NATS Chat this Sunday, March 10

Posted on March 5, 2013 by

This Sunday, March 10 will be another NATS Chat at 7:00 p.m. PST/10:00 p.m. EST). David Ostwald will be our guest host on “The Character’s Breath.” David is the author of Acting for Singers: Creating Believable Singing Characters. I personally used this book as a resource in my studio’s weekly masterclass for a year. Students found it invaluable.

Interested members will be able to find more information on Facebook NATS group or NATS.org<http://NATS.org> website. Interested members may set up a reminder for the chat at the following link:  https://www.nats.org/nats-chat/public-chat.html

Posted in Noteworthy

The results are in!

Posted on March 4, 2013 by

A complete list of winners from the 2013 VANATS Conference is now posted under “Documents.”  We’ve also posted information, including literature selections, from the closing Honors Recital.  Congratulations to all singers.  We had close to 450 auditions this past weekend!

Posted in Noteworthy

Be in the know!

Posted on February 27, 2013 by

Want to know who’s singing on the Leona Mitchell master classes?  Want to see what workshops are being offered this year?  Check out the newly released DETAILED Conference Schedule!

Posted in Conference Details, Noteworthy

Regional Auditions information from Robert Wells, Mid-Atlantic Regional Governor

Posted on February 13, 2013 by

Greetings,

I hope that this finds you well.

Preparations for the upcoming Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference and Student Auditions are well underway.  I hope that you are planning to join us in beautiful Charleston, SC on Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6.  We are most grateful to our colleagues at the College of Charleston (Deanna McBroom, site host) for their hospitality thus far.

As you make your plans, please be aware that there are a number of events happening in Charleston on the weekend of our conference.  Traffic in some parts of town will be restricted in the morning hours on Saturday due to the Cooper River Bridge Run – so advance planning will be critical for those intending to travel on Saturday.  For those arriving on Friday, early hotel reservations are highly encouraged.  You will find a list of accommodations attached to this e-mail.  You will also find attached to this message a preliminary list of accompanists available for the Regional Auditions.

Highlights of the Regional Conference:

Friday, April 5:

  • Mid-Atlantic Region Board Meeting (ca. 9:00 am)
  • Master Class – Professor William McGraw, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (ca. 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm)
  • Banquet (ca.  5:30 pm)
  • Musical Performance (TBA) – College of Charleston (evening)

Saturday, April 6:

  • Student Auditions (ca. 9:30 am – 2:30 pm)
  • Honors Recital  (ca. 3:15 pm)

I am hopeful that a representative of the Royal Conservatory Achievement Program will be available for consultation during the conference weekend.  This new partnership between NATS and the Royal Conservatory Achievement Program offers a myriad number of benefits to our member teachers (and their students).  Stay tuned.

Finally, a reminder:  At the completion of each district’s student auditions, application (and repertoire) data for qualifying students is automatically forwarded to the Mid-Atlantic Regional website (www.midatlanticnats.org).  At that point, teachers must log in, make any necessary changes to repertoire, etc., and confirm each student application.

A letter with specific conference details will be distributed in the coming days.   In the meantime, I hope that you’ll begin to make travel plans, secure hotel reservations, and get excited about attending the Regional Conference and Student Auditions weekend.

I look forward to seeing you in Charleston,

Robert

Robert A. Wells, DMA

Governor, Mid-Atlantic Region, National Association of Teachers of Singing

336/256-1326

Robert_Wells@uncg.edu

Posted in Noteworthy

International opera star LEONA MITCHELL to be 2013 conference keynote clinician!

Posted on November 7, 2012 by

Grammy Award winning Soprano, Leona Mitchell has emerged as one of Americaís most beloved and celebrated sopranos.

Miss Mitchell spent 18 Seasons as a leading Spinto Soprano at the Metropolitan Opera in New York where she essayed many dramatic and lyrical roles such as: Aida, both Verdi Leonoras from La Forza Del Destino and Il Trovatore, Manon Lescaut, Boheme, The Masked Ball, Madame Butterfly, Liu in Turandot, Madame Lidouine as well as Mozart, and Handelian roles.

Leona has also sung at some of the world’s most prestigious opera houses: The Berlin, Rome, Caracalla, Vienna, Paris, London, Chili, Buenos Aires, Canadian, Mexican, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Santa Fe, Bordeaux, Marseille, Parma and Hamburg companies to name a few.

Read more about Ms. Mitchell here.

Posted in Conference Details, Noteworthy

Greetings from President Dorothy Maddison and Vice President Chris Mooney

Posted on November 4, 2012 by

Greetings to the VANATS membership from President Dorothy Maddison and Vice President Chris Mooney.  The regular student and VANATS auditions this year are scheduled to be held at James Madison University on March 1-2rd, 2013.  Our site co-ordinator will be Dr. Carrie Stevens.  We are very excited to announce that our clinician this year will be famed Metropolitan Opera soprano, Leona Mitchell.

Registration will open later than usual this year, due to the fact that many of our scheduling processes are vastly more efficient.  Registration will open on January 1, 2013 and close on February 8, 2013 and will be facilitated by a site specifically designed to schedule NATS auditions throughout the country.  Be sure to check back after December 1st for our new audition and registration guides for teachers, students and parents.  We are encouraging you to find further information about the conference and other VANATS news at our new website, found at the same http://www.vanats.org address as the old website.  Below are important links to specific areas of the website.

Registration dates and fees

Keynote Clinician, Leona Mitchell

Pianists for hire

Hotel information

Special offer for donations to the superlative prizes

Presentation and poster session proposals

Tentative general conference schedule

New refund policy

New Breakfast and Lunch Buffets for members

Action to be taken at annual banquet

Payment info for this year’s conference

Posted in Conference Details, Registration

Registration for annual conference and auditions to open January 1, 2013

Posted on November 4, 2012 by

Due to the atomization of many of the processes related to our annual student auditions, registration will now have the following schedule.

  • January 1 – registration opens at http://www.natsauditions.com
  • February 8 – registration closes, deadline for refunds and deadline for pre-conference change of repertoire
  • February 15 – initial publication of audition schedules
Posted in Registration | Leave a comment

Board of Directors now accepting proposals for presentations and poster session projects

Posted on November 3, 2012 by

We are planning extra events including master-classes, panels and poster sessions as space permits.  We encourage members to submit proposals for presentations and for organizations with doctoral students who are appropriately prepared to submit poster session projects we can display and present.  Proposals should be sent to Dorothy Maddison, President, at maddisdx@jmu.edu.

Posted in Changes, Conference Details, Noteworthy

Special Offer – Earn a free banquet ticket!

Posted on November 2, 2012 by

We have a SPECIAL OFFER we hope many of you will not want to refuse:  Donate $150 towards a named (your choice of name) superlative prize in the final concert auditions, and we will include for free the price of your banquet dinner.   This is a wonderful opportunity to honor a colleague in the business as well as make a worthwhile donation to our organization.

Posted in Conference Details, Noteworthy

Conference and audition fees now payable only through Paypal

Posted on October 30, 2012 by

This year we will only be accepting payment by PayPal and if you are not yet familiar with this online system and are concerned about starting, board member Byron Jones will help you.  He can be reached at bjones@su.edu or (540) 327-4315.

Posted in Changes, Conference Details, Registration