What are these people doing??

Singing, of course.

This has been a day filled with singing and laughter and good food at the voice institute where I study. First our madrigal group presented a concert - I sang with them in addition to singing duets with another ensemble member. Then, after a potluck of some truly amazing food, we sang holiday carols. Things got a little wild toward the end - the photo is the group using one of the institute's vocal techniques for freeing up the throat. We ended the session with a rousing - and pretty good! - rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus.

Next was a performance studio, or master class, which is where the institute's founder and director, Linda Brice, really shines. Each singer presents a song, then she gives feedback and works with them for ten minutes to improve their technique. It's remarkable to see instant improvement - it's like magic. Some of it was quite funny, such as the student shimmying, bouncing on a physio ball and crawling around on the floor to get relaxed; and some so poignant, such as the man who gave up singing for 15 years and is now back at it and just blossomed after a few minutes of instruction. I sang my Mozart aria, it went well but my voice was pretty tired by then after singing all day.

I want to share this place, this community, this magic with everyone. The world would be a much saner place if we all had access to this kind of community.