having a voice lesson is just like a breath of fresh air. It's like you've been missing something but not until you start singing do you realize 'Gee I needed that!' It makes you feel like your life is back on track. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to be on track to any great, huge goal, it just makes you feel like everything is good in the world again.
I hope the lessons I give in Sydney feel like this for my students!!

Perhaps it's obvious to say, but feeling personally fulfilled and inspired is so important. Whether it's a voice lesson that does it or doing a sketch or whatever it is that rocks your boat, it really is so important that the world around you feels alive because you feel alive in it!

So my message for the day, along with all my other babble is this; go and book that lesson you have been putting off, ring up about that course, start learning French. We've all got to keep our creative juices flowing. As we get older it becomes easier and easier to stay within our comfort zones so I say....break out! It's the stuff that makes us see past where we are now and open up our minds to all the possibilities ahead of us.



Lisa
(aka Tassie Girl)

Where am I?

For those of you who may have thought that I had fallen off the planet....you may very well be right.
Jamie and I have relocated to Hobart, Tasmania!
Well we seem to have fallen off the 'mainland' it would seem which is what Tasmanians like to call it.

We are now living on the apple isle and I had 2 apple trees full of lovely red apples in the back garden to prove it! Yes... HAD! Am going to have to make a bit of a quick adjustment back into being a Tassie girl because I left it slightly too long to pick my lovely red apples from the tree and the possums cleared out the lot! Gotta be quick round here!

The other thing I learned recently was that when one picks lovely fresh red tomatoes from the garden and makes delicious pasta sauce, one has to be extra careful to get rid of the little grubs first in case they turn up on top of ones spaghetti! URGH! No pesticides is apparently a good thing?

I will begin teaching voice lessons at IHOS studios in North Hobart in the next few weeks as well as returning to Sydney next week to teach at the Independent from Wed 14th to Fri 16th April. Drop me an email if you'd like to book in a time but make it snappy as spots seem to be filling fast.

Last week Jamie and I performed in IHOS Opera's production called 'Kitchen Table Rondo'. A crazy new composition about food, family and tradition. Each act was performed in a different location. The first on a train platform, the second act in an old warehouse and the third in a traditional Greek Hall. All set up with props, lights, smoke machines, radio mikes...impressive stuff. It was about the most avant-garde production I have ever been involved in and we had great audiences who arrived on buses and in limousines. I had to kick myself....am I in Tassie?

You may notice this blog take a bit of shift as I occasionally mention how amazing Tasmanian apples are, having bought some Golden Delicious and Cox's orange last week and actually getting a shock at how tasty they were. I may occasionally also throw in a recipe for something like pickled Beetroot which I made for the first time last week and wondered at why I have been buying it in a tin for all these years!

Yes I may harp on a little about gardening and country life....it will be a steep learning curve for me but I will also have lots of exciting musical projects on the go which I hope some of you will be keen to be involved in.

Keep you posted!
Over and out.

Tassie Girl

p.s anyone want my Pickled Beetroot recipe??

My 2 cents worth this Christmas!

As I meandered down to Nielson Park this morning for a quick swim and a cuppa I was thinking about how Christmas in supposed to be a time for generosity of spirit! And generosity of the wallet!

As I wandered through the green grass and swaying gum trees I happened across another meanderer like me. Takeaway coffee in hand he was singing away to his ipod. As we crossed paths I convinced myself I would give him a friendly smile. So I did one of those half smile things where you don't actually show your teeth. Kind of a cop out smile really! And not surprisingly my fellow meanderer didn't even seem to notice me at all. He kind of glanced at me blankly and continued obliviously on his way. Oblivious of my half hearted attempt to show my generosity of spirit. Oblivious of me. stop.

So from that moment on I decided, especially during this Christmas season and heck....from now on in general, I am going to smile at strangers. Unless of course they are really strange! I am going to risk it, god damn it, and give them a full smile and perhaps even a friendly 'How do you do?'.

And if they don't respond, well perhaps they will next time or perhaps they are just unfriendly bastards....but that has got nothing to do with you and me! We shall spread our Christmas Joy.

And now to the main crux of my thinking.... the other thing we can share is our wonderful singing voices! Yes badly put, this suddenly sounds like a religious newsletter. Just makes one realize you know, singing is free. Singing for others is something that us singers can do easily but often we don't. Often we are held back by shyness or an over active ego which tells us that we have to fully prepare before breaking into song, know the words, practice our delivery, wear the right outfit. But just a reminder to all you singers out there, myself included....try not to be too precious.....just open up your mouths and belt out a carol or two this Christmas. It makes such an incredible difference to an evening or a party or to a simple gathering.

And although we sometimes forget, singing really is a gift. So let's all give it!

Tinsel Time Reminder

'....deck the halls with ?? of holly, tra la la la la, la la la la. Tis the season to be jolly tra la la la la, la la la la.......'


It's Tinsel Time

We're gonna have a casual barby, sip champagne and sing carols.

Where: Our pad – 75 New South Head Rd

When: Friday 11th December (tomorrow)

Time: 7pm and on & on into the night!



Bring; some booze, your own deck chair unless you don't mind the grass, loud singing voices, a positive outlook, um....your pet reindeers, no dogs and santa hats!

The indomitable spirit

Had a lovely day on Monday with one of my crazy students. I don't think she will mind me calling her crazy. Merenia Gillies is a very talented Sydney based singer/songwriter who runs music classes for refugees and women affected by domestic violence out at Penrith.
I went along to conduct a voice workshop with a group of women on Monday.

Merenia had been working with this group to create an original composition, not an easy undertaking! But with her down to earth approach, Merenia had managed to unite this group of unlikely friends. She told me she had encouraged the women to all contribute lyrics and melody ideas and the result of a number of weeks work was surprising.

I really had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the community centre out in Penrith after driving for what seemed like ages down that monotonous highway. On meeting everyone however I quickly saw what my job was going to be. It was to get the women to really 'SING'.They had written this potentially amazing song with uplifting lyrics and now all they had to do was sing it without inhibition, with the energy and strength that the song spoke of.

Some of these women had had unthinkable life stories of hardship and abuse, yet were standing there ready to listen to a skinny white gal like me.

To my surprise it really didn't take long at all to get these women dancing and singing with true conviction.Frowns and crossed arms were replaced with open smiling faces. We had one principal soloist who led the group in a call and answer type chorus. She was a powerhouse of voice and emotion and the group began to respond with equal intensity which gave me goose bumps!

It made me think about how we can be such 'winge-ie pants' about things that really don't matter. It made me think about how the smallest things can sometimes get us down and how we easily allow these feelings to re-enforce negative self belief and a cynical view of the world.

Yet here I met this group of women who having suffered a great deal more than I can comprehend were not sitting around wallowing in self pity. They were standing up, fearlessly claiming their ground and singing out about their love for life.

I left Penrith, of all places, feeling almost hyperactive with optimism!
It was one of the most rewarding things I have done in ages!

L

Love and the voice

So I was thinking...empathising with a student, contemplating what a huge effect your love life can have on your voice!

Has this really ever been discussed seriously? I mean it is pretty obvious that without love or loss there wouldn't be much playing on the radio? Not many people write songs about rising interest rates or asylum seekers (well some people do but they aren't usually playing on mainstream radio)! And it is not news that love has been the motivation for millions of compositions. But what what about the actual effect that love has on the voice?


Suddenly we have no high notes, suddenly our voices are hoarse and down in our boots. Or suddenly we can float through an aria effortlessly, our high C is mind blowing!
Could it be true that a bad love life or a tormented emotional state is bad for a singer and that a good relationship is highly recommended for vocal health?

But I do see it a lot. A student comes in, voice is in a mess, student has left boyfriend or vice versa. Student has shed so many tears that her/his sinuses are all clogged up and when she/he speaks I could have sworn they were doing a drag queen impersonation.
Now this is serious stuff!

I do recall myself meeting a fetching young fellow in Spain and flying to Kazakstan to pursue a love story that I believed had to be lived out...only to end up with my fragile heart in pieces.
And my voice? My high notes? My headspace? Out the window!

An unsettled emotional state unhitches the vocal wagon from the horse and the voice ends up cascading down the proverbial hill and landing in the creek! This is surely not a good thing before a concert or a competition.

Ok on a positive note, sometimes unhitching the wagon ( I'm still on about the wagon) can produce a raw type of abandon which can be amazing and relates back to the discussion we had in an earlier blog.

So what can we learn from this rather long winded contemplation on love and the voice?

DO NOT drop someone, get dropped or have an affair on the eve of a concert, performance or singing competition.
DO continue and pursue love that is nurturing, exciting and uplifting!

But as we singers all know very well...if that dark, mysterious, attractive someone turns up, concert or no concert, we will be in hot pursuit.

Because the moral of the story is that we are all passionate, impetuous beings despite our best intentions and strongest resolutions. Yes singers, we were born this way!