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W. Stephen Smith
William Stephen “Steve” Smith (born December 18, 1950) is an American voice teacher, author and baritone singer. He is a professor of Voice and Opera at the Bienen School of Music of Northwestern University, voice faculty for the Ryan Opera Center of Lyric Opera of Chicago, voice faculty emeritus of the Aspen Music Festival and School and founder/director of the Naked Voice Institute. Early life Smith was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas on December 18, 1950, the son of Buel Smith and Jolene (née Hooton). He was raised in Pocahontas, Arkansas and Corning, Arkansas. His father owned a nearby Ford dealership. As Smith's father did not approve of his musical interests as a child, his first job was mowing a neighbor's lawn every week in order to be able to afford to pay for piano lessons on his own. Education and early career After graduating as valedictorian from Corning High School in 1968, Smith attended Harding University, where he graduated with a B.A. in music in 1972. Sm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonesboro, Arkansas
Jonesboro is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 78,576 and is the fifth-largest city in Arkansas. In 2020, the Jonesboro metropolitan area had a population of 133,860 and a population of 179,932 in the Jonesboro-Paragould Combined Statistical Area. Jonesboro is the home of Arkansas State University and is the cultural and economic center of Northeast Arkansas. History The Jonesboro area was first inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. At the time of European encounter, historic tribes included the Osage, the Caddo, and the Quapaw. The name of the state of Arkansas comes from the Quapaw language. French and Spanish traders and trappers had relations with these groups. After the United States acquired this territory in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, American settlers eventually made ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corning High School (Arkansas)
Corning High School is an accredited comprehensive public high school serving students in grades seven through twelve in the rural community of Corning, Arkansas, United States. It is one of three public high schools located in Clay County and serves the Clay and Randolph County communities of Corning, Biggers, Reyno, Maynard, Peach Orchard, Datto, Lafe, Rector, Knobel, Success, Pollard, and McDougal. With more than 200 students, it is the sole high school in Corning School District. Academics The school is accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). The assumed course of study follows the Smart Core curriculum developed by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), which requires students to complete at least 24 credit units before graduation. Students engage in regular (core) and career focus courses and exams and may select Advanced Placement (AP) coursework and exams that may lead to college credit. Athletics The Corning High School mascot and ath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voice (phonetics)
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts: *Voicing can refer to the ''articulatory process'' in which the vocal folds vibrate, its primary use in phonetics to describe phones, which are particular speech sounds. *It can also refer to a classification of speech sounds that tend to be associated with vocal cord vibration but may not actually be voiced at the articulatory level. That is the term's primary use in phonology: to describe phonemes; while in phonetics its primary use is to describe phones. For example, voicing accounts for the difference between the pair of sounds associated with the English letters "s" and "z". The two sounds are transcribed as and to distinguish them from the English letters, which have several possible pronunciations, depe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phonation
The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, ''phonation'' is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology and speech production in general. Phoneticians in other subfields, such as linguistic phonetics, call this process '' voicing'', and use the term ''phonation'' to refer to any oscillatory state of any part of the larynx that modifies the airstream, of which voicing is just one example. Voiceless and supra-glottal phonations are included under this definition. Voicing The phonatory process, or voicing, occurs when air is expelled from the lungs through the glottis, creating a pressure drop across the larynx. When this drop becomes sufficiently large, the vocal folds start to oscillate. The minimum pressure drop required to achieve phonation is called the phonation threshold ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vocalise
A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises meant to prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use. There is very little scientific data about the benefits of vocal warm-ups. Relatively few studies have researched the effects of thesexerciseson muscle function and even fewer have studied their effect on singing-specific outcomes. Description Vocal warm-ups are intended to accomplish five things: a physical whole-body warm-up, preparing the breath, preparing the articulators and resonators, moving from the spoken register to the singing register (or an extended spoken register for acting), and preparing for the material that is going to be rehearsed or performed. Physical whole-body warm-ups help prepare a singer or actor's body in many ways. Muscles all over the body are used when singing/acting. Stretching helps to activate and prepare the large muscle groups that take care of balance and posture, and the smaller muscle groups that are directly involved with breathing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Owens (bass-baritone)
Eric Owens (born July 11, 1970) is an American operatic bass-baritone. He has performed both in new works and reinterpreted classic repertoire. In 1996 he won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Life and career Born in Philadelphia, Owens began studying the piano at the age of 6 at the Settlement Music School. In junior high school his interest shifted to the oboe and he began studying the oboe at the Settlement Music School with English-horn player Louis Rosenblatt of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He later continued his oboe studies with Laura Ahlbeck, a second oboe in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, while attending Central High School in Philadelphia. During his senior year at Central High, he entered the pre-college program at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance where he began studying singing seriously with George Massey. He matriculated to Temple as a Freshman in 1989 and earned a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the school in 1993 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Mulligan
Brian Mulligan is an American operatic baritone who has performed in major opera houses and concert halls all over the world. Mulligan's diverse repertoire currently includes over 60 roles in seven languages. He regularly performs the standard works of Puccini, Verdi, and Wagner, yet also sings the music of living composers such as John Adams, Dominick Argento, and Gregory Spears. In September 2018, ''The Washington Post'' wrote "Mulligan is a big man with a big voice. His baritone is almost embarrassingly rich in its low and middle registers, with a high range and head voice of bell-like purity. His diction is flawless. Most importantly, he imbues every syllable with unmistakable meaning and purpose." Early life and education Born in Endicott, New York, Mulligan has two younger brothers and was raised in an Irish Catholic home. His parents were born in Ireland, which allowed Mulligan to be granted dual citizenship with the United States and Ireland. Mulligan studied voice at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rod Gilfry
Rodney Gilfry is a leading American operatic baritone. After launching his career at Frankfurt Opera in 1987, Gilfry quickly established a reputation for stylish singing and acting. A renowned Mozart specialist, he has given acclaimed performances as Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva, Guglielmo, and Papageno, and is also known for his work in roles from the standard baritone repertoire ( Pelléas, Valentin, Orestes, Belcore, Billy Budd). Early years and training Rod Gilfry was born 11 March 1959 in Covina, California, and grew up in West Covina and Claremont. He received a bachelor's degree in music education from Cal State Fullerton and a master's degree in voice from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California. He studied at the Music Academy of the West with Martial Singher with whom he also studied privately for six years. In 1999 he sought further refinement of his technique and studied in Manhattan with Armen Boyajian, teacher of Samuel Rame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joyce DiDonato
Joyce DiDonato (née Flaherty; born February 13, 1969) is an American lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano. She is notable for her interpretations of operas and concert works in the 19th-century romantic era in addition to works by Handel and Mozart. She has performed with many of the world's leading opera companies and orchestras, and won multiple awards including the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo. Early life and education Joyce Flaherty was born in Prairie Village, Kansas in 1969, the sixth of seven children in an Irish-American family. Her father, Donald, was a self-employed architect who designed houses in the area. One of her sisters, Amy Hetherington, was a music teacher at St. Ann Catholic School, which Joyce and her siblings attended. She later went to Bishop Miege High School where she sang in musicals. She entered Wichita State University (WSU) in 1988 to study vocal music education, because she was initially more interested in teaching high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christine Brewer
Christine Brewer (born October 26, 1955) is an American soprano opera singer. Biography Brewer grew up in the Mississippi River town of Grand Tower, Illinois. She attended McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois and concentrated on music education. She was a music teacher for several years before embarking on a professional music performing career. She began her career in St. Louis, Missouri with the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus. She auditioned in 1981 for the chorus of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL), in the start of her career in opera. Her first OTSL work was in the chorus of " The Beggars Opera" in 1982. Her first major role with OTSL was as Ellen Orford in ''Peter Grimes'' in 1990. In 1989, she participated in a masterclass with Birgit Nilsson, and was one of the 10 winners of the National Council auditions sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. While her daughter Elisabeth was in school during the academic year, Brewer deliberately limited her work in staged opera pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elite drama, music, and dance schools in the world. History Early years: 1905-1946 In 1905, the Institute of Musical Art, Juilliard's predecessor institution, was founded by Frank Damrosch, the godson of Franz Liszt and head of music education for New York City's public schools, on the premise that the United States did not have a premier music school and too many students were going to Europe to study music. In 1919, a wealthy textile merchant named Augustus Juilliard died and left the school in his will the largest single bequest for the advancement of music at that time. In 1968, the school's name was changed from the Juilliard School of Music to The Juilliard School to reflect its broadened mission to educate musicians, directors, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is an American opera company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and three local Houstonians,Giesberg, Robert I., Carl Cunningham, and Alan Rich. ''Houston Grand Opera at 50.'' Houston: Herring Press, 2005, p. 83. the company is resident at the Wortham Theater Center. In its history, the company has received a Tony Award, two Grammy Awards, and three Emmy Awards, the only opera company in the world to win these three honours. Houston Grand Opera is supported by an active auxiliary organization, the Houston Grand Opera Guild, established in October 1955. __TOC__ History In 1955, the German-born impresario Walter Herbert and Houstonians Elva Lobit, Edward Bing, and Charles Cockrell founded the company. Its inaugural season featured two performances of two operas, ''Salome'' (starring Brenda Lewis in the title role) and ''Madama Butterfly''. David Gockley succeeded Walter Herbert as general director in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
