Modern Singer Book Club: October
Fall is here, and it's time to don your favorite sweaters and cuddle up with a good book while we all get ready for auditions! We've cultivated a list of books in four categories: For Thought - books that have been turned into operas, For Growth - books about music and the industry, For Learning - books to learn something outside of the music industry, and For the Betterment of Humanity - books that are relevant to growing our knowledge of the people around us. This month we're focusing on preparing for auditions, both in-person and online. If you're looking to shop these books and support small BIPOC-owned businesses, click here. Looking to support local bookstores online? Click here.
For the Betterment of Humanity
A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry & Kali Nicole Gross
It's hard to know how the country started from just a textbook you read in school. Two award-winning historians made it their mission to both empower Black women and show their ability to make their own communities while combating centuries of oppression. This mission is an essential component in the continued resistance to systemic racism and sexism. Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross offer a celebration of Black womanhood, beginning with the first African women who arrived in what became the United States. Berry and Gross prioritize many voices: enslaved women, freedwomen, religious leaders, artists, queer women, activists, and women who lived outside the law. This historical examination of the women who built this country is just a starting point to the beauty and strength that lives on today.
For Thought
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
In the dystopian world of the Republic of Gilead that seems eerily familiar, Offred is a Handmaid. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. Women are only valued for their abilities to carry on a family line. Offred can remember the years before when she lived and loved her husband, Luke, when she played with and protected her daughter, and when she had a job and money of her own. But now all of that is gone. Horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is a scathing satire, a dire warning, and a tour de force that was turned into an opera composed by Danish composer Poul Ruders in 2000 with a libretto by Paul Bentley. This empowering read shows how resilient women in this work raise their voices.
For Growth
Poetry into Song by Deborah Stein & Robert Spillman
As stage performers, we can sometimes forget the beauty of art song and Lieder. There are even competitions and companies that specifically look to add these to their performances and concerts. Focusing on some of the greats of German Lieder, Poetry into Song offers a systematic introduction to performance and analysis. Specific pieces are dissected using both the poetry and music as analytical lenses to inform interpretation and characterization. Poetry into Song gives an in-depth look at the preparation away from the music that we should all be doing for each piece we work on. Grab a pen and paper along with your favorite art song, and take some time to delve into a luscious piece of music.
For Learning
The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan & Barbara Pease
Hear us out on this one. Learning the art of body language is key for every single performer. We have to know every bit of each character we portray. How characters think and interact with those around them affects their body language in innumerable ways. There are so many different ways to present your characterization on stage, in the audition room, or in a video. Build up your body language repertoire to show off in each and every audition you step into, whether it's virtual or in person.
