Danielle de Niese Contemplates the Role of Music in Society

Soprano advocating for the Arts

"There are so many serious issues affecting our nation and our world; from the Occupy Wall Street movement, to the Republican GOP nomination debates, the economic crisis in the Euro Zone, the uprisings in the Middle East, the moral tragedy of the little Chinese girl left to die on the road...So what on earth could an opera singer say that would have relevance for you and what you're going through at the moment? We can all afford to do a little soul-searching about the choices we make and the way we live our lives, but sometimes searching one's soul doesn't provide the answers we seek. I could ask myself, for example, why I work hard to bring music and opera to schoolkids who have yet to be exposed to classical music when there are so many bigger problems with our education system. With basic education budgets being chipped into all the time, should we care at all about getting kids to try classical music, which can seem so 'optional' in comparison to English or mathematics? I can only answer this question based on the influence of music in my own life, so for me, the answer is a resounding YES." Read the full article here.

Danielle was also named one of Marie Claire's "Women on Top Awards 2011." Check out the piece here.

Susanne Mentzer Writes About the Human Voice and Emotions

"On September 9, choruses from New York City, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Boston -- areas forever strongly linked by the tragedies of 9/11 -- will alternate performances throughout the day at Trinity Church and St. Paul's Chapel and will join together for a communal concert that evening. The human singing voice has the power to release deep emotions. Many know of sounds that give us goosebumps. From the point of view of one who makes sounds, I refer to it as my primal scream therapy. The wonderfulness of singing can be the primal, super-human sound that pours out of one's body. It also be humbling. It is thought that hearing is the last sense to leave us when we die. Over the past year, I sang both my parents into the next world. In the ICU, for my mother, an amateur singer who was particularly proud of me, I think I sang my entire repertoire of hymns and arias, toned down to a low dynamic. At one point she awakened with a smile and said, in the slow, whispered voice of one who could barely breathe, "You were singing!" I am not sure if Dad heard me in his last hours, but I would like to think so. It was a privilege that I would not trade for the world." The entire article is emotionally gripping and anyone who loves the operatic voice will relate to the kind of emotion the mezzo-soprano is talking about. Brava! [Source]