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The Show Must Go On...And Then What?     Lucia's hard day at work.  D ecember is my favourite month of the year. My heart practically glows when I hear Christmas carols (or songs that are suspiciously similar but not enough to trigger copyright lawsuits). And the lights on people’s houses? Immediate serotonin. Plus, in Canadian work culture, once we hit December 20th, everyone who isn’t an essential worker collectively agrees to do the bare minimum necessary to avoid being fired. If anyone complains, the official response is: “Cheer up, fool — it’s Christmas.” And then, of course, it’s my birthday month . Every couple of years I end up performing on my actual birthday, and I almost always get a wonderfully chaotic “Happy Birthday” from my colleagues — sometimes even the audience joins in. The most memorable? Counterpoint Orchestra’s Don We Now Our Gay Apparel concert in 2015. Yes. Ten years ago.       Cantabile Chamber Singers.  That concert was t...

Begging Wednesday and Festivus for the rest of us!  Babushka Mode activated.  So much to do and so little time! I, like 90% of musicians, have once again found myself in the chaotic wonderland that is holiday gig season. It looks different every year, and luckily for me this time around I’ve got a nice mix of concerts and a bit of time to actually see my family. This year, I’m taking it easier. I’ve decided that singing outside is officially for the young and ambitious. I have paid enough dues, thank you very much. I sang outdoors for a Remembrance Day Ceremony and then spent the entire rest of the week trying to warm up. I even pulled out the winter gear early, all proud of myself—and yet the cold still got me. So here I am with some caroling, four concert gigs (Burlington, Hamilton, and Cambridge), and—of course—a partridge in a pear tree. My most loathsome carol. My personal purgatory is never actually arriving at “Five Golden Rings.” Caroling: The Good, the Bad and t...

If It Happens Indie Productions and the Graveyard of Creativity My one rep max at Krka Falls, Croatia 2019 I was telling a colleague about an exciting concert idea I had, and he responded with: “If it happens.” He’s incredibly sweet and absolutely didn’t mean to hurt my feelings — but oof. It stung. There’s something about that phrase that feels like a tiny shove back into reality. I’ve produced four recitals and three operas in my lifetime, and if I had even a modest abundance of cash , I would produce constantly. My brain is a nonstop hamster wheel of ideas. But money and time? Fleeting. Laughably fleeting. Because I don’t have the capital, the cycle goes like this: I get excited → I get embarrassed I can’t afford it → the idea dies → I mourn for a few days → and finally, I lay it to rest in my ever-growing graveyard of creativity . The Delulu Chronicles Post Performance of Lucia Di Lammermoor with Southern Ontario Lyric Opera 2025.  People love to imagine the singer pipeline ...

Bureaucracy and the Art of Screaming Beautifully Part 1.  On what they don’t teach you in music school, and why they probably should. Convocation 2014 Myself with Nicole Malcom. They should really be teaching this in music school.    I will never forget the first time I heard the phrase, “They should really be teaching this in music school.” It was spoken by my high school choir teacher, Maria Riedstra , during one of our independent study performance classes. She had hired a pianist to accompany us and was explaining how to properly bill the school board for their services—via invoice.      Looking back, we were incredibly lucky. Preparing a song with a live pianist in high school was a rare gift, especially in a Toronto public school. Most singing students only get that chance at a biannual recital through a private studio—if at all—before university. And since most teachers who prep students for post-secondary voice programs don’t start until around si...

Love, Lies, and Public Humiliation: Mozart’s Meanest Joke What Even Was That Last Week? And boy, has it been busy. During this production period, I’ve been keeping my regular Monday-through-Thursday teaching hours—and wow, has it been tough. I’ve done six-day weeks before, but it’s so easy to burn out after about three. My Wednesdays have been especially brutal: twelve-hour days across three separate work locations. Yikes. Luckily, our show goes into the theatre this coming week, and I’ve booked off my other gigs to give the production my full attention. Sitzprobe with our wonderful orchestra:) The cast minus me!  The cast minus Don Alfonso and Guglielmo.  The “Happy Ending” That Really Isn’t This week, our production team has been wrestling with how to end this opera—with that infamous happy ending that really shouldn’t be one. I love Così fan tutte . The music is stunning. But the show is often dismissed as silly because of its obvious disguises and the seemingly light-he...

Make Your Own Garden Grow Before my graduation recital with Nicole Malcom and Amanda Chin at York University. Dear Voice Student, So—you’ve decided to study your passion and perhaps even pursue a career in the arts. Bravo. Choosing to follow your calling, especially one as vulnerable and personal as singing, takes enormous bravery. You are not just entering a profession; you are charting a map in unmarked territory. Every artist becomes, in some way, a cartographer—mapping the landscape of their own path in a career that is as unpredictable as it is rewarding. The arts are strange that way: they’re always changing, yet somehow always the same. In a future post, I’ll dive deeper into the practical side—income streams, the many hats you’ll wear as a musician—but for now, here’s what I believe you truly need to build a career as a singer. Musicianship Good musicianship is your foundation—your compass. This means developing strong ears, solid theory, and a deep understanding of how music w...