• Music & Theatre

    ❄️ “Let It Go” ❄️ (Disney’s ‘Frozen’ with CGI Animation)

    ✨ Is there anything you need to let go of right now? I hope today’s video inspires you to release something that’s bothering you, holding you back, or holding you down! This was tons of fun to make, and I hope you enjoy it! ❄️ Grateful for amazing technology that lets me realize my dream of being an animated character ??? Since I’ve never fully recorded this song before [high belt + how do you even mic this??], I thought Elsa’s first power ballad would be the perfect way to test it out! “Let It Go” is, of course, from Disney’s “Frozen” and was composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez and voiced by the incredible Idina…

  • Favorites,  Music & Theatre

    Come Away, Death (Shakespeare: Twelfth Night)

    My latest original composition for one of Shakespeare’s songs! I hope you enjoy it! The lyrics to this song come from Act II, scene iv, of Twelfth Night (1602). Duke Orsino and Cesario are suffering from unrequited love and ask Feste to sing this song to ease their pain. Shakespeare’s plays include many songs and dances, but these are often excerpted in modern productions (which is something I hope to help change :)). Very few of the original melodies survive, and some of my past work has been to compose music for the lyrics Shakespeare provided, which I really enjoy doing! If you’re planning an upcoming Shakespeare production and are…

  • Music & Theatre

    Shakespeare Musical Preshow

    Today’s #WeeklyWednesday is a throwback to one of the most fun productions I’ve been a part of ? I hope you enjoy this excerpt from the musical pre-show I designed for Coronado Playhouse‘s production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”! My talented fellow performers and dear friends are Renee Ulloa-McDonald, Carly Pandza, and Danielle Orner (Gallagher) ? ? The songs featured here are: 0:06 “Sumer is icumen in,” a mid-13th century round, written in the Wessex dialect of Middle English. 0:49 “Fair Phyllis,” an English madrigal by John Farmer, published in 1599. 2:11 “Now Is the Month of Maying,” an English ballett (similar to a madrigal) by Thomas Morley, published…

  • Music & Theatre

    Composing a new Shakespeare song!

    For today’s #WeeklyWednesday, I decided to show you a new song I’m working on composing and recording! I hope you enjoy hearing it and a bit about the process of writing music for Shakespeare’s plays, which I really enjoy doing! I play it twice, at 1:03 and 7:12. This is my fourth or fifth version of “Come Away, Death” from Twelfth Night. You can hear bits of two others below – one of them is kind of a fugue-ish embellishment on this melody: The goal for this new version is to come up with a simple melody that would be singable for most people; the other two versions I’ve written…

  • Blog,  Favorites,  Music & Theatre

    Can’t Help Falling in Love

    Today’s #WeeklyWednesday is a very special and personal one; I originally made it as our wedding Save the Date announcement ? Unfortunately, like so many other things, our plans for a larger celebration are postponed due to COVID-19 precautions – but I thought I’d still share this video, as it means a lot to me! Since our engagement anniversary was yesterday, the timing seems perfect ? “Can’t Help Falling in Love” was made famous by Elvis Presley; it was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss (according to Wikipedia, the melody is based on “Plaisir d’amour,” a 1784 composition by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini). Thanks to AcoustiClub for this…

  • Music & Theatre

    Accompaniment: Aveva na gallina capelluta

    Back with an accompaniment for this #WeeklyWednesday. I hope it helps you rehearse or learn the piece! If you’d like an mp3 of the accompaniment, just send me a request ? Though traditionally set for four voices a cappella, it also works well as a duet with the accompaniment filling in the other vocal lines, as in my version here: “Aveva na gallina capelluta” was composed by Antonio Scandello (1517-1580). I was first exposed to this (and many other early and Renaissance pieces I’ve come to love) while living in Naples, Italy, and singing with an a capella choir (check out their lovely performance of this piece!). That’s an experience…

  • Music & Theatre

    “All Is Found” – Frozen II ❄️⛄️

    So… finally saw Frozen 2 last week ??? Today’s #WeeklyWednesday is the first of probably a couple of videos I’ll record from the movie! This version of “All Is Found” is the one Queen Iduna (Evan Rachel Wood) sings to Elsa and Anna. I needed to take a musical break from my (second) grad school program (linguistics), which started last week, and this is what came of it 🙂 The nice news on that end is that I now have a little audio recording corner set up in our house! I hope you enjoy my cover of “All Is Found”! The accompaniment I used is from the Frozen 2 soundtrack,…

  • Music & Theatre

    Il est bel et bon

    Today’s #WeeklyWednesday is another duet with my adopted sister, Renee Ulloa-McDonald ? This video is from a musical pre-show I designed for Coronado Playhouse’s production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and it was so much fun performing these pieces with her!! “Il est bel et bon” was composed by Pierre Passereau and first published in 1536 in Tiers livre contenant XXI chansons à quatre esleves de plusieurs livres, no. 7. You can find translations and more information on the piece here. I was first exposed to “Il est bel et bon” (and many other early and Renaissance pieces I’ve come to love) while living in Naples, Italy, and singing…

  • Music & Theatre

    Aveva na gallina capelluta

    Today’s #WeeklyWednesday is another duet with my adopted sister, Renee Ulloa-McDonald ? This video is from a musical pre-show I designed for Coronado Playhouse’s production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and this piece is probably my favorite of our duets! “Aveva na gallina capelluta” was composed by Antonio Scandello (1517-1580). I was first exposed to this (and many other early and Renaissance pieces I’ve come to love) while living in Naples, Italy, and singing with an a capella choir (check out their lovely performance of this piece here). That’s another experience I’m so grateful for, and from which I have many happy memories ? “Much Ado About Nothing” was…

  • Music & Theatre

    “Touch the Sky” (Merida from Brave)

    Hey, friends! For today’s Halloween-themed #WeeklyWednesday, I hope you’ll check out last year’s “Touch the Sky” video! It was really fun to make! Last year was a particularly fun Halloween for me, as I think it’s the first year I’ve ever purchased a costume (rather than cobbling something together last minute) 😉  I thoroughly enjoyed being Merida, and NYC was absolutely gorgeous – weather, festivities, company…  During lunch in the park, we decided to film a little bit, including the first verse of “Touch the Sky” – and I managed to record and edit the rest at home before and after the Greenwich Village Parade (fun/crazy!). I hope you enjoy this…