Category Archives: Performance Training

Roles Singers Play

Posted on August 26, 2019 by evanb54

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 evanb54

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

Thermals. A Metaphor for “Ease” in Singing and in Life.

Posted on July 21, 2016 by evanb54

I doubt if there’s anyone who would deny that life is hard, at least sometimes. Yet these same individuals will also doubtlessly admit that on some hours, on some days, things flow with ease. One of my voice teachers, one … Continue reading →

Posted in Authenticity, Coaching, Creativity, Emotional Intelligence, Gesang, Gesangslehrer, Gesangspädagogik, Inner Game, Learning, Mental Training, Mind-Body, Pedagogy, Performance, Performance Training, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Caffeinated Calmness

Posted on May 17, 2016 by evanb54

You know that feeling of being charged up, ready for action, batteries all at 100%, yet at the same time feeling a profound inner stillness? In younger years, I thought the two states were mutually exclusive. Lately I’ve been experiencing … Continue reading →

Posted in Audition, Authenticity, Coaching, Creativity, Ecstasy, Ecstatic Living, Gesang, Gesangslehrer, Gesangspädagogik, Lessons, Mental Training, Mind-Body, Music, Oper, Opera, Performance, Performance Training, Singing, State, Stillness, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Cheerleader Effect

Posted on March 26, 2016 by evanb54

Who is the “Cheerleader” in your life? Do you have more than one? Are you thinking; why should I even need one? We get criticism from others and from groups, for some of us, it’s almost constant. Wouldn’t you say, … Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Communication, Creativity, Emotional Intelligence, Enthusiasm, Gesang, Gesangslehrer, Gesangspädagogik, Learning, Lehren, Lehrer, Lessons, Music, Pedagogy, Performance Training, Stimme | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted on January 24, 2016 by evanb54

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

Games Voice Students Play — Past Teachers’ Failure

Posted on August 21, 2014 by evanb54

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden I’ve been noticing lately an increasing tendency, in blogs, in facebook and on singing/teaching sites in general, towards indignantly commenting about how many ‘bad’ voice teachers there are out there. This tendency seems emphasized by … Continue reading →

Posted in Audition, Authenticity, Congruence, Emotional Intelligence, Lessons, Music, Opera, Pedagogy, Performance, Performance Training, Presence, Singing, Teaching, Voice | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Prescribing the Symptom” in the Voice Lesson

Posted on February 23, 2014 by evanb54

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden A voice student begins singing in a lesson and you hear an OBVIOUS mistake, hindrance, inefficiency or blockage (nasality, jaw tension, tongue tension, over-darkened vowels, raised shoulders, high larynx, etc. etc.). What’s the next step? … Continue reading →

Posted in Anatomie, Art, Authenticity, Communication, Music, Pedagogy, Performance Training, Presence, Singing, Teaching, Voice | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Different Cosmos – The Music of the Spheres

Posted on November 17, 2013 by evanb54

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden Two quite intense weeks of courses in U. Weimar are over and done. First week was “Performance Training” and the second “Mental Training”. A young accordionist gave me yet another opportunity to be astounded. I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Archetypes, Art, Astrology, Audition, Class, Fitness, Inner Game, Instrument, Lessons, Mental Training, Music, Mythology, NLP, Performance, Performance Training, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

„PRESENCE“

Posted on November 14, 2013 by evanb54

Evan Bortnick       http://musa-vocalis.de/ Gesangsunterricht Wiesbaden Stage presence is a term I’ve heard since my first days on the stage. I always found it palpable as a phenomenon, yet almost impossible to describe. Is it possible to ‘teach’ it? Is it … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Astrology, Audition, Class, Fitness, Harmonie, Inner Game, Instrument, Lessons, Mental Training, Music, NLP, Pedagogy, Performance, Performance Training, Presence, Singing, Teaching, Voice | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment