I used to be a vegetarian. It wasn’t for health reasons. I chose to become a vegetarian because I felt that killing animals for food was wrong. Once I made the switch to vegetarianism, I found myself consuming copious amounts of cheese. Cheese, glorious cheese. And egg...
When my best friend asked me why I am vegan, it was because he believes that the “why” is the most important part of any mission. I think he may be right about that. I heard another vegan once say “There's no wrong reason to do the right thing,” which is kind of the sh...
1. Do you consume any type of animal product or products tested on animals? This includes but isn’t limited to: the flesh of cows, pigs, chickens, fish, turkeys, rabbits, leather, honey, silk, down, wool, lanolin, milk, butter, eggs, cheese, etc. If no, thank you. You...
But there are also beautiful, truly beautiful things happening. People are helping other people in ways that I didn't think people could anymore. People are finding amazing, creative solutions to...
Last night's performance of "The Rite of Spring" by Igor Stravinsky at Benaroya was amazing. They opened up with Scriabin's "The Poem of Ecstasy" which I had never heard and is now in my heart. A truly dazzling and dynamic work.
The following is an excerpt from a response email to a student after our lesson that included an exercise I call the "Hey Ride." I use the word "bellowing" to describe the sound that one aims to create in this exercise. Even though the word has Middle English origins m...
This is for those practicing instruments of any kind, including the voice.
There are 168 hours in a week. I usually get to see a student for only one of those hours. And although a great lesson can be a liberating experience with lasting benefits (don’t you love those?)...
Highlander: Hans Kirschner is a fully-licensed, fan-fiction short film directed by Andrew Modeen and features my original music. Andrew was a real pleasure to work with. It was clear right from the get-go that we both had that liberating sense of faith in each other's...
[The following is an excerpt from the introduction for my voice class given at the Westlake Dance Center in the fall of 2017, a class which I chose to call "Vocal Unity." I have also attached an unedited video in which I speak at length about the voice. It is, perhaps,...
