Episodes

Friday Mar 22, 2024
Academic Voice Job Searches
Friday Mar 22, 2024
Friday Mar 22, 2024
Coming off of Dr. P's recent faculty search and interview process Sarah was curious to hear more about what the job search process is like in 2024. Dr. P shares some thoughts on the overall academic music job market (the bleak part), followed by some recommendations for those applying for positions, and finally some hopefulness about why you still might consider pursuing graduate degrees in voice.

Friday Mar 08, 2024
Words Revisited
Friday Mar 08, 2024
Friday Mar 08, 2024
One of our VocalFri philosophies has always been not getting caught up on what terminology we use, as long as we can define and describe how we are using those words. We discussed this on an older episode, but we've seen a lot of recent posts regarding terminology and it seemed like a good time to revisit this topic. An interesting, winding conversation.

Friday Mar 01, 2024
On Varied Repertoire Selection
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Friday Mar 01, 2024
Sarah and Dr. P dove into various perspectives of repertoire selection in teaching classical, musical theater, and contemporary styles. Dr. P had revised his graduate repertoire for teaching course last fall and we finally had a chance to break it down. We did some life updates first. Rep discussions begins around the 15:00 minute mark.

Friday Feb 16, 2024
Room Acoustics: The Singer's Experience
Friday Feb 16, 2024
Friday Feb 16, 2024
#VocalFam we are back! Today's a special episode for a few reasons. First, we start with a pretty big announcement for the podcast.
Then, we are joined by esteemed guests Dr. Pasquale Bottalico, Dr. Joshuas Glasner, and Yvonne Redman to discuss their multiple studies investigating how room acoustics impact a singer's experience in a space. Any singer will tell you that they feel differently singing in various venues. This team is finally giving us data to support why that occurs. This is a conversation you MUST hear!

Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
VocalFri Christmas 7
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
Wednesday Dec 20, 2023
VocalFri's 7th Christmas Special! This year's special is a little different. Typically we just cover 1 pop culture happening for our holiday cheer, but this year Sarah and Dr. P finally covered their lean, mean, and green production of Carmen. How could a small music department present such a large masterwork? Listen and find out, then tune in on Thursday for our two premieres of the Carmen film noirs. https://youtu.be/wfgOw29b8vE?feature=shared
Stick around to hear our review of the 3 Doctor Who Christmas specials. Come join the #VocalFam...at Christmas!
Happy Holidays!

Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Ian Howell: Advice for Young Musicians
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Sarah and Dr. P are back from maternity leave! Well, at least Sarah is; Perna never left. The #VocalFam is joined by longtime friend of the pod Dr. Ian Howell to discuss his new book Advice for Young Musicians which is a perfect last minute holiday gift for any musician in your life. Hear some of our deepest insights ever as we explore not only Ian's book, but the music industry, the career paths of musicians, academic music, technology, and life lessons. The book is not only a perfect holiday gift, but this episode is a great listen for your holiday travel. Don't wait until your travelling on December 24th to buy the book. Amazon is fast. Not that fast. Buy the book here.

Friday Sep 22, 2023
Theodora Nestorova: Interdisciplinary Avenues
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
#VocalFam Theodora Nestorova returns to the pod to tell us more about her work at McGill during her PhD and their new inter- and intra-disciplinary Applied Performance Sciences Hub, housed within the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal. Theodora led us in a lively discussion about the need to diversify our possible career directions for singers and musicians. We also got a taste of the LEAP Initiative they have started through the collaborations at APS Hub.

Friday Sep 15, 2023
Laura Strickling: 40@40
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Soprano, Laura Strickling joins the #VocalFam to tell us about her journey into the world of singing of art song. We hear about her multiple collaborations with composers leading up to her new album 40@40 that just dropped. Laura was able to commission 40 composers for 40 new art songs for her 40th birthday. The first 20 songs appear on her recent album, available from all major vendors including Amazon. Look for a compendium published version of the songs later this winter. Learn more at https://www.laurastrickling.com/

Friday Sep 08, 2023
Functional Voice Training
Friday Sep 08, 2023
Friday Sep 08, 2023
Old school VocalFri with Dr. P on a soapbox about Functional vs. Task Specific voice training. If you'd like to hear two voice teachers talking about voice teaching, here's your weekly addition! Come join the #VocalFam!

Thursday Aug 31, 2023
NATS NSA Expansion
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
#VocalFam! Season 7 is here! What a better way to kick off a new season than with 3 great guests to discuss the largest ever expansion of the NATS National Student Auditions. NATS has more than doubled the categories that students can now enter for these great audition opportunities. Here more from Alisa Belflower, NATS Vice President for Auditions, Karen Brunssen, NATS Past President and chair of the Children and Youth categories committee, and Noel Smith, NATS New England Region Governor and chair of the CM categories committee. There has never been a more inclusive time to join NATS or to join the #VocalFam! See you out there in audition land friends. Learn more about the NSA Expansion at https://www.nats.org/national_student_auditions.html