National Association of Teachers of Singing
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Member News
Group Therapy
Anja Strauss Performance Classes
Kathryn Harvey
Page Swift
NATS-AA
Pocket Coach
Group Therapy
Anja Strauss Performance Classes
Kathryn Harvey
Page Swift
NATS-AA
Pocket Coach
Group Therapy for Singers Experiencing Psychological Effects of Past Trauma
Co-leaders Grace Johnson, DMA and Linda Ormiston, PhD announce the formation of a therapy group for singers who are coping with or suspect they have had a past sexual trauma that impacts their singing and/or performance. Participants must be aged 18 or older. For additional information please email johnsongmw@yahoo.com or phone 408-472-2029.
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Linda Ormiston is a licensed clinical psychologist. She received her doctorate from Stanford in 1972. Dr. Ormiston has been in private practice since 1981, where she has done significant work with survivors of abuse. In addition, her practice focuses on anxiety; depression; re-writing life’s scripts; and behavioral self-management, including weight management. In 1976, she co-authored Taking Charge of Your Weight and Well-Being, one of the first books using cognitive behavioral techniques. In addition to her private practice, she is a textile artist and has designed and created liturgical vestments for individuals and whole church settings including altar frontals and hangings. In 2002, she was awarded the MDiv from Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
Grace Johnson teaches voice at the Gorin School of Music in Mountain View. An active member of NATS, she has shared her doctoral research, The Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on the Adult Singing Voice, in numerous venues in London and the United States, most recently at the Voice Foundation 2008 Symposium in Philadelphia. She has several articles in press and a children’s book on stage fright (The Little Fish Who was Afraid to Swim) soon to be released. A mezzo-soprano, she specializes in oratorio and art song repertoire. She holds the MM degree in Voice Performance/Pedagogy from The University of North Carolina-Greensboro and DMA degree in Voice Performance from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
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Co-leaders Grace Johnson, DMA and Linda Ormiston, PhD announce the formation of a therapy group for singers who are coping with or suspect they have had a past sexual trauma that impacts their singing and/or performance. Participants must be aged 18 or older. For additional information please email johnsongmw@yahoo.com or phone 408-472-2029.
Linda Ormiston is a licensed clinical psychologist. She received her doctorate from Stanford in 1972. Dr. Ormiston has been in private practice since 1981, where she has done significant work with survivors of abuse. In addition, her practice focuses on anxiety; depression; re-writing life’s scripts; and behavioral self-management, including weight management. In 1976, she co-authored Taking Charge of Your Weight and Well-Being, one of the first books using cognitive behavioral techniques. In addition to her private practice, she is a textile artist and has designed and created liturgical vestments for individuals and whole church settings including altar frontals and hangings. In 2002, she was awarded the MDiv from Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
Grace Johnson teaches voice at the Gorin School of Music in Mountain View. An active member of NATS, she has shared her doctoral research, The Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse on the Adult Singing Voice, in numerous venues in London and the United States, most recently at the Voice Foundation 2008 Symposium in Philadelphia. She has several articles in press and a children’s book on stage fright (The Little Fish Who was Afraid to Swim) soon to be released. A mezzo-soprano, she specializes in oratorio and art song repertoire. She holds the MM degree in Voice Performance/Pedagogy from The University of North Carolina-Greensboro and DMA degree in Voice Performance from Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.
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Anja Strauss Workshops
PERFORMANCE TRAINING - for Singers
Mondays, 7:00-8:30 p.m. / starting September 22, 2008
San Francisco Conservatory of Music / Room 207 / 8 classes, $225
This class will provide a safe environment for singers of all levels to enhance their performance skills. The class will meet weekly and each participant will present a selection of their choice. Students are encouraged to critique each other. We will then work on improving stage presence, incl. introducing yourself and your repertoire.
Covered topics will include:
• Stage presence
• Body language and acting tools (How to get into character)
• Musical interpretation and execution
• Breaking down the formal barrier between performer and audience
• Auditioning
Prerequisites: Open to singers of all levels; age 16 and older
GERMAN LIED PERFORMANCE - for Singers and Pianists
Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m. / starting September 17, 2008
San Francisco Conservatory of Music / Room C07 / 10 classes, $365
This class - taught by a native German singer - serves as a hands-on approach to the preparation of German Lied/art song repertoire. This fall the main focus will be on the composers Schubert and Brahms. Students will work on song repertoire that can be found at SFCM's library. Students are expected to prepare assigned song selections on their own, and all songs will be performed and discussed in class. This class will conclude with a public recital.
Covered topics will include:
• German Diction for non-German speakers
• History and background of discussed composers and poets
• Tools for translation/interpretation of German poetry
• Musical interpretation and execution
• The singer-pianist relationship
• How to plan a recital
• Breaking down the formal barrier between performer and audience
Prerequisites: Open to intermediate/advanced singers and pianists
Info and Registration:
San Francisco Conservatory of Music - Adult Extension
50 Oak St. San Francisco, CA 94102 phone 415.503.6229
www.sfcm.edu/prep_adultdivisions/prep_adultextension.aspx
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Kathryn Harvey
May 14, 1909 – April 2, 2008
A regaled soprano at European Opera houses and treasured mentor of Bay Area singers, Kathryn Harvey has died, just short of her 99th birthday.
Having devoted herself to music since childhood in Oconto, Wisconsin, Lyla Kathryn Harvey earned a degree from Northwestern University in composition, conducting, and voice, and conducted the Chicago Symphony in a performance of her composition. Launching her singing career in New York City, she got important exposure at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and sang under such notables as Toscanini and Bruno Walter.
With her lyric, coloratura versatility and dramatic flair, Kathryn mastered 100 operatic roles, singing throughout northern Europe for some 30 years. Primary tenures were at Zurich, Frankfort, Nurnberg, and Munich, also Paris and Covent Garden, where she sang under Kleiber and Klemperer. She also performed regularly in oratorio and lieder, taught at the State Conservatory in Nurnberg, recorded with Zurich Radio, and appeared in two films: a biopic of Franz Liszt and an Abbott and Costello comedy.
Returning to the U.S. for an extensive teaching career, Kathryn taught at the University of Iowa, San Francisco State, and Dominican (San Rafael) Universities, and Fairbanks Summer Festivals for the University of Alaska. Always, she imparted her gifts with passion, generosity, and an indomitable spirit.
Kathryn is survived by her niece Ann Harvey of Oconto, Wisconsin; grand nephew Jack Harvey of Newark, New Jersey, and his life partner, Al Burgermeister (both formerly of San Francisco); and other great and grand nieces and nephews.
Among many long-standing friendships, Kathryn especially cherished John Frykman and Cheryl Arnold, to whom she entrusted her needs for increasing care in recent years. Others who loved her with great generosity include Bob Hirsch, Jim and Diane Hannum, and Carmen Zeni. Devoted former students Aimee Puentes and Devon Hardwick stayed at her bedside faithfully, for her last ten days. Thanks also for the good care from Aegis Corte Madera, Arcadia, Kaiser, and Hospice of Marin.
A celebration of Kathryn Harvey will be held on Saturday, April 26, 5:00 p.m. For more information, call (415) 387-1305. Memorial gifts may be sent to San Francisco State University, Dept. of Music, 1600 Holloway Ave., SF, 94132; and the SF Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, c/o Audrey Howitt, 2840 Adams St., Alameda, CA 94501.
The chapter has been notified by Miss Harvey Trust that SFBACNATS has received an unrestricted grant. We are honored and humbled by her generosity in passing.
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Wuerthner, Page Swift
Music was her life: born March 10, 1930 in Long Beach, died February 29, 2008 in Los Altos Hills. Attended Mills College, transferred to U.C. Berkeley, pledged Kappa Kappa Gamma, graduated 1951 with a music major degree. Her first professional experiences were the Robert Shaw Chorale, UCLA and Los Angeles City College opera workshops led by Jan Popper and Hugo Strelitzer where she sang title roles. She studied under Lotte Lehmann in Santa Barbara at the Music Academy of the West and with Fritz Zweig and his wife Tillie DeGarmo Zweig. A Fulbright Scholarship allowed her to live in Germany where she sang lead roles in Munich, Heidelberg, Oberhausen and Lucerne and Basel, Switzerland. On her return to the United States she sang at various venues in New York City and on cruise ships before enrolling at Indiana University School of Music where she graduated with a masters in music in 1974. Eileen Farrell was her mentor. She enjoyed frequent visits with her sister's family in Virginia. She taught voice at Oberlin College and the University of Wisconsin. Indiana University awarded her a Doctorate of Music Performance with High Distinction. Vocal performance was her love and more rewarding than academia. She moved to Palo Alto to be near aging parents. Joined the San Francisco Symphony Chorus in 1984 and subsequently accepted a tenured mezzo-soprano position with the San Francisco Opera's Regular Chorus. Her stage presence, features and acting skills stood out in her 1,000 SF Opera Chorus performances over 19 years. She maintained an active private voice studio for young women. She retired from the Opera December, 2004. She married Ted W. Wuerthner in 1992. She leaves behind her husband; sister, Sarah Hodgkin of Virginia, five nieces, a nephew, and a brother Daniel Swift of Cupertino.
Published in the San Francisco Chronicle on 3/9/2008.
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Congratulations to the following finalists in the Northern California District Auditions of the NATS-AA Competition. The Regional Auditions will be held in Ogden, Utah on Saturday, April 26th.
AMANDA MENDON JAS student of Kathleen Kasdorf
Santa Cruz
SHAWNETTE SULKER student of Jane Randolph
San Francisco
SUZANNE MIZELL student of Cheryl Keller
San Francisco
Thank you to Kathy Ludowise for organizing the March 1, 2008 event, and to the following helpers who made it a success:
JUDGES: Eric Howe, Pam Fry, Vaida Falconbridge, Anna Carol Dudley and Joseph Wiggest (San Joaquin Chapter).
ASSISTANTS: Eleanor Cohen, Dorothy Barnhouse, Helen Dilworth, Meghan Dibble, Angelica Lopez (student of Eric Howe), and Melissa Scott-Lorenz (student of Kathy Ludowise).
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New from Pocket Coach Publications
The Path to Glorious Singing, Volume 1: Female
The Path to Glorious Singing diction and accompaniment CDs and music book provide the beginning singer a formative repertoire of Concone vocalises, Vaccai lessons, Italian Art Songs, Handel English Arias, Haydn Canzonettas, German Lieder and opera arias, all in a comfortable medium-high key. The book also provides basic vocal physiology, technique and warm-up exercises. The practice CDs feature Diction of all non-English songs and Melody with Piano or Orchestra accompaniments. Music book provides Word-for-Word Translations under the original non-English texts in the music.
The Path to Glorious Singing is also designed to be a beginning classroom textbook for voice classes for junior high school students and older. Piano and orchestral accompaniments are performed by Dietrich Erbelding. Visit our new secure Web site at www.PocketCoach.com
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