Ontario Chapter General Meeting & Workshops: May 7, 2011

Posted on by NATS Ontario

Dear Colleagues and fellow NATS members,

I am happy to announce that our spring general meeting will be held on Saturday, May 7th at the Edward Johnson Building (room 330), University of Toronto at 9:30a.m. After adjournment a wonderful day of professional development has been planned by our vice-presidents for workshops, Todd Wieczorek and Alison Moodie.

For the morning, we will have a Vocal Seminar/Discussion–What we hear: describing vocal sound. This professional development session will invite teachers to listen to various recorded voices, evaluate what is heard, discuss what goes into making the sound, and how to work with it. Samples will demonstrate beginning to professionally-trained voices in a session led by our very own Ontario District Governor, Torin Chiles.

We are fortunate to have Elaine Overholt as our afternoon presenter from 1:00 to 2:30p.m.. Ms. Overholt is Canadian and is well-known as a voice teacher, vocal coach and producer throughout North America, specializing in contemporary vocal techniques. Originally trained in classical piano and classical voice at the University of Western Ontario, she has since built her career and specialized in performing and coaching contemporary styles including gospel, music theatre and rock. As a performer Ms. Overholt has worked with such well known performers as Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Richard Margison, Anne Murray and Dionne Warwick.
Elaine was the voice coach for the cast of the Hollywood movies and the Broadway shows of “Hairspray” (John Travolta et al) and “Chicago” (Renee Zellweger,Queen Latifah, Richard Gere). She has been a guest voice coach for Ellen on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Many of us also remember Elaine, working with Andrew Lloyd Weber, as the voice coach for the Canadian TV show “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria” participants. Virgin, Universal, Capitol and Sony record labels send recording artists to Elaine Overholt for coaching to help them protect their voices, develop stamina and individual style.

Elaine will be giving a 1 1/2 hour presentation/masterclass to our NATS members on how she teaches contemporary singing styles, mainly music theatre, to classically trained singers.

I hope that most of you will be able to attend this wonderful day of learning and fellowship with our chapter members. On this occasion, we’d also like to invite guests to attend the Overholt workshop for a small fee. So please invite and encourage other teachers or students or any interested parties to come along to the afternoon workshop.

I’m really looking forward to seeing you all in May and to these great professional development opportunities. Mark the date, Saturday, May 7th, on your calendars now!

With all best wishes,
Catherine Robbin
President of NATS Ontario Chapter

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November 2010 Ontario Chapter Student Auditions

Posted on by NATS Ontario

This year’s 2010 NATS Ontario Chapter Student Auditions will be held at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, The University of Western Ontario, on Saturday, November 20th.

The General Meeting will be held before the Auditions begin. All NATS members are welcome to attend the meeting. Participating students along with parents and friends may sit in during the Auditions.

For application forms & more information, visit our Auditions page.  Please note that applications must be postmarked on or before October 1, 2010.

Our popular Workshop, Making the Cut, will also be held on this day.  Making the Cut is a workshop for students who plan to audition for post-secondary music programs Every two years, NATS Ontario presents this popular workshop for students as well as their parents and teachers. A panel of representatives from most of the university, college and conservatory music programs in Ontario speak about their programs and expectations of singers who audition for them, as well as the level of preparation needed. They also answer questions.