Bulent Guneralp Voice Studio

https://youtu.be/UI8Mlh99QGg?si=E8GRuOuwrTZpckiG

James Clear Explains How to Build Habits That Stick With One Simple Planning Trick || MasterClass Most people wait to feel motivated before they start. That's the mistake. In this video you'll learn why clarity beats motivation every time, and how to buil...

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Michael Tilson Thomas, renowned conductor and composer, dies at 81 Thomas led the San Francisco Symphony from 1995 to 2020, helping to establish its reputation as a world-class orchestra. In 2021, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain cancer.

I knew wonderful Ms. Phinney from my Boston Conservatory years. She will always be in our hearts. With love and respect… 🙏

https://blakefuneralhome.com/obituaries/elisabeth-phinney?utm_source=search&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=standard&cta=fh-website&fbclid=IwZnRzaARLrpJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xNzM4NDc2NDI2NzAzNzAAAR7FQq2TvVFoit98paiXBrbButz47gqT5rNBNUMhYE9T37svrEP9n8LJ4G00_Q_aem_sFsim0coYMYr6sqaNyzg0Q

Elisabeth A. Phinney Obituary (1935 - 2026) - Chelmsford, Massachusetts Elisabeth was born on March 27th, 1935 and passed away on April 10th, 2026 at the age of 91

Thanks to Anna in Texas and her recent travels, my voice studio had another first today. In January we held our first lesson from Quito, Ecuador, and today we had our first lesson from Warsaw, Poland.

In the photo, Anna is holding a present she picked up in Poland for her grandson, a “kaczka,” the Polish word for duck.

Congratulations to Anna in Texas on breaking her Vocathletic Pneumatic Energy Control Exercise record once again. Her third record within a month. She is on a roll. Celebrating with a well-deserved glass of her own homemade spiced tea! 🎉

🎉 Congratulations to Andy in Massachusetts on breaking his Vocathletic Pneumatic Energy Control Exercise record!

I have been watching Alysa Liu’s Olympic performances and have been deeply moved. From the very first video I saw, I began sharing them with my voice students.

Throughout the broadcasts, the commentators kept repeating something striking: She was not skating for medals. She was not skating to win. She was simply there to live and share her art, being present and skating with spontaneous joy. And yet, in that state of freedom, she won the gold medal. She has discovered how to perform without carrying the weight of competition. And sometimes, the highest recognition comes precisely when we stop chasing it.

What a powerful reminder for all performers.

Alysa retired from competition as a teenager after experiencing burnout and losing touch with the joy that first drew her to skating. When she returned, she returned with the same heart, but with a different mind. No pressure. No obsession with results. Just love for what she does. Simply living it.

These are the very principles I have been sharing with my students for years.

Not worrying about the fruits of the action.
Doing the action for the sake of the action.
Living ourselves fully in what we do.

Sharing is beautiful. Performing for others is beautiful.
But even when we are alone, unseen, the essence remains the same: to live the activity itself with love and respect, and to allow spontaneous joy to manifest.

When we live this way, the art becomes alive.
The performance becomes alive.
We become alive.

This is what I wish for all my students and for all who walk an artistic path.

Thank you, Alysa Liu, for this beautiful reminder.

National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS)

Alysa Liu's FABULOUS gold medal-winning free skate | Winter Olympics 2026 | NBC Sports It was a stunning moment in Olympic figure skating, when Alysa Liu, free of tension and stress gave a fearless performance for gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina...

A BEAUTIFUL CELEBRATION
THE FIRST EVER REUNION OF BÜLENT GÜNERALP VOICE STUDIO

Every December I host my voice studio’s annual gathering. In 2025, we held our first-ever reunion with current and former students, along with special guests and collaborators. It was a meaningful meeting reaching back to the studio’s beginnings in the mid-1990s.

We gathered twice, on December 14 and December 21, sharing conversations, reminiscences, and performances. The programs featured a wide range of musical genres and traditions, including spoken-word holiday poetry; Christmas and seasonal repertoire; African American spiritual; the Great American Songbook, including jazz standards and swing; pop and R&B; rock and synth-pop; country; folk and singer-songwriter repertoire; blues; gospel and contemporary sacred song; musical theater; arie antiche; traditional Turkish repertoire; Middle Eastern and world music traditions; improvisation and throat singing; video game music; ballet music; Baroque keyboard repertoire; ragtime and contemporary piano repertoire; original compositions; a ca****la performance; and repertoire for kemençe, darbuka, and ukulele.

PROGRAM

The programs from the two gatherings are shared separately below, honoring the distinct flow and repertoire of each evening.

DECEMBER 14 STUDIO GATHERING

JACK (France)
’Twas the Night Before Christmas - Clement Clarke Moore
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Johnny Marks
I Left My Heart in San Francisco - George Cory Jr. / Douglass Cross

LEN (New York)
Cover Me Up - Jason Isbell
Don’t Let the Old Man In - Toby Keith
Colder Weather - Zac Brown et al.

JAKE (Massachusetts)
Ain’t That a Kick in the Head - Jimmy Van Heusen / Sammy Cahn
Halo - Martin Gore (Depeche Mode)
Enjoy the Silence - Martin Gore (Depeche Mode)

RAQUY (Massachusetts, concert collaborator)
Between the Sun and the Stars (voice, kemençe) - Raquy
Brooklyn Darbuka Anthem - Raquy
Monkey Mind (darbuka) - Raquy

ANDY (Massachusetts)
Break Free (Lead the Way) - Super Mario Odyssey (Naoto Kubo)
Breaking Through (Heart of Gold) - Donkey Kong Country (Grant Kirkhope)
Starlit Journey - Kirby Air Riders (Jun Ishikawa)

MINELLE (California)
I Dreamed a Dream - Les Misérables (Schönberg / Boublil / Natel)
On My Own - Les Misérables (Schönberg / Boublil / Natel)

GREG (California, guest performer)
Hope for Me Yet - Marc Broussard
My Way - Jacques Revaux / Paul Anka

KENAN (Massachusetts)
Adeste Fideles - Traditional
Annie’s Song - John Denver
We Are the Champions - Freddie Mercury (Queen)

DECEMBER 21 STUDIO GATHERING

ORKUN (Türkiye, unable to attend, recordings shared)
Lately - Stevie Wonder
All I Want for Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey / Walter Afanasieff
Just the Way You Are - Billy Joel

SILA (Maryland)
Dandini Dandini Dastana - Traditional Turkish lullaby
O cessate di piagarmi - Pompeo (Alessandro Scarlatti)

ANGELA (France)
The One That Got Away - Katy Perry / Max Martin / Lukasz Gottwald

DANNY (Nevada, unable to attend, planned repertoire)
Anything - Original
Reminiscing - Original

EUNYOUNG (Massachusetts, concert collaborator)
Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou Les Maillotins - François Couperin
Graceful Ghost Rag - William Bolcom

JAMIE (Massachusetts)
Happy Just to Be Me - Original
Prescription for the Blues - Porter Grainger
Silent Night - Franz Xaver Gruber / Joseph Mohr

DAVIS (Idaho)
Fly Me to the Moon (ukulele) - Bart Howard
Orange Colored Sky - Milton DeLugg / Willie Stein

BRANDON (Georgia)
Amazing Grace - John Newton
The Scientist - Coldplay
Faith - George Michael

RAQUY (Massachusetts, concert collaborator)
Arabian Dance (kemençe) - The Nutcracker (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
Monkey Mind (darbuka) - Raquy

DORIAN (Maryland)
Rain Love - Original
Who Would Imagine a King - Mervyn Warren / Hallerin Hilton Hill
Let It Snow - Jule Styne / Sammy Cahn

ELIZA (Texas)
What Child Is This - Traditional (“Greensleeves”)
Manhattan - Rodgers & Hart
White Christmas - Irving Berlin

BÜLENT (Oregon)
Go Tell It on the Mountain - Traditional African American spiritual

ISAAC (Louisiana, surprise appearance, recording shared)
Hey Sophia - Original

This reunion also carried a special meaning for me, as both Orkun and Burcu were among my very first voice students when I began teaching voice in the mid-1990s in Istanbul, Türkiye.

I would also like to acknowledge my former and current students who were present in the audience, as well as those who had hoped to attend but were unable to join:
Burcu (Türkiye), Eve (vocalist of Sorrowseed, Nevada), Mike (vocalist of Forever’s Fallen Grace, Massachusetts), Fausto (New Hampshire), Alexander (Maryland), Neona (Texas), An (Massachusetts), Ilgın (Italy), Marlena (Massachusetts), Pragna (Pennsylvania), Joy (Oregon), Carlos (Pennsylvania), Winnie and Kyle (Massachusetts), Nikka (Louisiana), Anna (Texas), Kathy (Massachusetts), Myrna (Massachusetts), Shannon (Illinois), Michael (Massachusetts), Braden (Oregon).

To all former students and collaborators across the years who remain part of this studio’s journey, you are remembered with gratitude.

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/13/nx-s1-5713420/remembering-clarinetist-and-tenor-saxophonist-ken-peplowski

Remembering clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski Peplowski, who died Feb. 2, started playing clarinet professionally at age 10 and went on to perform with the Benny Goodman Orchestra and to record on his own. Originally broadcast July 7, 1999.

🎉 Congratulations to Anna in Texas on breaking her pneumatic energy control exercise record again after a few weeks! As always, she is hugged by Mila (in grey).