NATS Ontario Quarterly Newsletter September 2013

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Registration is now OPEN

NEW email:
auditions@natsontario.org

Check out more at our website and download the NEW Auditions FAQ

November 15
Fall Banquet
Windermere Manor
London, ON

November 16
NATS Auditions
&
Recruiting Fair
UWO
London, ON

NEW Scholarships for 2013!

NEW Musical Theatre Categories for 2013

MT High School
Women or Men Gr. 9&10

Women or Men Gr. 11&12

MT Post-Secondary
Women or Men Year 1&2

Women or Men Year 3&4

(classes will be combined if enrolment is 4 or less)

Welcome!

Message from the President

Welcome to the latest version of the NATS Ontario Newsletter! Fall is now upon us and chances are, you are back to a routine in your studio and in your home. I always relish the return of "normal" that a new school year brings but sometimes a new workload, new students or even more events to attend can be overwhelming! In an effort to keep things simple for all of us, your NATS Ontario executive is working hard to create communications that are clear and easy to access.

Our first order of business was to recreate the quarterly newsletter featuring news and information about our membership and NATS related events. We hope you will email us your news to share with the membership at large!

Our second order was to create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document for the annual NATS Auditions. You can download the document from our website - we hope this will be your go-to place for all things Auditions. If we missed something, let us know.

As you make your plans for the fall, please keep our annual Fall Banquet, NATS Auditions & Recruitment Day in mind! This year we will convene in London, ON on November 15 & 16 to eat, sing, and gather information. We kick off our weekend Friday night with a meeting and banquet at the beautiful Windermere Manor with special guest, Richard Margison. On Saturday, the Auditions and Recruitment Fair is a perfect opportunity for your students to gain valuable performance opportunities and speak to voice teachers from universities and colleges across the province. Come join us in 2013!

Finally, check out the new look of NATS online. The national office has just unveiled their new look and it is marvellous! Check them out at www.nats.org.

Let me know how you are enjoying our new mode of communication by emailing me at president@natsontario.org.
Happy teaching!

Elizabeth McDonald

PS: Please add president@natsontario.org to your contacts list so you don't miss any important future communications!

NATIONAL OFFICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

News from our District Governor

I have been involved through the summer in a “visioning process” for NATS, serving on the President’s Strategic Planning Committee. I am grateful to those of our membership who took time and energy to write me with their ideas and observations and their aspirations for our association. Please continue to pass on your ideas and insights to me, so that I can channel them through this committee. While the wheels of actual change will likely grind slowly many constructive ideas are being shared and considered. The process ensures that NATS keeps evolving and continues to most effectively serve the membership.

This is a NATSAA year! I am planning to hold the first round of the NATSAA competition in London, at New St. James Presbyterian Church on February 8th, 2014. I will outline the application procedure, requirements and three judges, on the NATS Ontario website as these details firm up this fall. In the meantime, please let your advanced students know of competition and reserve the date on their calendar. Please ensure that students who compete are able to travel to the Great Lakes District Round of the competition which will be on February 21, 2014 at Ball State University in Muncie IN.

I wish you all well for the fall term!

Torin W. Chiles, District Governor (Ontario)

NEW NATS Website

By now you should have received a version of the following email:

Dear NATS Member,

We are delighted to introduce to you the new NATS website and member portal! We value your membership, and we hope you find it easier to navigate and manage your membership on the new and improved NATS.org.

We have worked hard to provide this new system to you as an added member benefit. A new and improved application and renewal process, a complete digital archive of Journal of Singing and a more user-friendly interface are just a few of the new features of the website.

Visitors to the site will have the option of searching the Find-a-Teacher database to locate singing teachers in their community or region, and as always, NATS members can view a listing other members through the NATS Membership Directory.

We look forward to partnering with you, our valued member, to make this new and improved website a tremendous success! If you have any questions about a function, or have difficulty logging into the site, feel free to contact the NATS Executive Office at 904-992-9101 or e-mail info@nats.org.

Sincerely,

Your NATS Executive Office Team

CHAPTER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Auditions 2013

Registration for Auditions is now open. For a review of the Auditions process, please read our new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) guide to help register your students and and answer all your questions!

Here is a sampling of what is included in the Auditions FAQ:

How do I register?

Go to www.natsauditions.com

Please use the email account you have with the NATS Ontario Chapter to login.

Follow the explanations on the Home Page to register students.

How much does it cost to register a student?

The student registration fee is $20. No student may enter more than one class.

Is there a fee if I, as the teacher, can not adjudicate on the day of Auditions?

NATS Ontario highly encourages all NATS Ontario Members to attend the Auditions for the collegial aspect of the day. However if a NATS Ontario Member is unable to attend the Auditions as an Adjudicator but is sending students there is a Non-Participation Fee as follows:

15 students = $25

610 students = $50

1115 students = $75

1620 students = $100

How do I pay the registration fee?

Applications are online at www.natsauditions.com. Once all students have been registered, follow the instructions to pay online through PAYPAL.

Cheques may also be posted to NATS Ontario Treasurer, Linda Condy:

NATS AUDITIONS
C/O LINDA CONDY
220 Waratah Ave.
Newmarket, On.
L3Y 5J7

All mailed cheques must be postmarked by OCTOBER 17, 2013, for registration to be complete and students to be eligible to sing.

I have read the FAQ but I still have questions!

After you have reviewed our FAQ and still have questions, feel free to email to our coordinator Michelyn Wright at her NEW address: auditions@natsontario.org

Richard Margison to be Guest Speaker at Upcoming Fall Banquet
Date: Friday, November 15, 2013

Location: WINDERMERE MANOR
200 Collip Circle, London, Ontario. N6G 4X8

Guest speaker: Richard Margison, renowned Canadian Tenor and founder of the “Highlands Opera Studio”

COCKTAILS, DINNER BANQUET AND GUEST SPEAKER: $50.00 per person

Deadline: Reservations must be received by Friday, November 1st, 2013. Registration online or by sending a cheque to Linda Condy

ROOM RESERVATIONS AT the WINDERMERE MANOR AND CONFERENCE CENTRE
Take advantage of the NATS special room rates:

Single room with 1 King bed - $119 per night, plus HST
Suite with 2 Queen beds, living room and kitchen area - $139 per night, plus HST

BREAKFAST IS INCLUDED IN ROOM RATE
FREE PARKING
WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE TO WESTERN UNIVERSITY

Room Reservations must be made by Tuesday, October 15, 2013 for the NATS discount.
Check out the website for more information
Toll Free: 1-800-997-4477

Be sure to mention you are booking with our NATS Group

For more information, contact Alison Moodie
projects@natsontario.org

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

NATS Ontario Member Shannon Coates presents at ICVT 2013

In mid-July, 2013 over 500 delegates convened in beautiful Brisbane, Australia for the 8th International Congress of Voice Teachers ('ICVT'), a quadrennial meeting that gathers voice teachers from around the world. Hosted by the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing (ANATS), the ICVT programme featured master classes, performances, lectures, workshops, panel sessions, research paper presentations, and poster presentations covering all styles of singing and delivered by such luminaries as Håkan Hagegård (classical-style master classes), Ingo Titze (the inaugural Richard Miller Lecture), Mary Saunders-Barton (musical theatre-style master classes), and Daniel Zangger Borch (rock/pop-style master classes). Presenters included Donald Simonson (NATS past-president), Scott McCoy (Your Voice: An Inside View), Kurt-Alexander Zeller (What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body), Jean Callaghan (Singing and Voice Science) and ... me!

I was invited to present my paper titled, What Are You Saying? Does Current Vocal Pedagogy Terminology Used to Describe Breathing for Singing Accurately Represent Recent Voice Research? at ICVT and was generously supported by the NATS Foundation, the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies, the University of Toronto's Faculty of Music, and AIRS (Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing). There were a scant three Canadian delegates and of those three, I was the only graduate student and (to my knowledge) the only NATS Ontario representative! My presentation was well-received (standing-room only!), but perhaps the best part was that I presented early in the programme and was then free to enjoy the rest of the Congress without worrying about whether my PowerPoint would work.

I attended as many presentations as possible, took a lot of notes, and am working to apply what I learned, not only with my own voice students, but with the undergraduate pedagogy students at the University of Toronto. For me, session highlights included the opening ceremony (featuring indigenous dance and song), Håkan Hagegård's master classes, the Trends in Research Into Singing and Singing Pedagogy with Scott Harrison, Scott McCoy, Ingo Titze, Ron Morris, and Jenevora Williams, and Ingo Titze's Why Can't I Sing Every Vowel on Every Pitch?. Brisbane highlights included feeding kangaroos, and holding a koala bear (the only place in the world where it is possible to do this) at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

I hope you'll have the opportunity to attend ICVT 2017 which will be held in Stockholm, Sweden.

More ICVT information (and the programme) can be found at www.icvt2013.com. If you would like a narrated copy of my presentation, send a request to shannon.coates@utoronto.ca

Shannon Coates

An Invitation from COSI

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

I am delighted to share with you our COSI 2014 launch information. COSI's "extraordinary opera training" well lives up to its motto. It is a recruitment-free resource for university singers, emerging professionals, and in-career professional performers and teachers.

With our curriculum, performance experiences, networking and environment, it's a superb and caring place for growth, meaning, and excellence.

Please encourage your past and present students to audition, and please take a look at our Independent Study Programs for Singers and Teachers, too!

I am looking forward to our National COSI Tour, and the opportunity to meet with you - as well as the master class opportunities that are happening in several of the audition venues. It's a tremendously exciting time, and an excellent opportunity.

All the best as we are beginning our classes and studios!

Darryl Edwards
Artistic Director, COSI
Our Application Information is here

Not ANOTHER Voice Recital - Version 3.0

Featuring Linda Condy and Michelyn Wright

With

Ellen Meyer and Sheila Vandikas and special guests

Friday September 27, 2013

8:00 pm.

Lebovic Centre for Arts and Entertainment

Nineteen on the Park - 19 Civic Drive, Stouffville

Proceeds to support the

NATS Ontario Student Scholarship Fund

UofT SNATS: Blood Drive in Memory of Lynn Blaser

On Friday, September 27 from 9AM - NOON, please join the University of Toronto Student Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (UofT SNATS) in remembering Lynn Blaser at our upcoming Blood Drive.

Send an email to uoft.snats@gmail.com to reserve your time and share this tribute though our Facebook page.

Your News Here!

We would love to feature YOU in our upcoming newsletters!

Send us news about your studio, research and performing activities!

Deadline for submission for December 2013 Newsletter: December 1, 2013

NATS MEMBERSHIP PROMOTIONS

PLANGERE Announces NEW Canadian Song Publications

Canadian art song publisher Plangere has just announced new publications!

Violet Archer : Eight Short Songs for Young Singers
This is an outstanding set of songs to humorous imaginative texts. Violet Archer’s, eloquent craftsmanship is no less astute in these songs intended for the young developing singer. They are written intelligently for the voice and with great affection for singer and are an excellent addition to the pedagogical repertoire.

Renaldo Hahn: Melodies
The complete mélodie catalogue of Reynaldo Hahn published in seven volumes. Volumes 1-4 are currently available.

NATS Ontario members receive a 20% discount on all orders. Visit their website for more details.

Settle the Score: Performers' Analysis for the Classical Singer

by Kevin Skelton

For any serious classical musician the score is of primary importance. Though we spend countless hours in the pursuit and practice of technical mastery, these skills ultimately are of little importance if we are unable to express written music accurately and sincerely.

Like most books on vocal pedagogy, this book is intended to help singers to meet their full potential. While many books focus on the technical skills associated with how to sing, this book lays a foundation for the practical task of learning vocal music. The system outlined here teaches singers to unite their technique, musicianship, intelligence, and passion so that they can more convincingly perform a composer’s score.

About the author:

The recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, Kevin Skelton holds graduate degrees in voice, conducting, and musicology, having studied at the University of Toronto, Indiana University, and Oxford University.

Preview the book online or order now!
20% discount with code BGDPTZ3K