Mmmm dreary weather...no wonder Scandinavians are depreesed by it ..

The snow is slowly thawing away her, rendering the streets and pavements lethal under foot and tyre...Because there has not been such a severe winter for eighteen years, the powers that be have not understood that nature is unpredictable - although the weather forecasting agency spends billions a year trying to let us know what to expect. For me, asking an old fisherman, holding his finger out in the wind, or a farmer chewing a straw, usually produces the most accurate assessment ! Modern times....hmmmm.. Today, 09/02/09 Berko was shrouded with dense fog to make it all the more dreary, and I was feeling a little despondent, when the lovely, Remarkable Rosalind (Plowright) called and sounded very lively - which cheered me up immensely - and I obviously sounded 'chirpy' to Ros - 'You always sound as if you're jumping up and down like an electric spark ' she said gleefully !! How wonderful -and I do know that my sparks are of the positive variety, only subdued by negativity, from which I shrink for fear it 'fuses' me - he he hee....Problem is that my very positivity, overenthusiasm and 'jolly hockey sticks' Englishness frightens people to death - well, almost - so keep away from me if you don't want a shock...!! and be prepared to laugh a lot... Rosalind is in the process of rehearsing for a concert of 'Adriana Lecouvrer' with Nellie Miriciou in the title role - wooow, two great Divi - that should prove a performance not to be missed ... I will attend rehearsals, as usual. No point training a person if you don't hear the result....and with Rosalind it's staggeringly impressive....
Always so rewarding being with consmmate artists, and so inspiring. It's quite strange, and I've always experienced it - the result of a production I've created, or an artefact or stage property I've made. When I see it after completion, I sometimes think 'Oh, this is good - I wonder who did it ?...' That's what comes of being a mad cow I suppose .....moooo!! This must equate with the sensations of the performing artist - whilst you're in a character mode - it is not oneself, but the person one is portraying - does anyone else have this experience ? I can never understand why anyone is scared by a conductor - musical, not bus - although some of the maestro whose 'baton I have been under' might well be superior in the latter category......Now that I'm at home for a while, I shall enjoy breathers coming to me here in the Chiltern Hills ......nice.....peaceful.....k..p b.......g...and warm...

The younger generation of singers....catch them in time ...

When I first started 'helping' singers with my quirky (as one 'singing teacher' labelled it ..!) Extended Breathing and Vocal Focus routine, it was found to be most beneficial to more experienced singers, actors, and members of the general public with respiratory and phonation problems, who'd been referred to me by physicians. It all started when I made a remarkable recovery after a devastating fire accident, which 'kippered' my lungs. My instinct invented exercises and procedures which eventually restored the semblance of a lifegiving breathing system - which was great, because that's how I learned the simple process of respiration and I've never looked back !! Over the years I've had some wonderful moments of sheer magic when helping a person enjoy an enhanced quality of life, especially with the voice...whatever their occupation or profession. Much more frequently now, I'm approached by the younger generation who've heard the results of 'Simsonic Ping' and are eager to discover it's secrets....well, there are no secrets to it, just a careful connection and synchronisation of air and body - simple as that - and there's the rub. The most difficult thing to explain is - simplicity - ever tried it ..? Eleanor (Hemmens) a dedicated undergraduate at The University of London, reading English, attended a Master Class given by Rosalind (Plowright) at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and as some of you regular bloggers will know, was the 'baby ' of the class - deemed too young by some members of staff, but Rosalind took her on, sensing a latent talent. We've been breathing regularly since then and Ellie has just been cast as 'Belinda' in Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas', promoted by the music dept.. O.K.? The irony is that Ellie, and the ' Dido', are the only un-trained (or as I see it, unpolluted by 'singing teachers') members of the cast - naughty, naughty Sims.... if you took my hint and viewed Emma (Grimsley) yesterday on You Tube you may agree with me..? Congratulations Ellie, I wish you every success, you truly deserve it for your application, determination and inspiration - my breathers always inspire me - the feeling is mutual. In Stockholm recently, Anna 'la la ' Larsson, winner of the Swedish Opera Magazine 'Artist of the Year 2008', and I enjoyed a very happy, fun session showing Beatrice Orler, a gifted young singer studying at Kulturama, that unconventional "Palace of Creativity" (my title for Eva Haglund's domain) where Anna regularly gives Master Classes - I repeat - 'Catch them in time' and so, k..p b.......g and warm.....

Snow - 'common sense' is rare..

Hello from snowbound Berko (Berkhamsted) England. I've just returned from Sweden ,where the dangers of snow chaos are respected, and I cannot believe the degree of stupidity exercised by people here...O.K., so we don't often have a freeze up, but surely it is obvious that if four teenage girls sit on an old car roof and 'sledge' down a steep slope into a barbed wire fence - it will end in disaster..? Even without the snow to accelerate the descent it would be exceedingly ill advised to try it...so we have a lovely teenage girl very dead...what a waste for want of 'common sense'.... Due to a mild snowfall, thousands of schools were closed, parents had to stay at home to look after them if they couldn't arrange for carers, etc., etc.. The best 'silly story' was that in one town , the gas system was overloaded by central heating systems going at full blast - and failing. So the school management brought in dozens of electric heaters for each teaching area, put them on at full - and blew the town's electricity supply ..hmmmm....the mind boggles....how did homo sapiens survive this long .....just lucky - the secret ingredient for a happy life - luckily I was born lucky, or I wouldn' be around now...The journey to Sweden was frought with mis -communication but - luckily, I was granted several minor miracles - so it all worked out successfully - and how ..!! Breathing with members of the Malmo Symphony Orchestra was extraordinarily spectacular - even I was amazed by a session with Britt, a dolly young flutist - who , in one session, found out how to float a loooong Debussy phrase in 'The girl with the flaxen hair' - so appropraite as that describes Britt !! My time with the Orchestra is one of the most enjoyable I've ever had - all smiles and happiness, and that springs from their gifted Maestro Vassily Sainosky, the distinguished International ( huggable) Russian giant. He 'found' sounds that I've never heard before in the 'Cosi' score - and - he likes (good, as he pointed out !) singers - what a boon. The 'icing on the cake' for me was the evolution of Lisa Larsson, making her 'Fiordiligi' debut...and what a revelation that was/is...!! I always like to hear artists who use the Simsonic Ping routine - and Lisa was pinging away brilliantly - deserving the standing ovation she so rightly drew from the elated audience .... much more to come ..congratulations 'Fiordilisa', your teacher must be truly proud of your achievements.... so please k..p b.......g , all you lovely 'Simsonicpingers'....XXX