Christina Rovics Vocal Studio Blog

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Mar 06
2011

Title: Fairfield County Voice Students in Winter Concert: Lauren Fischetti sings Stars & the

Posted by Horovi in Untagged 

Lauren Fischetti singing The Stars and the Moon at Winter Concert of the Christina Rovics Vocal Studio, February 26, 2011. her selection is from Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown.  The pianist is Howard Rovics. The concert took place at the Danbury Music Centre.  Lauren is one of our high school seniors whose career ambition is to major in the performing arts in college.  The video was taken by Ray Flanigan of Bethel PhotoWorks.
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Mar 06
2011

Fairfield County Voice Students Blog: Sarah-Kate Chiovitti Sings Breathe

Posted by Horovi in Untagged 

Sarah-Kate Chiovitti singing Breathe  at Winter Concert of the Christina Rovics Vocal Studio, February 26, 2011.  The pianist is Howard Rovics. The concert took place at the Danbury Music Centre.  The video was taken by Ray Flanigan of Bethel PhotoWorks.  Sarah-Kate is one of our high school seniors whose career ambition is to major in the performing arts in college. She also an accomplished dancer.
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Mar 03
2011

Fairfield County Voice Students in Winter Concert Video: Tony Bruno - This is the Moment

Posted by Horovi in tenor voice

Tony Bruno singing This is the Moment at Winter Concert of the Christina Rovics Vocal Studio, February 26, 2011.  The pianist is Howard Rovics. The concert took place at the Danbury Music Centre.  The video was taken by Ray Flanigan of Bethel PhotoWorks.
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Mar 01
2011

Fairfield County Singing Lessons Blog: Announcing Videos from the Winter Concert

Posted by Horovi in Untagged 
Winter-Concert-composite-web-readyThe Winter Concert on February 26, 2011 was a great success. Every participant rose to the occasion.  There were so many singers ready and eager to sing that we split the afternoon into two separate programs. The first one at 4:00 pm was about an hour in length and the second, at 5:30 ran close to 90 minutes.
The Danbury Music Centre deserves a word of appreciation for providing a wonderful performing space complete with a magnificent grand piano, fine acoustics and theatrical lighting.
Ray Flanigan, owner of Bethel PhotoWorks did the videography. His images seemed to get better and better as the concerts unfolded providing us with many videos that we can proudly display on Youtube and link to ChristinaRovics.com/

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Feb 17
2011

Fairfield County Singing Lessons Blog: How to Memorize Lyrics to a Song

Posted by Horovi in memorizing lyrics
Molly-V-Dec-2010With a student recital coming up in a week,  all our lesson time is spent rehearsing these days.  This is a good time for the students to practice the strategy for memorizing lyrics. I explain it in this way:    When learning a song which has a recurring melody with different lyrics, plant visual cues at strategic points in the music.  While singing the end of one phrase, mentally flash an image that brings up the next phrase.  One student, Molly, aged 9, is learning “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid. It’s form is:  Verse 1, Chorus 1, Verse 2, Chorus 2, Chorus 3, Bridge, Chorus 4, Coda
Every piece of music has a form. Analyzing the form provides the road map to keep everything in place.  For a singer who is expressing lyrics that tell a story, mentally triggering images is one of the most effective tools for memorization.  Following the form of Under the Sea here are the image triggers that Molly is using. Verse 1:
While the piano intro is being played, flash seaweed, dream; while finishing phrase, flash look! wonderful things.

Chorus 1:
While singing the first phrase of the chorus “Under the sea...” see in your minds eye this series of images: better wetter, then shore - work, sun-slave, floatin’

Verse 2:
fish happy:) fish ain’t happy :( Exactly what Molly chooses to visualize is up to her but I remind her to make the triggering image exaggerated and vivid.  Next in Verse two comes two more images: fish bowl, boss hungry

This comical and lively song to a reggae beat continues with these images:

Chorus 2 :
(big stick?) beat us cook-hook  troubles-bubbles 0000000000

Chorus 3:
life sweet (candy?) sturgeon-urg’n    spirit (ghost?)

Bridge :
newt-flute, carp-harp, plaise-bass(visualize fish playing bass), bass-brass (see horn), chub-tub (see bath)  fluke-duke,  ray (sun)-strings (violin), trout rocking, black singer, smelt (nose?) blow

Chorus 4  with coda:
sardines (can), sand-band, clam-jam, slug-rug, wailing snail, hot, luck-muck

The images should be vivid, brightly colored and cartoonish, as in a comic book or in a flashy commercial or video.  Once the images are chosen, it takes practice to plant them at the right moment to cue the next phrase.  The idea is to get the senses and emotions involved as much as possible, so that  memorization is not just mechanical. the previous example is very visual.  Some songs are more emotional-kinesthetic and one can flash memories that bring up the emotion that cues the phrase.

To illustrated this process I chose one of the most challenging and comical songs on the two programs that some sixteen singers are presenting  on February 26th at the Danbury Music Centre.  Many songs move along at a slower rate and have fewer images than this one.   Nevertheless the image triggering technic is a useful tool for everyone when committing a song to memory.

To see an excerpt of Molly's performance click UNDER THE SEA.

Christina Rovics
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Feb 02
2011

Fairfield County Singing Lessons Blog: Preparing for a College Audition

Posted by Horovi in Untagged 
panoramic-images-entertainment-building-lit-up-at-night-lincoln-center-manhattan-new-york-cityThe musical theater classic “My White Knight” from The Music Man by Meredith Willson is readily accessible in the key of C as published by Frank Music Corp.  but a far better rendition exists in the key of D flat.  Christina tracked this one down at the New York Public Library’s Performing Arts Research Collection over a decade ago. As soon as Lauren Fischetti experienced the difference with Howard at the piano she knew that she had to bring the latter arrangement to her college audition but over the years, due to faulty photocopying (when lending our original out) critical lines of music were missing in this stunning accompaniment.  I sort of improvised the missing bits in the studio but an accompanist at an audition would need a pristine copy if Lauren was to sing it with a pianist on the spot. Lauren, a senior in Mahopac High is intent on a career in the performing arts. Honing in on the exactly right repertoire for upcoming vocal auditions has been her focus for the last several lessons. Her strength vocally is in cultivating her legitimate voice, the leading lady roles rather than the more comical character roles.  Competition is keen and she knows it. So Lauren went the extra mile to not only find the right song but the right rendition of it.
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Jan 26
2011

Fairfield County Singing Lessons Blog: New Children's Choir in Danbury Expanding

Posted by Horovi in community music
young-choir-singersChristina and I attended the Annual Young People's Concert on Sunday January 23rd sponsored by the Danbury Music Centre.  It took place at Danbury High School before a large audience.  We were especially interested in the new Danbury Youth Choir under the leadership of Dan Coffman and Maureen Kelly, two superb musicians who have been active in community musical enterprises for years.

The choir is directed by Dan Coffman with Maureen Kelly serving as vocal coach and accompanist. They rehearse at 5 pm on Sunday afternoon at the Music Learning Center, 425 Main Street in Danbury.  There is no fee associated with this but it is important to commit the time so the group can develop.  It’s a mixed group (boys and girls) ranging in age from about seven to twelve.  Contact the director directly at (203) 791-2706 for a brief, friendly audition and more information.

The 14 member chorus sang Walking in the Air (Howard Blake) from the very popular film “The Snowman”  in a beautiful arrangement by Mr. Coffman for orchestra and chorus. This was followed by the scene from the opera Hansel & Gretel (Engelbert Humperdinck) including When at Night I Go to Sleep. The young singers resonated beautifully with a sure sense of harmony.  The text reads “When at night I go to sleep, fourteen angels watch do keep” and there were our fourteen angels right before our eyes.  It was very moving.  Two of our grandchildren were in the choir (ages 9 and 10) having, from all reports, a genuine and unique musical experience.  Imagine the rare thrill of singing with a full live orchestra.
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Jan 18
2011

Fairfield County Singing Lessons Blog: An Inspiring Moment

Posted by Horovi in singing national anthem

 

I love the news item of the little eight-year-old girl singing the national anthem at the hockey game.  There she is, at a huge arena, holding her pitch-pipe in her hand, her mom close at hand.  She starts off beautifully, is just in the middle of the bridge when her mike cuts out.  And there she is in this huge arena, lips moving, not a sound.  At first you hear a woman near the videographer laugh, then someone shushes her, then the voices of the entire arena swell to join the little girl in singing the anthem.  It chokes me up every time I watch it.  

I think it’s a great lesson for my students of how what may seem to be a disaster of a performance can turn into a great opportunity.  Had this girl’s performance gone perfectly to its conclusion, it certainly wouldn’t have been broadcast all over the world on yahoo!!  Of course, the important thing is that she didn’t allow the technical difficulties to stop her from finishing the job she was there to do.  She maintained her dignity and continued to sing to the end.  That is class!!!

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Jan 11
2011

The Winter Concert: Singing Students at the Danbury Music Center

Posted by Horovi in acoustic music
Winter-Concert-composite-web-ready
SINGING STUDENTS  of the CHRISTINA ROVICS VOCAL STUDIO
are presenting a Winter Concert at the Danbury Music Centre on Saturday, Feb 26, 2011. Two programs, one at 4 pm and the other at 5:30 pm will represent the full range of our singing talent. Admission is free. You are welcome to attend both programs or either one.  Each concert is limited to 80 minutes of music, about ten singers per program. All will be accompanied by Howard Rovics at the piano.

 

It’s an exciting time of the year for us and our singers of all ages. For many, the weekly voice training sessions with Christina produce dramatic results. The range of styles, repertoire, and levels of accomplishment make every teaching day unique, and now with the holidays behind us it’s time to share publicly what is going on here.

We are in the midst of planning the two programs.  Each singer will do two songs and some are already preparing duets. 

The presentation will be entirely acoustic. That means no microphone, no amplification and everyone accompanied at the piano by Howard who rehearses with them week after week. The Danbury Music Centre is the city’s premiere rehearsal and recital hall and it has a wonderful grand piano, good lighting, comfortable seating, and a nice, resonant sound. It’s time to show our families and friends what we can do. The real work of creating music is our daily practice. Different from working with prerecorded tracks (Karaoke) in which the singer learns to adapt to a recording that is fixed in time and unalterable, everyone is working now with a live pianist, learning to create ensemble. There’s give and take, a level of nuance and flexibility that responds to the moment, the way music making was for centuries before the era of recordings and computers. Currently there are 23 singers studying with Christina and most see her every week.  Some have been serious about their voice training for years and many who began lessons recently are new at it.  Recently there’s been an explosion of interest in studying voice. Maybe the economy is improving, but more likely word is getting out that something of quality is being offered here in Fairfield County, Bethel.

That word quality does not restrict itself to classical training. Opera and art songs play but a small part.  Songs written for the Broadway theater right up to the present, the brilliant cabaret creations of Songs for a New World,  jazz influenced stylings  and even some songs from the contemporary pop charts are all part of these programs.  Don't be surprised if you hear a vocalist sing a French or Italian aria  in their legitimate voice followed immediately by some all-out belting. It's possible and we prove it!

The majority of our singers are in high school and are regarded as among the most talented and ambitious in their pursuit of music and the performing arts.  There are now seven people of college age and older seeing Christina regularly and a small group of younger people who are amazing to work with. So we’ll put the whole variety of ages, levels, and styles together and have a good time. Admission is free.  The Danbury Music Centre is located at 256 Main Street. There is a public parking garage right next door to the Music Centre  on the nearest side street.  If you need to use the elevator enter at the side of the building near the parking garage.  The hall is  one flight up on the second floor. Howard Rovics

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Dec 22
2010

Fairfield County Singing Lessons Blog: Video of Christmas Lullaby

Posted by Horovi in imtimate singing


Jason Robert Brown’s Christmas Lullaby is one of ten songs in a collection of original music and lyrics entitled Songs for a New World.  Two of the songs relate to Christmas,  a comic spoof on Santa Claus (in the style of Kurt Weill)  and this tenderly expressive piece which  speaks to the miracle of birth and renewal.  

“And I will be like Mother Mary with a blessing in my soul, and the future of the world inside of me.”

When I heard Lauren Fischetti’s interpretation of this song I asked her to sing it again, with the microphone readjusted to capture the intimacy of her voice.  Listening to it later that evening I pictured the images of the new infants in our immediate families accompanying the soundtrack. They’re toddlers now, embraced, loved and the center of attention.  Together Christina and I selected photos from our private collection. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and much success and fulfillment in the year ahead.

Howard and Christina
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