I will be singing at the RAC Club next week at a charity event for Muscle Dreams. This is a charity run by a very inspirational man called Michael McGrath who suffers from Muscular Dystrophy but has been to both the north and south poles. The event attracts a wide range of people interested in supporting the charity and the evening will be hosted by Lorraine Kelly. There will be an auction as part of the evening with former England cricketer Chris Cowdrey the auctioneer. There will be many lots including the chance to have The Romantic Tenor to come and sing at your event!
The repertoire I have been asked to sing are Christmas carols so I have been working through what backing music I have. O holy night is one of my favourites and of course the usual Silent Night, Away in a manger, Ding! Dong! merrily on high will feature.
I will be offering my CD for sale at the event with 50% of sales going to the charity. I will need to put together some publicity to display at the venue so will find my best picture! I find that my CD's sell best at events as most people download music now so as my CD is on itunes that is where the sales go.
I will be practicing my carols today and over the weekend in anticipation of the event on Tuesday. It feels a bit strange to sing festive pieces in November but pleasant all the same as I will be singing them for a few more weeks yet!
If you are interested in coming the event is being held at the RAC Club in Pall Mall next Tuesday from 6.15pm.
Friday, 12 November 2010
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Getting onto agency websites
Getting work as a singer is more of an art than a science. With all those musicians out there you need someone to create the opportunity to provide music for whatever event or occasion you can find or create. Music in my experience adds so much to these moments adding and enhancing the atmosphere as it communciates at a very basic level.
I work with my wife Susan in creating opportunities through our musicians agency Viva Live Music and we have worked hard in developing contacts and opportunities. I realised that as the Romantic Tenor I needed to get onto other agencies who may be our competitors but also may work in areas we don't.
Websites are the order of the day to promote yourself so I have been surfing the net to find good quality music agencies who might benefit from my high quality music and performance. This has been quite interesting as quite a few have websites that look out of date now and are quite difficult to get round. Generally they want an e mail with some information from you so I have been putting a package together ready to go.
My recent performing has been at some prestigious venues and for well known clients so hopefully they will recognise my quality but lets wait and see.
The good news is that there appears to be very few tenors who promote themselves like this so I should appeal as a new slightly different act.
Well back to my packaging and I will post the results of my work on my blog in the future.
Neil
I work with my wife Susan in creating opportunities through our musicians agency Viva Live Music and we have worked hard in developing contacts and opportunities. I realised that as the Romantic Tenor I needed to get onto other agencies who may be our competitors but also may work in areas we don't.
Websites are the order of the day to promote yourself so I have been surfing the net to find good quality music agencies who might benefit from my high quality music and performance. This has been quite interesting as quite a few have websites that look out of date now and are quite difficult to get round. Generally they want an e mail with some information from you so I have been putting a package together ready to go.
My recent performing has been at some prestigious venues and for well known clients so hopefully they will recognise my quality but lets wait and see.
The good news is that there appears to be very few tenors who promote themselves like this so I should appeal as a new slightly different act.
Well back to my packaging and I will post the results of my work on my blog in the future.
Neil
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Singing Lessons
This can be an emotive subject for singers. Having lessons is like bearing your soul sometimes. Your voice is very much connected to your emotional state and when expressed will often reflect how you are at any particular time.
The right singing teacher for you is hard to find. I have been very lucky over the last five years in working with Marie Mclaughlin. She has had a very successful singing career performing in all the top Opera houses in the world. She is a truly inspiring person and teacher with a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the voice. She also has perhaps the most important aspect of a singing teacher - good ears!
I see Marie when I can and when she is available. She still sings around the world working on her career so a lesson is very important when she is available. I am of the view that I would not be doing this without Marie's encouragement and confidence in me and also the occasional kick in the backside I often deserve.
In lessons we spend time warming the voice up through exercises and then move on to repertoire I am currently learning or performing. Marie also helped a great deal in the CD recording I released recently especially when working out what needed to be improved.
The development of the voice, especially the tenor voice does take time and I have been studying with Marie for five years. I now find that my voice is really beginning to work and this is born out in the reaction I get to my performances which is mostly very positive. There is so much to coordinate when singing and it takes time for the body to develop to the right place.
As my voice has developed so has the repertoire. My voice is essentially a lyric tenor but it is quite a heavy sound which does cause some excitement. I can sing some of the bigger repertoire requiring good sound and long phrases which gives me great satisfaction.
I continue to develop my Romantic Tenor repertoire and have an event which will mainly have songs from musicals in December which is great fun. I am also working on four operatic pieces for auditions which I hope to undertake next year. This includes Italian, French, Russian and English. Languages were not my strong point at school but I am learning!
The right singing teacher for you is hard to find. I have been very lucky over the last five years in working with Marie Mclaughlin. She has had a very successful singing career performing in all the top Opera houses in the world. She is a truly inspiring person and teacher with a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the voice. She also has perhaps the most important aspect of a singing teacher - good ears!
I see Marie when I can and when she is available. She still sings around the world working on her career so a lesson is very important when she is available. I am of the view that I would not be doing this without Marie's encouragement and confidence in me and also the occasional kick in the backside I often deserve.
In lessons we spend time warming the voice up through exercises and then move on to repertoire I am currently learning or performing. Marie also helped a great deal in the CD recording I released recently especially when working out what needed to be improved.
The development of the voice, especially the tenor voice does take time and I have been studying with Marie for five years. I now find that my voice is really beginning to work and this is born out in the reaction I get to my performances which is mostly very positive. There is so much to coordinate when singing and it takes time for the body to develop to the right place.
As my voice has developed so has the repertoire. My voice is essentially a lyric tenor but it is quite a heavy sound which does cause some excitement. I can sing some of the bigger repertoire requiring good sound and long phrases which gives me great satisfaction.
I continue to develop my Romantic Tenor repertoire and have an event which will mainly have songs from musicals in December which is great fun. I am also working on four operatic pieces for auditions which I hope to undertake next year. This includes Italian, French, Russian and English. Languages were not my strong point at school but I am learning!
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
The Romantic Tenor on Woman's Hour
I was fortunate enough to be heard by a radio producer at a charity event in November 2009. She was intrigued by my story of two careers and was very complimentary about my voice. She rang me the next day and said she would try and fit me into one of her programs on radio 4. I didn't hear from her again for some time and then she let me know that the program she had in mind did not quite fit my story.
I heard from her again in September this year and we discussed the fact that my singing career was taking over from the chartered surveying. She put me forward for an episode of Woman's Hour based on career change. I was then contacted by another lady who produces for Woman's Hour. She was very interested in where I was in my life and we discussed the difficulties in changing career mid life. I was her favourite man for her show she said but was up against a few others.
Well a few days before it was confirmed I was on (I subsequently found out that I was up against a solicitor who had become a stand up comedian). I arrived quite early at Broadcasting House and was taken up to the Green Room. I met the other two guests who were to be on the show Martha who had lost her job in publishing and was now studying at Oxford, myself and Blaire a life coach. We had a chat about what we were going to say with the producer and then Jane Garvey creeped in to introduce herself.
Radio is so informal and I seemed to be overdressed in my romantic tenor suit and tie (jeans were the order of the day). We moved into the studio for a sound check and then off we went. What the audience don't see is that two other contributors to the show were in other BBC studio's round the country and there was a long pre recorded piece. Jane did a professional job of linking the themes and asking the questions. I sat there as focused as I could be on what I wanted to say and to ensure I mentioned the Romantic Tenor and Viva Live Music!
Well 45 minutes went very quickly and I got three opportunities to talk which went very well. We were then saying our goodbyes and straight out of the studio onto the street! I walked down to the tube with Blaire as we reflected on the discussion and how enjoyable but brief the experience was.
For those who want to listen to the program you can find it on the BBC website for 19th October Woman's Hour. Or go to my website and find it on the latest news page.
I heard from her again in September this year and we discussed the fact that my singing career was taking over from the chartered surveying. She put me forward for an episode of Woman's Hour based on career change. I was then contacted by another lady who produces for Woman's Hour. She was very interested in where I was in my life and we discussed the difficulties in changing career mid life. I was her favourite man for her show she said but was up against a few others.
Well a few days before it was confirmed I was on (I subsequently found out that I was up against a solicitor who had become a stand up comedian). I arrived quite early at Broadcasting House and was taken up to the Green Room. I met the other two guests who were to be on the show Martha who had lost her job in publishing and was now studying at Oxford, myself and Blaire a life coach. We had a chat about what we were going to say with the producer and then Jane Garvey creeped in to introduce herself.
Radio is so informal and I seemed to be overdressed in my romantic tenor suit and tie (jeans were the order of the day). We moved into the studio for a sound check and then off we went. What the audience don't see is that two other contributors to the show were in other BBC studio's round the country and there was a long pre recorded piece. Jane did a professional job of linking the themes and asking the questions. I sat there as focused as I could be on what I wanted to say and to ensure I mentioned the Romantic Tenor and Viva Live Music!
Well 45 minutes went very quickly and I got three opportunities to talk which went very well. We were then saying our goodbyes and straight out of the studio onto the street! I walked down to the tube with Blaire as we reflected on the discussion and how enjoyable but brief the experience was.
For those who want to listen to the program you can find it on the BBC website for 19th October Woman's Hour. Or go to my website and find it on the latest news page.
Monday, 8 November 2010
Good to be back
Well I have not blogged for sometime and now I have the time will be adding news and interesting information on the Romantic Tenor on a regular basis.
For those who don't know I was on radio 4 recently on Woman's Hour discussing the difficulties of changing career. This is very real for me as I have no work in my other career as a chartered surveyor in local government going on now.
I am stepping up my profile as the Romantic Tenor and also creating more opportunities to sing. I am also working more closely with my wife Susan on Viva Live Music our musicians agency.
I hope you find my blogs interesting.
Neil
For those who don't know I was on radio 4 recently on Woman's Hour discussing the difficulties of changing career. This is very real for me as I have no work in my other career as a chartered surveyor in local government going on now.
I am stepping up my profile as the Romantic Tenor and also creating more opportunities to sing. I am also working more closely with my wife Susan on Viva Live Music our musicians agency.
I hope you find my blogs interesting.
Neil
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