In review: Opéra de Montréal's Atelier Lyrique joins the COC Ensemble Studio

Review

Each year the COC Ensemble and the Atelier lyrique de L'Opéra de Montréal send several of their respective artists on a week-long exchange. The artists travel to Toronto or to Montréal to work with teachers, coaches and dramaturges at the opposite company, and give local concerts highlighting the visiting singers and pianists.

Schmopera makes it to the big leagues

Editorial

Great news! I'll be making an appearance on behalf of Schmopera on the Big COC Podcast! With host Gianmarco Segato, I'll be joined by maestro Stephen Lord, who's in town conducting A Masked Ball at the Canadian Opera Company, and by Paula Citron, arts journalist, critic and broadcaster, and a past guest of the podcast.

Generally Awesome Mezzo Joyce DiDonato Saves My Writer's Block

Editorial

My hunt for blog-worthy tidbits had begun, and just as I felt the beginnings of a good old writer's block, I found myself on Joyce DiDonato's blog. That lady is just great. I'm not sure if everyone will remember this, but I spotted that letter to the editor that Joyce wrote for a publication by online magazine Opera21.

Opera Memes: A deconstruction

Humour

I feel like deconstructing today. I was going for lighter fare on a Sunday, which usually means heading over to the land of the opera nerds on Tumblr.

It's Valentines Day! Now what?

Humour

I thought about making a flow chart for Valentine's Day. It was going to be sort of like If-You're-Single-Do-This and If-You're-Attached-Do-This. But the answer to both is the same, making this a very simplistic flow chart indeed.

Album Review: Guitarias

Review

This week, Canadian baritone and guitarist Doug MacNaughton releases Guitarias. It's his debut recording on the guitar, fusing what's clearly been two important elements to Doug's life as a musician.

Opera Heroines in 2014: What if?

Humour

So, it's the week of Valentine's Day, and I was trying to think of an appropriate post. I started thinking of opera couples, and the things they have in common. It turns out that the thing in common is a break-up of some sorts. And the majority of the time it's because the stories are from long ago, before women could stand up for themselves.

Online Music is Obscuring Opera

Humour

As I sat for the nth time scrolling through my music library on my computer, trying to find that really cool bit between this aria and that finale, I switched from recording to recording, hoping that the track division would be different, and perhaps more conducive to my finding that super neat chord progression.

Neuroserialist music: a term I may have just coined

Editorial

Professor Eduardo Miranda at the University of Plymouth is conducting a really neat experiment. It involves having a subject wear a cap that measures brain waves, and those measurements are sent to a computer. The computer program then assigns various types of brainwave activity to a set musical phrase.