Molly Holleran Voice Studio header
Voice Studio News & Fun
January 27, 2020 | Issue #13 | Newsletter Archive
Important Studio Info
  • February invoices have gone out - let me know ASAP which February lessons you need to cancel, and send in payment to reserve your February lesson times. There are no lessons Feb 6-13.

  • We have moved to the new studio space in the basement! Same house, just come in the front door and down the stairs.

  • We are having a studio voice recital on February 15 at 10am - let me know if you want to perform! More info to come by email.

  • February 14 is the deadline to sign up for the WSMTA voice adjudications - I will send out an email with full information.
Cool Upcoming Arts Events
Musical of the Week
This wonderful one-act Ahrens and Flaherty musical from 1990 was revived on Broadway in 2017, and it won the 2018 Tony for Best Musical Revival. Scroll for more info!
Name That Tune
Challenge your sight-reading skills with the melodies below!
You've Got Rhythm
Practice your rhythm with some fun exercises below!
Folk Song Favorites
Check out the info below to learn about this song, and print out the sheet music to play or sing it for yourself!
Composer Spotlight:
Abbie Betinis
Abbie Betinis is a young American composer who has composed music for a variety of musical ensembles, and is best known for her choral music and other vocal works. She is now a three-time cancer survivor, an experience she cites as an important influence in her work. Read more below!
Musical of the Week
Once on This Island is a one-act musical with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Based on the 1985 novel "My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl" by Rosa Guy, it is set in the French Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. It concerns a peasant girl on a tropical island, who uses the power of love to bring together people of different social classes.

The original Broadway production ran from 1990 to 1991, and the West End production opened in 1994, where it won the 1995 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. The musical was revived on Broadway in a production that opened on December 3, 2017 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. That production won the 2018 Tony for Best Musical Revival.





Voice Technique: Yoga for Singers
As we often talk about in lessons, a singer's body is their instrument. So anything you do to help your body will also help your singing. Lots of singers use yoga to help with breathing, relaxation, focus, and more.

Here are some resources to find out more about yoga as it can apply to singing:


Applying Yoga Principles in Yoga Therapy (Journal of Singing article)

Here are a couple of books for more info:
Yoga for Singing (Judith Carman)
Yoga for Singers (Linda Lister)


You don't need a singing-focused yoga practice to feel the benefits of yoga in your singing - any yoga practice will help you strengthen your core, focus your breathing and your mind, and potentially help with performance anxiety. If you haven't tried yoga before, I highly recommend it as a great addition to your efforts to improve your singing.
Folk Song Favorites
The Erie Canal
The popular song "Low Bridge, Everybody Down" was written in 1905 by Thomas S. Allen after Erie Canal barge traffic was converted from mule power to engine power, raising the speed of traffic. Also known as "Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal", "Fifteen Miles on the Erie Canal", "Erie Canal Song", "Erie Barge Canal", and "Mule Named Sal", the song memorializes the years from 1825 to 1880 when the mule barges made boomtowns out of Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, and transformed New York into the Empire State.

Check out these fun recordings:



Click here to download the song and sing or play for yourself!
Name That Tune
Have fun sight-reading these folk tunes! Do you recognize them?
‌
You've Got Rhythm!
Here are some exercises for rhythm practice - good luck!
Composer Spotlight: Abbie Betinis
Abbie Betinis ( born January 21, 1980) is an outstanding young American composer of choral and vocal music. She is the grand niece of famed Christmas carol composer Alfred Burt, and since 2001 she has been carrying on the family tradition of composing a new Christmas carol every year.


Check out some of her music:



  • The Mid-Columbia Mastersingers performed the song Journey Home at their last concert.