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Si mes vers avaient des ailes
My first year of grad school at #NYU is done :-0 While I’m ready for a rest, I’m also sad for most of my courses to be over! My voice jury was yesterday (it went well!) and I began it with this piece, which I hope you enjoy hearing! Music is by Reynaldo Hahn, poetry by Victor Hugo, and my accompaniment is from Free Pianist. You can also download my version for free 🙂 One trick with art songs/poetic lyrics is that you don’t have outside context and often the lyrics aren’t the way you would naturally speak – so interpretation can be harder than with something from a book…
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“Like Other Girls”
It’s my last #WeeklyWednesday of the #NYU semester! I hope you enjoy this really sweet song from the musical “Daddy Long Legs,” with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon and book by John Caird, based on the charming 1912 novel by Jean Webster! You can sing along to the accompaniment I used here: https://youtu.be/VB0bWun_Vbk Thanks to MusicalPracticeTracks for the great track! Thank you for watching, and see you next week!#AshleyWagnerArts
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Vocal Music Therapy
New York University, 2019. Music Therapy. In The Theory and Practice of Vocal Psychotherapy (2008), Diane Austin wrote, “No matter what population a therapist works with…and no matter what the therapist’s primary instrument may be, the most healing connections seem to occur through the voice” (p. 19). The effectiveness of using the voice in music therapy has been echoed in much of the literature we have read as our course has progressed, and as a singer, I have found this particularly interesting and encouraging (Austin’s and Acosta’s [2013] research has been especially enlightening). Some of the reasons working with the voice can be so powerful therapeutically stem from physiological benefits…
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They’ll Know We Are [Human] by our LOVE
“They’ll Know We Are Christians” by Peter Scholtes; arranged, performed, and produced by Ashley Wagner. The initial sound clip is from the documentary “Afro-American Work Songs in a Texas Prison,” recorded in March 1966 by Pete, Toshi, and Daniel Seeger, and Bruce Jackson. The inmates are from the Ellis Unit at a Huntsville, Texas, prison. The political, social, and emotional turbulence I felt during the fall of 2016 is what brought this (highly personal) arrangement into existence. I altered the lyrics (particularly from “Christians” to “Human”) because I wanted to convey a universal message. I appreciate your letting me share some of my experience with you this way. Please know…
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“The Fear” (Lily Allen cover)
I recorded today’s #WeeklyWednesday a little over a year ago when I needed a pop song for an audition. Finally sharing it (on this stressful/emotional/sore throat kind of day). I think the cultural messaging is important to consider. “The Fear” was released on Lily Allen’s album “It’s Not Me, It’s You” and was written by Allen and Greg Kurstin. My accompaniment is on YouTube and you can also get my version free. Thank you for continuing to support my channel and me as an artist – I hope this finds you well ? #AshleyWagnerArts
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Happy Working Song! (Disney’s “Enchanted”)
Springtime is finally here in the Northeast!! School is busy, so for this #WeeklyWednesday, I’m throwing it back to a performance I had so much fun doing at the National Cherry Blossom Festival! Washington, DC, is particularly beautiful when the cherry blossoms are blooming! “Happy Working Song” is from the Disney movie “Enchanted,” with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Giselle sings this piece à la Snow White, but with some slightly less cuddly helpers ? My version here is only a cut of the song, as I sang it as part of a medley (and the other songs from that medley are already online) – someday…
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“Thank You for the Music”
I resonate strongly with the sentiment in this ABBA song and hope I’ve adequately communicated the joy and honor it is to me to be able to make music. Thank you for the role you play in helping me – I very much appreciate your support and your taking the time to watch my videos! “Thank You for the Music” was written by ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and included in the “Mamma Mia” stage and screen musicals (and if you haven’t seen those, check them out! They’re a lot of fun, with poignant moments, too). Thank you to breinie17xq for this beautiful accompaniment! You can sing along here: https://youtu.be/hx1K9P-Kw_A Looking…
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“What Does He Want of Me?”
Today’s #WeeklyWednesday is from a story I love… to me it symbolizes the conflict we all face between idealism and reality. The musical “Man of La Mancha” is based on the life of Miguel de Cervantes and his beloved novel Don Quixote. Aldonza sings “What Does He Want of Me” in response to “Don Quixote”’s way of viewing the world and treating her with dignity, respect, and honor – possibly the first time in her life someone has shown her such love. I think she sings it with a mixture of disbelief and hope that the world could be different from the way it seems to be. Thank you for…
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“Stay With Me”
Today’s #WeeklyWednesday video comes from Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods,” and focuses on parental love. In the stories of most characters in this show, we see the complications of decisions, viewpoints, and our own familial histories. I believe the Witch deeply loves and wants the best for Rapunzel, and tries to protect her in a way the Witch’s own mother never did. I hope you enjoy my rendition of “Stay with Me”! I really enjoyed coaching this piece in my NYU Song Analysis class last semester and found insights into the character I had never before considered. Thank you very much for watching and supporting me –…
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A Description and Analysis of the Crossover Classical Vocalist Speech Community
University of California, Irvine, 2017. Linguistic Anthropology. Gumperz. “eeeeEEE ooOOO! Whoop! Whoop! Bzzzzz... Zuh! roAR!” Newcomers are often surprised by the cacophony of vocalizations that greet them upon entering one of my community’s primary domains. While strolling through orderly rows of small, semi-soundproofed, glass-fronted enclosures, visitors may observe a single subject lying on the floor, flopped in half like a ragdoll, standing, arms raised in victory, or possibly manipulating the face: nose pinched, tongue sticking out, cheeks smushed… This description clearly orients us in the jungle of a musical community – specifically, a college practice room hall, filled with budding singers. This paper provides a basic description and analysis of…
