Siobhan Kolker Voice Studio

Siobhan Kolker, Elizabeth Hart and music director, Marc Irwin will appear tonight at 7:30pm, free admission, at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. Next time we'll be taking our show on the road!

Siobhan Kolker Elizabeth Hart and music director, Marc Irwin will appear tonight at 7:30pm, free admission, at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. Next time we'll be taking our show on the road!

I am aglow, grateful and proud of our cabaret performance this past weekend in my hometown Baltimore: Elizabeth Hart, music director and pianist Marc Irwin and his fantastic arrangements and with special guest star Phillip Kolker (You may have heard of him!). THANK YOU thank you and we love you to everyone who came to see it!! We had big enthusiastic audiences both days and so many people we love came to support us and have fun with us. We were delighted to hear again and again from family, friends, fellow musicians, and people we’d just met complements like these:

“This is a great show, I loved it!” "You both sound wonderful and your voices blend so beautifully." “I loved the songs and the variety." "I loved hearing songs I'd never heard before." (from musicians) "How’d you find your piano player? He is Incredible!" "You are (both me and mom) – so relaxed, comfortable with the audience." "We loved your stories/patter (which we wrote)." "That was my experience when I was a kind too!" "It was Spot on!” "I was moved to Good laughs throughout show. People said “It could even be longer” "You should do this again" "You have a great show." We are thrilled with the response! It is so rewarding.

And a big thanks to Germano's Piattini for our great venue, a wonderful Mother's Day brunch, Germano's Cabaret and restaurant and especially to Cyd Wolf and Germano himself. http://germanospiattini.com/events/

For anyone who couldn't be there but would like to see the show, we'll be doing it in other regional venues and New York City in the coming year, venues to be confirmed but we will keep you posted for all who wanted to come hear it but couldn’t. Tell us where you like to go hear music or like to sing!

Events - Germanos PIATTINI

Dear Singers,

Lately, my students have been hearing a lot about what I call “the hoo-hoo connection” (it has a jingle, but you have to take a lesson to hear that). Is this a sisterhood of some sort? Sort of – it has to do with the secret to breathing well for singing.

You may have heard that breath support is everything in singing. Or maybe you haven’t - but it IS. Breath management determines not only how long you can hold a note or phrase, but the healthy function of your larynx (or voice-box) and whether a sound is stage-worthy, loud or soft enough, exciting and hopefully beautiful.

What I call the “hoo-hoo connection” is the bottom line (pun intended) for coordinating our breath support: it’s the engagement we use in the pelvic floor, which is a term for the muscles at the base of the pelvis which are essential to good/healthy/easy/transcendent singing. Anatomically, we’re talking about the pubococcygeus muscle, which runs like a sling from the p***c bone to the coccyx (tail bone). This muscle is used for a lot of things, but the action for breathing/supporting is much more subtle than the downward push that happens in the “powder room”. For singers, gently engaging this muscle helps to stabilize your breath support and get control of your air. If you still can't picture where the muscle is, just google the term and believe me you will get a lot of information.

Link to Five Tips for Locating the Pelvic Floor:
http://siobhankolker.squarespace.com/storage/5%20tips%20to%20Locate%20your%20Pelvic%20Floor.pdf

I was in denial for a long time that this PCG muscle was really important, possibly because as a young singer/teacher I didn’t want to touch on the topic, so to speak??! Really, must the singing voice inhabit the same playpen with muscles of reproduction, s*x and the excretory system? Really!? But it is so. All the parts of the body we use for singing are adjacent (or in) vital systems and vital organs.

My 13+ years as a voice teacher have made me a convert to the view that “the hoo-hoo connection” reigns supreme…

I’ll paraphrase Kristen Chenoweth, the impeccable singer and “good witch” of musical theater. When asked how she could sing so well in an interview, she made a strong impression on my students when she said something to the effect of ‘Honey, you have to sing from your hoo-hoo!’ Likewise, I paraphrase the incomparable 20th century goddess of opera, Montserrat Caballe who famously responded to a similar question with: ‘I sing deeper than most people like to talk about.’ Today, I actually think that how much singing gets us IN our bodies in a visceral if not uncomfortable way is the main reason that it is the most exciting and touching way humans can make music. You can’t get away from your voice. It’s all of you.

While I love teaching women, the power of this is not just for the fairer s*x. Darling baritones and tenors, you have pelvic floors too and can and will learn how to use them if you want to sing well!

Dr. Anthony Jahn is a respected, popular and well published laryngologist (Ear, Nose and Throat doctor specializing in the larynx). You might want to read his discussion of how the pelvic floor relates to breathing http://voicecouncil.com/support-your-voice-iii-breathing-again. I think this article is full of excellent information. AND I am 100% sure that you cannot learn singing from printed material. You have to take lessons. Then you have to practice…take more lessons…practice and PERFORM. Repeat.

To that end, tell me you've read this blog and I'm offering 20% off lessons you book with me for the following four weeks, including packages.

Keep singing!

Siobhan
www.siobhankolkervoicestudio.com


Kristen Chenoweth, hooked up:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/singing-out-loud-with-kristin-chenoweth/story-e6frf96f-1226619343000

Support Your Voice III: Breathing, Again. | VoiceCouncil Magazine Sing with less muscle effort and sustain your voice for longer phrases -says Dr. Anthony Jahn

SING, MAMA, SING!…a Healthy Body-Mind Tip

My mom, Beth - or Elizabeth Hart - is an accomplished classical singer and voice teacher— actually “Mother Says: A Momplicated Relationship” is our duo cabaret, performed at several mother’s days’ past and past due for a remount. On this Mother’s Day 2014, I reflect that need to stop letting life get in the way and do our show again….and also, wishing I could be sitting next to her, singing anything, side by side today.

A dear friend of mine lost his mother last week, and though she was 94, there’s nothing the same as losing your mother. He describes her as a dynamic woman, glamorous, giving and a sp*ech teacher/actress, and I imagine she sang many, many a song with my friend, her talented musician and Broadway composer son, Barry Keating.
(Starmites Kids Parties)

My mother is alive, kicking and singing! And will be singing like a goddess for several more decades by the sound of her. She just did a concert last week, and her voice is better than ever. She is of course only “39” years old and I am “29” (her explanation? “I was a child bride!”) - and she looks it and sounds it. Gorgeous, healthy, full of life…. today I’m wondering, how much of it has to do with a life built through singing??

The Barbershop Harmony Society, an adorable looking, beneficent organization, has collected this page full of links to research on how singing creates well being and health, including boosting the immune system, mood and promoting relaxation. Well, any singer could tell you that. I know that the surest sign that I’m in a good mood is that I can’t stop singing. I also love to see my worn out/end of day students exit their lessons smiling and refreshed. http://barbershop.org/news-a-events-main/291-health-benefits-of-singing.html

Most humans, though, would rather do anything than sing in front of people; the fear of singing or speaking publicly can cause the kind of intense anxiety one would think would be reserved for rappelling in the Rocky Mountains. So why is singing so powerful, one way or the other?

The physical mechanism of the voice is wound up with our life saving bodily functions - really, the heart of us: our throat and windpipes, our belly, or breath - all the way down to the s*x organs up through the vibrations and sensations we feel in our skulls, or brains, right behind our eyes. I mean, if there is something you don’t want to feel hidden in your body, singing will probably un-lodge it at some point. At some point I decided to stop running from those feelings and Dive Into It! I head into the Feelings, I head straight for the sounds, and I hope to get all of you to do the same.

Mom, let’s sing old songs; let’s sing new songs; let’s laugh, let’s cry. Let’s teach our singers! Let’s get it together and do a concert… let’s go get ‘em.

Health Benefits of Singing Barbershop Harmony Society, the largest all male a ca****la singing organization in the world.

Healthy Voice Tip #1: Nutrition Diva

So, what is this diva going to Do about her Big Tax Surprise- alias humongous bill! of last month? (Tax Time: I lose, You Win http://www.siobhankolker.com/siobhans-blog)

I’m trimming some fat from my spending plan, doing with a little less of the material and focusing on what really matters to me, like music, singing, teaching and being of service to others, especially to my Tribe: SINGERS!

What am I Not going to do? Stop taking care of my whole body by eating healthy food. Singers are athletes, and don't let anyone who thinks it is easy to sing tell you differently. My instrument is me, so care of my body, mind and soul are all part of my Total Package.

In my last entry I mentioned my friend Monica Reinagel, Nutrition Diva. Monica is a wonderful classical singer and a fabulous, credentialed nutritionist. I can tell you from experience (my messy twenties!) that you are safe doing whatever Monica suggests! After all, she’s a singer. http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/nutrition-diva

In fact, you might be surprised and delighted by her article on hydration - apparently, while as my beloved teacher Dr. Thomas Houser used to say, we voice professionals should “sing wet, p*e pale,” we can get our daily water intake from a variety of beverages. And most of us don’t need to guzzle water like we live in the desert.

Nutrition Diva

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/how-much-water-should-i-drink?page=1

www.siobhankolker.com Voice Lessons for Musical Theater

Tax Time: I lose, you win!

Dear Singers,

things are going really well in "Siobhan's World" as my friend Monica Reinagel, alias The Nutrition Diva, likes to call my life. I’m super grateful for all the lessons I got to teach and the things I got to film in 2013; it also meant the biggest tax bill of my life! Wow, Siobhan’s World is movin’ on up.

This is good for YOU because I’m doing a Tax Man discount (yeahhh, he’s the….) from now until 5/15. If you got a refund or you’ve been wanting to work on your voice but haven’t had the means to make a commitment, this might be our moment!

You or your friends/students can buy these packages through through May 16th, 2015:

DECLARE THE PENNIES ON YOUR EYES
My regular rate is $90 - the tax man takes 33%, so, a four lesson package, one a week, 33% off $240. Or 1.33 lessons free. This math is easier than taxes. Yay!

IF YOU TAKE A WALK, WELL I'LL TAX YOUR FEET
Get your singing practice GOING:
It’s takes a voice lesson a week to get anywhere in the beginning. You can give your Voice and your Artist the gift
of 8 lessons in two months. $400
8 lesson package to be used weekly.

As always, if you refer a friend to me who takes a lesson, your next lesson is 50% of your regular rate. THANKS for helping our voice studio grow.

ALSO, if you buy a package this month, I commit to finding you a 60’s pop tune for your book in the Fab Four’s honor!

TAXMAN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqK97av7I3s

--
Siobhan Kolker Voice Studio
www.siobhankolkervoicestudio.com
(347) 563-8914
singing lessons for vocalists, rock stars and poets

The Beatles - Taxman (2009 Stereo Remaster) From 'Revolver - Remastered Stereo Edition - 2009"

Transmitter Park!
--Photo by Siobhan Kolker

Awareness/Self-Awareness

We bring our attention, our soft gaze or listening, to the world outside of us, so that we can gain awareness of what is going on within. This is a facet of many meditation traditions and I practice meditation regularly. It’s also my goal to help increase students’ awareness in every lesson.

I love my voice doctor, laryngologist Michael Pitman, MD and not just cause he’s a Patrick Dempsey type and graduated in the same year I did from University of Michigan (Go Blue!) The page linked below from his hospital, The Eye and Ear Infirmary on W. 14th street in Manhattan, is an overview of most of the reasons and methods for voice therapy, which can complement voice lessons for people with serious and chronic sp*ech or vocal problems. http://www.nyee.edu/cfv-therapy.html labeled “Awareness”. The whole page is excellent, but if you scroll to the bottom, you get to this:

"An important early component of voice therapy is increased self-awareness of personal traits of voice production. Change can only be achieved after self-awareness. People are frequently surprised at the sound of their own voice when heard on a recording. That surprise is caused partly by limited self-awareness of personal vocal characteristics. Do you know how your voice sounds to others? You can increase that self-awareness by monitoring your voice and the voices of others. […] For many types of voice problems, increased vocal awareness is an important first step in overcoming a voice problem. http://www.nyee.edu/cfv-therapy.html

In addition to listening to recordings, a great way to hear yourself more closely to how others hear you is to put our hands behind your head with your elbows pointing to the front, or, simply to cut your ears. You might be pleasantly surprised!

My master teacher Thomas Houser, PHD, used to remind me that I did not need to “get it right” all of the time. He allowed me to see that each new awareness about my singing was all I needed…awareness was the prize.

“Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

The Voice and Swallowing Institute: Voice Therapy - New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai Voice therapy is an approach to treating voice disorders that involves vocal and physical exercises coupled with behavioral changes.

Go Renee! You sounded great, sang with heart and passion and made me proud of how "opera" showed up at the Superbowl (since Justin Tucker wasn't there this time). And Biggest kudos for insisting on having a live symphony orchestra play - not a recording! The New Jersey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7etXoNrwP8c

Renée Fleming : Super Bowl 2014 National Anthem Renée Fleming National Anthem 2014 Super Bowl 2014 National Anthem Superbowl 48 national anthem

What Singing and Football have in Common

Or, I LOVE FOOTBALL. Almost as much as Mozart, Britten, Schumann or Sondheim, singing high notes or rocking out!

Professional classical and music theater singers are athletes And artists. It take an athletic level of precision, stamina and guts to appear on an opera or broadway stage and certainly to keep doing it year after year. The work, the hours, the pushing to the limits again and again to train to that level...The part that really fascinates me with my students, in the audience at the Met, or when I'm watching the Superbowl, is what has to be going on your HEAD and HEART to get the chutzpah to walk out there! Why don't we all run away?

I think it's having a goal that is bigger than yourself. I think it's having a higher purpose. I think it's doing it for someone other than your self: the fans, the audience. This is why I would wax rhapsodic over the Ravens last year... their spiritual strength. Ask me over a healthy, hydrating juice about them and you will get an earful!

In case you didn't know, the Ravens incredible kicker, Justin Tucker, is also trained as a classical singer. I'd be delighted to have a conversation with him about how the two disciplines.

Who else out there loves vocal cords AND pigskin?!

Agua

It's dry and cold and I've got a lot of students "hem-heming" because of the gunk factor. The first, middle and last stop for most vocal issues is more water. Water of life! But do we drink enough? As a teacher, I have the birds eye view: singers resistant to remembering the most basic behaviors that will help their singing: why do we so often resist doing the thing we Know will work?

"1. Hydration
It cannot be overemphasized how important it is to maintain good water intake. We recommend 6 to 8 eight-ounce glasses of water a day to maintain adequate hydration. Bring a water bottle with you to work and refill it at the water fountain. The goal is to drink until your urine is pale. Good water intake helps keep the lubricating mucus on your vocal cords thin, creating the ideal environment for your vocal cords to work." (Dr. C. Blake Edwards)

So what's the cure for my inner vocal rebel? To just pick up a glass, today, in this moment, and stop to breathe between sips. Pour that room temperature (cold water does the opposite of warming you up) and drink. Herbal tea is an option as well, but the idea is to let your throat and later on your cords be "nourished" by the water and notice that you feel good.

Tell me, what's your favorite way to hydrate?