Molly Holleran Voice Studio header
Voice Studio News & Fun
February 3, 2020 | Issue #14 | Newsletter Archive
Important Studio Info
  • There are no voice lessons February 6-13 (I'm an aunt! My sister had twins in December and I'm going to Minnesota to meet them this week!)
  • Studio voice recital February 15 at 10am. Let me know if you want to perform, and sign up for a practice time with Ben. Check email today for more info.

  • February 14 is the deadline to sign up for the WSMTA voice adjudications. The email with full information on that will also go out today.
Cool Upcoming Arts Events
Musical of the Week
Whether you are a long-time fan of the book by Louisa May Alcott, or if you've discovered this story through the new movie now in theatres, you will be delighted by the musical version. Southridge High School will be producing the show this spring!
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:
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms is one of the most famous composers of western music. Everyone will recognize Brahms' lullaby, and he wrote symphonies, chamber music, choral works, and lots of beautiful songs for voice. Check out the info and links below for an introduction to his music.
Musical of the Week
Little Women is a musical with a book by Allan Knee, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, and music by Jason Howland.

Based on Louisa May Alcott's classic 1869 semi-autobiographical novel, it focuses on the four March sisters— traditional Meg, wild, aspiring writer Jo, timid Beth and romantic Amy,— and their beloved Marmee, at home in Concord, Massachusetts while their father is away serving as a Union Army chaplain during the Civil War. Intercut with the vignettes in which their lives unfold are several recreations of the melodramatic short stories Jo writes in her attic studio.

The production originated at Duke University, and ran on Broadway in 2005. Sutton Foster was nominated for best actress for Tony and Drama Desk awards, for her performance as Jo.




Voice Technique: Performance Anxiety
Almost everyone has some degree of performance anxiety (aka stage fright), whether we feel it on stage in front of a hundred people, or even when we are alone with our voice teacher.

Those normal feelings of anxiety can interfere with our free, relaxed voice production, and can prevent us from being the singer that we want to be. There are things you can do to reduce your performance anxiety.

If you suffer from anxiety when you have to perform, let me know and we will find ways to help you!

Here are some online articles with some interesting information:



You can get lots of great information from my friend Ingela Onstad, who is a performance anxiety coach - sign up at her website for free downloads and newsletter, and you can sign up to coach with her for even more help. We hope to have her come and do a presentation in May!
Folk Song Favorites
I've Been Working on the Railroad
The first published version of this American folk song appeared as "Levee Song" in Carmina Princetonia, a book of Princeton University songs published in 1894. The earliest known recording is by the Sandhills Sixteen, released by Victor Records in 1927. The various other melodies throughout the sections of the song were probably added later from different sources. 

Check out these fun recordings:


As ever, here's our classic Pete Seeger version

Here's a video of Liberace from his 1950 TV show! The things you can find down the YouTube rabbit hole.

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: Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms ( 1833-1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period. His reputation and status as a composer are such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.


Brahms wrote some of the most beautiful music that exists. Check out some of my favorites: