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2010 - 2011 Season

Season Opener

NYSTA’S GREAT COACHES SERIES

MS. MARGO GARRETT

Monday, October 18, 2010, 7:30 pm
Teachers College, Columbia University
120th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue

Renowned accompanist and Juilliard faculty member Margo Garrett offered a master class on French and German art song. Four singer/pianist "teams" were chosen to perform. Ms. Garrett focused her comments on both performers as well as the ensemble. Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

Holiday Event

BERET ARCAYA -  “HOW WE THINK IS HOW WE SING"

Sunday, December 5, 2010, 4:00pm
Columbia Teachers College, 120th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, Grace Dodge room 179

Noted singer and Alexander teacher Beret Arcaya examined how thinking differed one hundred years ago by listening to old records and contrasting them with current performances of the same arias. The emphasis is not on the singing but on how use affects function: How Thought becomes an action. A reception followed. Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

Winter Event

ROCK THE AUDITION - SHERI SANDERS

Sunday, February 13, 2011 3:00-5:00 PM
Teachers College, Columbia University
120th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue

Sheri Sanders, a pioneer in the Rock Musical world, lead the class through an exploration of rock and pop music from the 1950s through the present, addressing aspects of style, vocal dynamics and music arranging. She demonstrated how to integrate these concepts and confront the challenge of learning how to successfully "act a rock song". Her book, 'Rock the Audition', is scheduled for release by Hal Leonard Publishing in the Spring of 2011 and is the first book to be published on auditioning for Rock Musicals. A reception followed.
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Spring Event

MUSICAL THEATER MASTER CLASS - JACK LEE

Monday April 11, 2011 7:00 PM
Teachers College Columbia University
120th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue

Renowned music director, conductor and acting teacher Jack Lee coached singers in standard musical theater repertoire. Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

2008 - 2009 Season

SEASON OPENING Reception & Event:
NYSTA Celebrates The Broadway Musical "In the Heights"
October 6, 2008 Monday, 6:00PM-9:00 PM
Laurie Beecham Theater at the West Bank Café, 407 West 42nd St

Nominated for thirteen TONY awards, members of the cast of In The Heights shared with us their incredible journey taking this musical from its humble beginnings to its triumphant, and groundbreaking Broadway run, and discussed the rigors of this unique vocal music in an eight-shows-a-week schedule. Our panel included Andrea Burns, (Songs for a New World, The Full Monty, The Ritz, Beauty and The Beast) and TONY Nominee Olga Merediz (Man of La Mancha, Mamma Mia, Les Miz). Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

In The Heights - Montage

CATHERINE MALFITANO MASTERCLASS
and Annual Holiday Party
December 7, 2008 Sunday, 2:00 PM-6:00 PM
Laurie Beecham Theater at the West Bank Café, 407 West 42nd St.

The incomparable Catherine Malfitano whose formidable vocal and dramatic talents are world renowned, guided young professionals in operatic repertoire, followed by our usual holiday good cheer. 

Catherine Malfitano - "O Cielo! Dove son io?" Stiffelio

SIXTEEN BAR Clinic
February 9, 2009 Monday, 6:30PM-9:30PM
New York University, Kimmel Center

Back by popular demand, twelve singers got to strut their stuff before a panel of industry experts who gave candid and supportive advice often not offered in the audition setting. Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

2009 16 Bar Clinic Presenter Biographies

ACCESSING The Inner Divo/Diva
April 19, 2009 Sunday, 4:00PM-6:00PM
Teachers’ College, Columbia University, Horace Mann Room 435,

"Help your students to turn performance anxiety into performance energy, silence the inner critic and step into performing with confidence."

NLP Trainers and Certified NGH Hypnotists Sarah Carson and Shawn Carson outlined cutting edge techniques drawn from the disciplines of Humanistic Neuro-Linguistic Psychology, NLP, EFT, Hypnosis and Clean Language to calm perfomance nerves, change negative self talk into positivbe encouragement and turn those butterflies into soaring on wings of song." Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

2007 - 2008 Season

The Contemporary Singer in The World of Recorded Music
Friday, October 19, 2007 7:30pm - 9:30pm 

Contemporary Commercial Music Voice Coaches and Top Record Producers discuss today’s singer in the recording studio.

In this dynamic view from “inside the studio”, we examined techniques and strategies used by both coaches and producers for today’s CCM singer. From Corrine Bailey Rae and Macy Gray to John Mayer and James Blunt, we examined the styles used by platinum selling voices on the radio today.

Coaches and producers discussed and presented their techniques and tactics used with modern day singers. We also examined how voices have evolved over the years.  From Barbara Streisand and Tony Bennett to today’s commercial singers what are the biggest changes in style over the last few decades?
Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

Moderator:
Cari Cole (pictured above), Vocal Coach of Grammy winners and legendary recording artists (Donald Fagen / Steely Dan, Courtney Love, Journey, Kimberley Locke / American Idol).

Panelists:
Producers
Peter Bliss (Barbara Streisand, Paula Abdul, Jennifer Love Hewitt, N’SYNC); Terrance Dover (Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton); Larry Hammel (Sahmuel 1, Omar Lopez, Cari Cole); Shane Koss (Paul Reed Smith, Hogg, Mr. Free)

Voice Coaches
Melissa Cross (Kevin Bacon, Andrew WK, SlipKnoT); Breck Alan (String Cheese Incident, O.A.R)

Avril Lavigne at the World Music Awards
"Hot"

Voice Science Masterclass
with Brian P. Gill
and Annual Holiday Party
Sunday, December 2, 2007

Don’t Let Technology Scare You!
Voce Vista, a user-friendly computer program created by Don Miller and Harm Schutte, provides the voice teacher and student with a visual spectrographic display of the voice in action. This program illustrates the acoustic information present (Harmonics, Formants, Overtones, etc) in the actual sound being emitted by the singer.

Although it would be impossible, and undesireable, to teach a student solely through the use of this feedback, the visual display provides yet another tool for the evaluation of sound output. While it will never replace the eyes and ears of a well-trained teacher, it can provide a quick, unbiased evaluation regarding the efficacy of a particular “resonance strategy.” This immediate visual feedback for the student can help reinforce the verbal guidance of the voice teacher.

Our members were treated to an interactive look at the possibilities opened up to us by the Voce Vista program. There were several singers used in the demonstration phase of the Masterclass, as well as some analysis of recordings of well-known heroes of the vocal world.

Afterward, members and their guests rang in the holidays with a rousing, and catered, holiday extravaganza  (and sing-a-long, of course).

Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

A Musical Theater Master Class
with Meg Bussert
Sunday February 10, 2008 4:30pm

Tools for Acting the Song
For the singer (and teacher): honing the acting and performance techniques,  once the musical preparation is done!

Broadway veteran Meg Bussert guided participants through a fresh approach to acting the song, borrowing tools and techniques from Stanislavsky and Michael Chekhov.  These strategies can be applied by anyone working on the lyric stage whether the repertoire is music theater or opera, standard song or art song.  The workshop addressed not only the acting choices but the physical expression of those choices and how the artist can incorporate the psychological and the physical into their performance.

Meg Bussert is a Tony Award® Nominee, Theater World Award winner, and Master Teacher of acting and music theater studies at NYU Steinhardt. She has recently been presenting workshops applying Chekhov’s psycho/physical techniques to the particular needs of the singing actor. Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

Meg Bussert (In Camelot with Richard Harris)
"Simple Joys of Maidenhood"

David Adams Art Song Competition Winner's Recital 2008

Over $2000.00 in Prizes were awarded to 4 singers at this New York Recital

• First Prize - Laura Choi Stuart
• Second Prize - Jorell Williams
• Third Prize (a tie) - Seung Hee Lee and Jennifer Beattie

Members LOG IN to view this event in our video archives.

2006 - 2007 Season

Mozart’s Vocal Performance Practice
A guide to recitatives, cadenzas, and ornamentation
with Kenneth Cooper
and Annual Holiday Party
Sunday, December 3, MVP 4:00pm / Party 6:00pm 
Turtle Bay Music School - 244 E. 52nd Street

The renowned keyboard player and conductor guided singers through the inviting world of eighteenth century musical performance practice with an emphasis on allowing the meaning of text to emerge through the appropriate choice of vocal gesture.

Afterward, members and their guests rang in the holidays with a rousing, and catered, holiday party (and sing-a-long, of course)

A Singer’s Guide to the Marketplace
with Dorothy Byrne
Monday, February 26, 8:00pm
Ripley-Grier Studios - 520 Eighth Avenue, 16^th Floor 

Ever wished for a book called Self-Promotion for Dummies? NYSTA  arranged something even better:  a workshop to give you the tools to define your product -- you -- and present it with the greatest appeal to potential customers: conductors, producers, managers, etc.  Dorothy Byrne is a businesswoman turned opera singer who teaches this exciting workshop at young artists programs nationwide.  Participants called it a life-changing experience.  

Poets, Prophets and Queens

an evening of American Song Presented by NYSTA
and the Lotte Lehmann Foundation 

Friday, April 20, 7:30pm
The Yamaha Showroom - 689 Fifth Avenue,  3rd floor

The evening featured an outstanding quartet of young singers performing recent American songs by acclaimed composers John Corigliano, Daron Hagen, Lee Hoiby, and Libby Larsen. Along with these well-known composers, the concert featured songs by three winners of the 2005 ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Song Cycle Competition, all under thirty years old: first prize winner, Scott Gendel, Damine Prize winner Eli Marshall and third prize winner Michael Djupstrom. We heard some of the most exciting recent vocal work by major American composers, illustrating the powerful eloquence of music and text embodied in the art song. Corigliano's Mr. Tambourine Man, based on lyrics by Bob Dylan, forces the listener to reexamine this unforgettable poetry in an entirely new light. Several of the Corigliano songs addressed the subject of war, as did Lee Hoiby's beautifully unadorned setting Private Jesse Givens, a letter written by a soldier to his family shortly before his death in Iraq. Libby Larsen's Try Me, Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII also offered a first-person narrative in the face of death, in a cycle packed with high drama and emotion.

The singers were sopranos Deborah Lifton and Amy Synatzke Blake, tenor Matthew Garret, and baritone Jesse Blumburg, all gifted artists with rising careers in opera, concerts and recording.

Previous Season's Events

Ring, Ping and the Singer's Formant: Combining the Science and the Art

Wednesday, October 5th, 2005, 8:00pm
Turtle Bay Music School, 244 E. 52nd Street

This was an opportunity to see master teachers Neil Semer, Zehava Gal and Garyth Nair demonstrate how they enhance ring and ping in the voice. This workshop explored whether the science of acoustics and the art of teaching can support each other. Three singers will have their tones analyzed by computer software. After working with the teachers, we examined whether their voices showed acoustical differences and what they meant, with particular attention to the singer's formant, a concept which was illuminated.

Musical Theater 16 Bar Clinic

Sunday, February 26th, 2006, 1:00-5:00pm
New York University, Shorin Performance Space, 8th floor
Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South

Brought back by popular demand, our 16 Bar Clinic featured four prominent musical theater industry professionals, Thomas Mills (Director - Musicals Tonight! Faculty member AMDA); Michael Rodriguez (Agent - Hartig Hilipo Agency); Barry Moss (Casting Director- Hughs Moss Casting); and Eddie Strauss (Broadway Music Director- Guys and Dolls, ...Forum, Urinetown)

Twenty singers presented two 16 bar selections each and received instant evaluation and constructive criticism in front of our esteemed audience of voice teacher members and guests. Open discussion and comments followed. This was an excellent opportunity to be the "fly on the wall" and assess and evaluate each student's technical and repertoire choices in the audition circumstance.

Crossing Over with John Kander & Judy Kaye

Monday, April 19, 2004, 7:30 - 10:00 pm
Provincetown Playhouse, 133 MacDougal Street
A co-presentation with The Steinhardt School of Education of New York Universityand Opera Index

Two Broadway luminaries, composer John Kander (Chicago, Cabaret, Kiss Of the Spider Woman, The Visit) and Judy Kaye (Mama Mia, On the Twentieth Century, Ragtime ) demystified Broadway singing for the classically trained artist. Ms. Kaye coached several singers. David Sabella-Mills (Chicago, The Visit)  moderated.

Salome Turns Fifty

May 8, 2004, 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Museum of Television & Radio, MT&R Theater
25 West 52 Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues 
A co-presentation with The Museum of Television and Radio and Opera Index

The 1954 broadcast of the Strauss masterpiece was screened fifty years to the day and time of its initial live telecast. Starring NYSTA member Elaine Malbin as Salome, directed by Kirk Browning, and featuring John Cassavetes as Jokanaan (sung by Norman Atkins), and Sal Mineo as the Page (sung by Carol Jones).