Buffalo Girl Choir Fundraiser this Week! Support Vocal Education for Urban Girls  SUPPORT AND DONATE TODAY Buffalo Girlchoir almost never happened. Throughout 2013-2015, I was searching for a way to create a youth choral ensemble. I sought advise from colleagues involved in music education who were discouraging at best, telling me that there was simply no need for another such ensemble. I knew I could make it happen but I was struggling with ideas about how this new ensemble would be unique when I received a letter from a student. Among the many inspirational things she wrote, one phrase stood out and changed everything. She wrote: “singing in an all female, women-led ensemble was empowering” and changed the way she thought about herself and her abilities. It was my light bulb moment. I didn’t want to start a children’s choir, I wanted to create a GIRLchoir. Our first rehearsal opened with 9 singers, by our first concert, we had 14 and by the end of the first yea...

DEC 28th Big Words I Know By Heart - Special Guest Composer and Filmmaker Sabrina Pena Young Author, composer & TED talker Sabrina Pena Young (Libertaria: The Virtual Opera) joins us in the studio. Lovable scamp and compulsive commenter Terry Kimmel circles back to the Co Host Hot Seat for some fresh insults. DEC 28th 6:45-8:30pm EST Click on this Link to Find out More about Big Words I Know By Heart

DEC 28th Big Words I Know By Heart - Special Guest Composer and Filmmaker Sabrina Pena Young Author, composer & TED talker Sabrina Pena Young (Libertaria: The Virtual Opera) joins us in the studio. Lovable scamp and compulsive commenter Terry Kimmel circles back to the Co Host Hot Seat for some fresh insults. DEC 28th 6:45-8:30pm EST Click on this Link to Find out More about Big Words I Know By Heart

Animation and Opera - Why Low Budget Composers choose Machinima Animation With the global depression, art budget cuts, and innovations in technology, contemporary composers have embraced new ways of presenting opera using digital media in the last twenty years. Digital art projects like The Creator’s Project ( http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/ ) encourage and promote modern projects like virtual operas, digital art, gaming‐inspired art, and multimedia design projects. From the Chicago Opera Cabal ensemble to William Antoniou’s Turing Opera and Alice Shield’s Apocalypse , composers have combined the theatrical spectacle of opera with the unlimited innovation of technology. Choosing to create an animated opera over a traditional live opera has several advantages, including working with a diverse range of artists worldwide, low production cost, unlimited stage possibilities, and easy distribution. An animated opera allows the composer to collaborate w...

Recording Insights from Libertaria the Virtual Opera When producing a large‐scale music project through the Internet communication, flexibility, and organization are key components for success. Any composer wishing to collaborate with dozens of musicians and artist through the Internet needs to wear multiple hats, including director, manager, tech support, and coach. Needless to say, jumping between roles involves a keen sensitivity to each musician’s needs, especially considering the cold nature of Internet communication. The Libertaria cast worked on the recordings for the opera for over eighteen months. After downloading the Libertaria Cast Rehearsal Albums from Bandcamp.com, the cast members recorded their vocals using the included scores and click tracks. Without set live rehearsals for this all‐volunteer project, the composer, cast, and crew had to work with a very flexible schedule that allowed for work obligations, touring, family emergencies, and cast changes ...

How Bandcamp Helped Me Create and Opera  Organizing a cast virtually has distinct challenges. Libertaria: The Virtual Opera has a core cast of ten talented vocalists with incredibly diverse backgrounds. Talented opera singers Kate Sikora and Gracia Gillund share the lead role of Libertaria, with Gretchen Suarez‐Pena taking on the difficult antagonist Lucinde. Eclectic artist Matthew Meadows and electronic music guru Perry Cook lend two distinct styles for the male lead of Simeon, an addict who ages in reverse. Talented singers Jennifer Hermansky, Lucas Matias Mora, and others round out the international cast. None of these cast members have met for a rehearsal. How to organize an opera cast through cyberspace? Similar collaborative projects like the Deep Listening Telematic Circle have used Google+, Internet 2, and Skype for live concerts and rehearsals. Because Libertaria is animated with the voices dubbed in during post‐production, live rehearsa...

Like this video?  Then you will love Composer Boot Camp 101:  50 Exercises for Students, Educators, and Music Professionals!

See the Metropolitan opera for the cost of a movie ticket!  Can't afford to pay for the Metropolitan Opera 's extravagant rendition of Richard Wagner 's Das Reingold ? Don't worry about burning through your checkbook to see the Met. The Met is coming to a movie theater near you with The Met: Live in HD film series. You don't have to be rolling in dough to enjoy the best that the Met has to offer. Shot in impressive HD and larger than life, The Met: Live in HD series opens up a new and exciting world of music and opera at regular movie ticket prices that anyone can afford. Why did the Metropolitan Opera create this series? Created by a grant from Metropolitan Opera sponsors The Neubauer Family Foundation, this Emmy Award-winning series is the Met's answer to the growing economic crises which has negatively affected the pocketbook of every major classical music institution. Growing a new generation of opera lovers is nearly impossible with music educatio...

Having recently completed two works for percussion ensemble, video, and tape, I am now embarking on the quest to create a contemporary opera. Several definitions of opera can be found: "Opera is a drama set to mus. to be sung with instr. acc. by singers usually in costume." - Classical Archive . "Opera is a story told through song." - Boston Lyric Opera "Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and instead of bleeding, sings." - Ed Gardner (funny music quotes) Traditionally, opera follows a libretto (text -a linear storyline), has extravagant costumes and scenery, and the music plays an integral part of the entire drama unfolding. The music can consist of arias, trios, duets, entire choruses, etc. Some famous traditional opera composers include Puccini, Bizet, Britten, Wagner, Verdi, Monteverdi...the list goes on (You can read more HERE .) George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess: However, with the advent of the late 20th century, the definition of opera ...