Author: heidivass

Why are you here?  It’s a question I ask every potential client and one that I return to over and over again. A lot of people sing, but it takes an extra level of dedication to decide to really train and study voice. The reasons for making this commitment are many. Some are seeking to… Continue reading The existential question…

Classical singers have the wonderful task of not just marrying text and music, but doing so in many languages. The mark of a studied singer is often her ease with shifting between any number of languages – mostly European. It was even a joke in my undergrad that in order to have permission to correctly… Continue reading Watch your mouth.

“What I have achieved by industry and practice, anyone else with tolerable natural gift and ability can also achieve.”  ― J. S. Bach Industry and practice. For Bach and for many, it comes down to those basic concepts. I would add a third element – environment.  If you want to create beauty you have to immerse… Continue reading Practice, a state of being.

Virtuosity consists in seeing, hearing in advance everything that we perform with ease.  – Lamperti The greatest concepts are those that scale – an idea that when applied to the smallest of details also works when you pull the zoom out and see the bigger picture. One of these concepts that I come to over… Continue reading Ready, Aim, Fire

Among other gems my undergraduate voice teacher, Lindsey Christiansen, once remarked that “if you finish your bachelor’s degree having mastered your breath, that was four years well spent at the conservatory” – An odd remark considering the breadth and depth of a singers’ technical training in such prestigious institutions. Years later, as with many of… Continue reading Just breathe…a fitting place to start.