Category Archives: Concentration

Roles Singers Play

Posted on August 26, 2019 by

When I started out singing opera professionally, I had some very naïve views of ‘the business’. One of them was that if you sang well, you’d be a success. Simply by the fact, in opera, that you had a bella … Continue reading →

Posted in Archetypes, Authenticity, Coaching, Communication, Concentration, Creativity, Gesang, Gesangslehrer, Gesangspädagogik, Mental Training, Mind, Mind-Body, NLP, Performance Training, Potential, Presence, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hold on! Let go! Task Positive and Task Negative.

Posted on October 6, 2016 by

I can remember it as if it were yesterday; puberty and that feeling of longing. I had to get a girlfriend. It completely occupied my daytime and nighttime thinking. There was something about this extraordinary, hormone-induced longing which sent out … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Coaching, Concentration, Congruence, Creativity, Inner Game, Mental Training, Mind-Body, Performance Training, Teaching, Work/Life Balance | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Tool or Crutch? Support, Independence and Integration in Singing.

Posted on January 24, 2016 by

Remember when you learned to ride a bicycle? You either had “training-wheels” or your father ran alongside you, holding the bike steady. How long were these tools necessary before the wheels came off or dad faded smiling in the distance? … Continue reading →

Posted in Anatomie, Authenticity, Coaching, Concentration, Congruence, Creativity, Emotional Intelligence, Gesang, Gesangspädagogik, Kommunikation, Lessons, Music, Musik, Oper, Opera, Pedagogy, Performance, Performance Training, Presence, Teaching, Vocal Pedagogy, Voice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

LOOKING FORWARD The Virtues of Anticipation

Posted on March 11, 2015 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden I love looking forward to things. There’s something so sweet and grand about somehow being fully in the here and now and, at the same time, tasting a future event fully. There’s something about that … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Authenticity, Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Emotional Intelligence, Fitness | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Performer’s Presence: Congruence, Dissociation and Double-Dissociation

Posted on February 11, 2015 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden A former Zen monk once told me the following story; “Three students stood on a mountain top. The first said: ‘I wish I were a bird. I could fly over the mountains.’ The second said: … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Concentration, Learning, Presence, Singing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Optimism, Pessimism, the Pursuit of ‘Happiness’ and our own Slice of ‘Reality’

Posted on June 13, 2014 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden I’ve always found Freud’s idea of “The Pleasure Principle” fascinating. When I watch myself and those I know make choices over and over and over again, which by any reasonable standards would be considered antithetical … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Emotional Intelligence, Focus, Harmonie, Intelligence, Mental Training, Self Expression, Stillness | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick-and-Dirty vs. Slow-and-Detailed

Posted on March 27, 2014 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden As we all know, there are COUNTLESS ways to perceive “Reality”. One thing’s for sure; how we perceive “Reality” determines both how we feel and how we behave. I’m sure you’ve also noticed that it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Emotional Intelligence, Focus, Inner Game, Intelligence, Mind, Mind-Body, NLP, Presence, Thinking | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Motility and Mobility

Posted on March 11, 2014 by

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden It’s always been a particular fascination of mine how singers move. The raised shoulders, the furrowed eyebrows, the tensed upper lip, the pelvic wave all have both an emotional expression AND a very specific technical, … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Breath, Breathing, Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Fitness, Lessons, Mental Training, Mind-Body, Opera, Pedagogy, Performance, Self Expression, Singing, Speaking, Stillness, Voice | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

focus Focus FOCUS F O C U S

Posted on October 10, 2013 by

Evan Bortnick   http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden I’ve long asked myself what people mean exactly when they use this word. It came up in a seminar recently. One of the participants was asking herself the same question out loud. It came up … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Authenticity, Communication, Concentration, Congruence, Emotional Intelligence, Focus, Harmonie, Intelligence, Listening, Presence, Public Speaking, Self Expression, Singing, Speaking, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Forest for the Trees…

Posted on October 7, 2013 by

Evan Bortnick   http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden One of my very favorite subjects AND NOT ONLY IN SINGING is the play between Simplicity and Complexity!!!!!  These are both relative terms, of course. Saying something is complex or to keep something simple is … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Audition, Authenticity, Concentration, Fitness, Lessons, Listening, Mental Training, Music, Opera, Pedagogy, Performance, Self Expression, Singing, Teaching, Voice | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment