BANG! Stamp of approval to everything Peggy said. I
think we should all be willing to let bygones be
bygones (for anyone who followed the controversial
threads, now deleted, on other forums), but, as
always, rampant flames or excessive advertising will
be given the axe here.
Just for the record, however, there are a few other
resources for singers that I know about, so I'll list
them for general edification. Feel free to add on.
The Vocalist (that's us) is the largest group of
online singers, with a bigger percentage of academic
and private teachers than other groups, as well as our
resident ENTs and many students, amateur (i.e. not
singing for a sole career), professional, "older," and
beginning singers. Mostly classical singers, but more
musical theater than other forums. More technical
discussion than the other groups, and more coverage of
repertoire. Extremely lightly moderated; only blatant
spammers have been given the axe so far.
The Classical Singer magazine online message board,
found at http://www.classicalsinger.com/ by clicking
"Forum" at the upper left-hand corner, is another
group for singers. It is almost all classical
singers, with a large number of undergraduate and
graduate students and a less-large number of working
singers out of school. The editors of CS magazine
occasionally throw out topics or upcoming stories to
be discussed, and the topics range widely, covering
all aspects of classical singing. This board is
rather heavily moderated, with language-blocking
software and a group of moderators who toss out
offending flamers.
The HumpyBaritone forum, found at
http://www.humpybaritone.com is another message board.
It is mostly made up of young professionals and
working singers on the "typical" post-graduate
operatic career track. Apprenticeships, young artist
programs, and the New York audition/singing scene are
covered extensively. There are a few singers still
in school, but in general academic topics and concerns
are not tolerated well, and it is not a nurturing
enviornment for students or young singers. Singing
"for fun" or non-opera music is also not what the HB
board is about. Lightly moderated only when the flames
get truly inappropriate; this is generally a tougher,
ruder board than the others, but also more helpful for
the professional singer than the ClassicalSinger
forum. These are both online boards as opposed to
mailing lists.
The Opera-L list is a VERY high-volume mailing list
for opera fans and critics, not for singers, though
the wealth of information to be found there is truly
amazing. Information can be found at
http://www.opera-l.org/.
There is also the CHORALIST and Lieder-L, both of
which I have misplaced the addresses for; pretty
self-explanatory. The only newsgroup I am aware of is
rec.music.opera -- also more for fans and critics,
although there are a few singers who post
occasionally.
The three main classical forums -- this Vocalist, the
CS forum, and the HumpyBaritone forum -- are all very
different in their flavor, and don't seem to intrude
upon each other at all. If I had to make broad
generalizations (broader than the ones I've already
made, of course), I'd say that CS is generally for
students, HB is generally for post-graduate career
trackers, and Vocalist is a mix of the two with many
voice teachers and amateur/MTheater singers added in.
There, that's enough broad strokes for one day. Of
course, there are exceptions everywhere.
A reminder about the ad policy: It's okay to post one
message saying, "I created a new resource for
singers," or, "I just came out with a CD," or "I'm
giving a recital X date and Y location." Except for a
quick reminder as performance dates get close, one is
the limit, however -- please don't keep writing and
promoting your own forum, or your voice studio, or
whatever. A few lines in a sig file is always fine.
Isabelle B.
__________________________________________________
Find a job, post your resume.
http://careers.yahoo.com
|
|  |
