NATS 2012 52nd National Conference registration opens online
NATS
The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) 52nd National Conference is quickly approaching, and now is the time to mark your calendars and register online to attend this exciting event that will include exceptional programming appealing to all voice professionals. Renew old friendships, make new acquaintances, enjoy informative and educational sessions, relax and have some fun in Orlando, Fla. The event will be located at and hosted by the beautiful Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld, June 29–July 3, 2012.More

2011 year in review: Best in classical music
Los Angeles Times
The good signs for the future of classical music this year have been a splendid string of new concert halls and opera houses, many with distinguished architecture and acoustics. That began in January with the visionary New World Center in Miami Beach, Fla., and continued with halls in Reykjavik, Iceland; Helsinki, Finland; Kansas City, Mo.; Montreal; and Aliso Viejo, Calif. Still to come: Zubin Mehta opens the New Opera Theater in Florence, Italy, that will be a snazzy new home for the city's famed Maggio Musicale festival.More

Transcript of "Teachers Talk on Music Theater and Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM)" from Dec. 4, 2011
NATS
This is the transcript from the Dec. 4, 2011 NATS Chat. NATS Chat host Dr. Kari Ragan moderated a discussion for teachers on music theater and contemporary commercial music (CCM). This chat took place on the NATS Chat Facebook group. Please join us for future chats, which are held in the NATS chat room on the NATS website. All are welcome to attend.More

American tenor Lawrence Brownlee scores with high Cs in role that made Pavarotti world famous
The Associated Press via The Washington Post
In the role that shot Luciano Pavarotti to superstardom, tenor Lawrence Brownlee tossed nine high Cs to a Metropolitan Opera audience — in less than one minute. The 39-year-old American pulled it off joyfully on the season opening night of Gaetano Donizetti's "La Fille du Regiment" ("The Daughter of the Regiment").More

Anthony Amato, founder of Amato Opera, is dead at 91
The New York Times
Anthony Amato, the founder and artistic director of the Amato Opera Theater, the scrappy, often threadbare and very rarely dull chamber opera company on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that was a mainstay of New York's cultural life for 61 years, died Dec. 13 at his home. Amato, who was also the company's stage director, music director, prompter, vocal coach, diction coach, caterer, broom pusher and emergency tenor, among other things, was 91. More

Choral performance at University of South Florida nominated for Grammy
St. Petersburg Times
On cue, the nearly 50 booming voices stopped, leaving several seconds of absolute, eerie silence. Then came the downbeat, another cue and up they roared again, filling the University of South Florida concert hall with song — "Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45" by Johannes Brahms, to be exact. The performance, recorded at USF's music hall this summer, was just nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance. More

More college women speak in creaks, thanks to pop stars
MSNBC
The influence of pop singers like Britney Spears and Ke$ha may actually be changing the way some young women speak, suggests a (small) new study. The report, recently published online in the Journal of Voice, examines the prevalence of a speech pattern called "vocal fry," the creaky, rough, guttural sound that pop singers sometimes use to slip into lower notes.More

NATS announces new member benefit: AuditionsPlus online auditions search tool
NATS
National Association of Teachers of Singing added yet another benefit for its members: exclusive, free access to the AuditionsPlus online auditions search tool. AuditionsPlus allows NATS members and their students to find paying jobs for opera, choruses, music theater and more, as well as information for YAPs, summer programs and university programs. More

How to become a social media influencer: 10 small steps
Forbes
As written by Haydn Shaughnessy, "To fill a gap, I've put together ten points below drawing on experiences from around the web. These are ten steps to get into social media and to see a route towards influence." More

Small business optimism keeps climbing
The Washington Post
The nation's smallest employers don't yet see the glass as half full, but they're consistently reporting it as slightly less empty. Small-business optimism increased for the third consecutive month, gaining 1.8 points in November, according to the National Federation of Independent Business index. That merely lifts the index to a yet-weak 92.0, still well below pre-recession levels and two points lower than the mark set at the start of the year. More

5 trends that will shape small business in 2012
Duct Tape Marketing
John Jantsch writes, "It's time for my annual prediction of small-business trends. No matter what business trends are reported in the media, small businesses will always adopt them more slowly and in ways that don't follow the hype."More