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Showing posts from November, 2025

If It Happens; Indie Production and The Graveyard of Creativity

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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; What they Don't Teach you in Music School...

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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...