Foreboding nuns, angry witches and other fun stuff in opera

June 2014

On November 21 and 22, I'm singing the lead role of Madame de Croissy (Contralto) in Opera Sacra's production ofDialogues des carmélites (in English). This kicks off their 40th Anniversary year; Carmelites was Opera Sacra's first production 40 years ago, so I'm proud to be a part of this great event -- one of my favorite composers no less! UPDATE: I'm no longer singing Friday 26th September for The Opera Foundation of Buffalo, Inc's Fall Spanish-themed concert. Please go and support this wonderful group!

And for my third Lecture during National Opera Week for OperaBuffs of WNY? I'm presenting on portrayals of witchcraft, magic and folk religions in opera; and singing arias from Ulrica, Dido's Sorceress, and Carmen reading the tarot cards. A good thing for the morning after Halloween... see you there, Wayward Sisters.

TV DOCUMENTARY ~ another life's dream come true

April 2012

Biggest, best news EVER! I've been approached by Minerva Media, a Manchester-based production company, to be the main Presenter/ Host for a documentary about the experiences of Medieval female mystics! This is precisely what my MA research at Harvard was about, and the documentary, which will film all over the world over the next few years, will air on the top network in the UK. We'll explore mystics like Margery of Kempe, Angela of Foligno and more, especially in light of the erotic nature of their experiences. Jean-Claude Bragard, the creative director of Minerva, worked at the BBC for many years and produced some of their most important documentaries. This is BEYOND exciting!!! We start filming the short taster version this summer and fall, fully funded by the TV network...

Another Paper Accepted!

June 2010

Another paper proposal has been accepted for an academic conference; this one is "Collaborations in Practice Led Research," for the University of Leeds and the Royal Musical Association Postgraduate Study Day in late October. I willco-present this Lecture-Demo with composer Emily Kalies, including a performance of noitcelfeRReflection in "Reflecting on Reflection: Examining the Composer-Performer Partnership."

Paper Accepted for Conference

May 2010

My paper proposal on my dissertation topic was just accepted by the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Music Network, a study group of the RMA based at Oxford. I will give the talk in late September 2010 at the conference Re-examining the Transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque, about which you can find more information here.

Centre for Lifelong Learning

April 2010

I was just hired by the Centre for LifeLong Learning at the University of York to teach a class, Spring Term 2011. This will be a version of a course I taught in the States called Sacred Musics of the World.

RMA post

January 2010

I am happy to say that I have been elected the new Student Representative on the Council of the Royal Musical Association. Two students hold this position in the entire UK, and in my first year of the appointment, I will sit on the Publications Committee, and contribute to the RMA Journal. This came on the heels of the very successful Students' Research Conference of the RMA hosted by University of York PostGrads in early 2010. Learn more about the RMA here.

Research Network

December 2009

I've just been asked to join a research network for scholars interested in Late Renaissance / Early Baroque music by colleagues at Oxford. We're planning a study day and conference in Oxford sometime in 2010...

Research Update

May 2009

Sailing through The Cambridge Companion to Monteverdi by John Whenham and Richard Wistreich (2008, page 11), I read a paragraph which jumped off the page at me and made me whoop with job. It directly pertains to and necessitates the topic of my dissertation, and I think this is the most beautiful set of sentences I've read in a long time: "Again, Monteverdi is one of the earliest composers for whom we are tempted to associate the steps in his musical development with three rather neat geographical locations -- Cremona (1567 - 90), Mantua (1590 - 1612), and Venice (1613 - 43) -- and link them to his early, middle and late styles on the nineteenth-century 'progressive trajectory' model established for Bach (Weimar, Cothen, Leipzig), Mozart (Salzburg, Italy, Vienna) and other composers. Those who do not quite fit the style-place development model seem to have a harder time fixing themselves in our historical consciousness, no matter how talented. Among Monteverdi's contemporaries, Luca Marenzio and Sigismondo d'India may particularly have fallen into this historiographical trap, as is evidenced by their rather poor showing in the present performing and recording arenas."