This Sunday, Sept. 20, at 3:00 PM, I will be interviewed by tenor and voice teacher Steven Tharp on the first of a series of video chats under the auspices of the excellent training program Bel Canto Boot Camp. We’ll be discussing many topics relating to singing and to the current state of opera in general. All are invited, and here’s the link.

And in related news: Will Crutchfield’s “Record of the Week” series is always worth checking in on, but this week’s installment hits on a subject dear to me—the sobering contrast, of both quantity and quality, in the development of young voices (late teens and early 20s) today and those of some 80 to 120 years ago. I’ve written about this both in my book and in the “Before the First Lesson” series here. Will presents a number of startling examples to listen to, and his comments about them, and about this Youth Development Gap, are exceptionally well informed and analyzed.

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