DC Area Performances

• DC Live Music lists a wide variety of musical events for the area, and a big reference section with categories such as venues, karaokes, bands, musicians, etc.
• Vocal Arts DC sponsors great classical singers in recital.
• Washington Performing Arts Society produces concerts by leading classical artists.
• ShowBizRadio – Theater Info for the Washington DC Region contains listings of all the theaters in the area, season information, links to company websites, audition notices, and more.
• Urban Arias is a local professional opera-producing organization that focuses on short, modern works presented in English in smaller spaces.

Musical Theatre

• Broadway Theatre Project Training program for young musical theatre performers age 16 and up. There have been some administrative changes since 2011, so research carefully.
• The Performing Arts Project Founded in 2011, is a summer program for young musical theatre performers age 16 and up.
• Musicals 101 – John Henrick’s vast resource for everything you ever wanted to know about the American musical.
• StageAgent is a web service dedicated to the performers and producers of musicals, dramas, and operas. Has casting requirements (character descriptions, vocal ranges, etc.) for shows.
• Music Theatre International has information for the many shows that it holds the licenses for. Includes information on some shows not included at StageAgent.

Art Song

• The Lied and Art Song Texts Page. Terrific resource for translations.
• The Lotte Lehmann Foundation – “The dual missions of the Lehmann Foundation are to preserve and perpetuate Lotte Lehmann’s legacy, and to honor her dream of bringing art song into the lives of as many people as possible.” The Foundation sponsors a biennial art song performance competition called CyberSing.
• Patricia Caicedo has published several volumes of Latin American art songs, including two devoted to the work of Colombian composer Jaime León. Highly recommended.

Opera

• Operabase contains databases of performances, opera companies, and artists, cross-referenced so that you can find out who is singing what, where, and when.
• The Aria Database is a great resource for finding appropriate roles and arias for performance, searchable by several parameters.
• OperaPulse – “OperaPulse is leading a movement, online and offline, to help build up your opera community and propel this magnificent art form well into the 21st Century.”
• Ópera Actual – “la revista de ópera de España con toda la ópera del mundo”. (“the opera magazine from Spain with all of the opera of the world”). A very well done magazine in print and web formats.

Vocal Pedagogy and Technique

• Jeannette LoVetri’s blog – The founder of Somatic Voicework™ writes with a concise and breezy style about singing and pedagogy with a functional approach, and is a master teacher of technique for CCM (contemporary commercial music) styles.
• The CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute at Shenandoah Conservatory is where Levels I, II, and III of Somatic Voicework™ are taught in the summer.
• Bel Canto Forum is a place to discuss Bel Canto technique. There are some good free books, videos and other documents in the Library.
• National Association of Teachers of Singing or “NATS” The Journal of Singing contains articles and reviews representing varied interests and points of view. NATS occasionally sponsors educational and networking opportunities.
• Kashu-do (歌手道): The Way of the Singer is a blog by Jean-Ronald LaFond, a singer and pedagogue who writes extensively and authoritatively about vocal technique. Much excellent food for thought.
• Tenor Talk Blog is run by Jack Li Vigni.
• Lloyd Hanson, known by many for his valuable contributions to the Vocalist listserv, has a website devoted to vocal pedagogy.

Vocal anatomy and function

• Interactive Anatomy of the Larynx – Terrific way to see all the structures of the larynx, from several angles using videos, photos, drawings, and X-rays.
• National Center for Voice and Speech – The “Science for Singers” section contains short, readable articles by Ingo Titze relating to vocal function in singing.

Sheet music

• Dale Music in Silver Spring has a large selection of sheet music and a knowledgeable staff.
• Sheetmusicplus is a mail order house that has a large selection in all genres.
• Classical Vocal Reprints is a great source for hard-to-find classical repertoire. Great customer service.

Miscellaneous

• Practicesightreading.com for rhythm and other elements of music theory.

Books on Singing

• Discover Your Voice: How to Develop Healthy Voice Habits (1996), Oren L. Brown. Singular Publishing Group, Inc. Comes with a CD of exercises. Interesting and useful book about healthy singing.
• Singing Redefined: A conceptual approach to singing (1998), Walter C. Foster. Recital Publications. “A conceptual approach to singing, including a study of the emotional process and the imaginative capacity, linguistic and musical awareness, singing concepts based on the responsive nature of the instrument, and exercises designed to promote a technically correct, artistically expressive singing tone.” The exercises in the back are well worth the investment.
• Singing and Imagination: A Human Approach to a Great Musical Tradition (1998), Thomas Hemsley. Oxford University Press. Self-explanatory title.
• The Naked Voice: A Wholistic Approach to Singing (2007), W. Stephen Smith. Oxford University Press. Includes a CD of exercises sung by many different singers. A fresh approach to acquisition of a balanced vocal technique.

By and about Cornelius Reid:

• A Dictionary of Vocal Terminology (1983) , Cornelius L. Reid. Recital Publications
• Essays on the Nature of Singing (1992), Cornelius L. Reid. Recital Publications If you only read one of his books, this is the one. It is his most recent, which reflects his pedagogy after 50 years of teaching and research. As radical and refreshing today as Bel Canto was in 1950.
• Bel Canto: Principles and Practices (1950), Cornelius L. Reid.
• The Free Voice: A Guide to Natural Singing (1965), Cornelius L. Reid.
• Voice: Psyche and Soma. (1975), Cornelius L. Reid.
• The Modern Singing Master: Essays in Honor of Cornelius L. Reid (2002), ed. Ariel Bybee and James E. Ford, pub. Scarecrow Press Fascinating reading, primarily by students and others associated with Mr. Reid. A wide variety of points of view, all in support of Reid’s functional approach to vocal training.