Diversify the Stand with Ashley Killam and Carrie Blosser

02/10/22 • 53 min

Happy February! I am so grateful for you to be here with me, at the 20th episode of the show. It’s hard to imagine that we’ve been here together for almost 5 months, and I hope you are still loving this show as much as I do.

Today’s topic is something that I personally really look forward to, commissioning. In the musical world, commission means that you pay someone to write a piece of music for you.

One way of supporting living composers is to perform their works in concert halls, and another is to commission new works. And why is this important? Because it gives us a chance to help shape the future of repertoire literature.

My guests today are Ashley Killam and Dr. Carrie Blosser, co-founders of Diversify the Stand. It is an organization dedicated to working with diverse musical voices to create accessible educational music.
They are committed to expanding repertoire and providing accessible educational works by composers of color, gender-marginalized composers, and LGBTQ+ composers.

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Today’s topic is something that I personally really look forward to, commissioning. In the musical world, commission means that you pay someone to write a piece of music for you.

All About Chaowen Ting

Previous Episode

Running Efficient and Effective Rehearsals by Using your Words and Voice Well

Today we are going to talk about something that I personally love speaking about -- running effective and efficient rehearsals!

There are many aspects about planning for rehearsals -- from strategizing the overarching rehearsal goals throughout the concert cycle, to pacing each individual rehearsal session; from choosing the right program to being mindful and reading the room well. However, in today’s episode, we are going to focus on verbal communication, and discuss how you can be very specific with your words and use your voice effectively.
Ready for some tips?
Don’t talk when they are still playing
Speak loudly and project to the back of the section
Speak slowly and pay attention to your pauses
Focus on (no more than) two things at a time
Use the “Who, Where, What” format
Use positive comments
And don't forget.... pace your rehearsal with the sandwich technique!

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Next Episode

Broadway Demystified with Lily Ling

In today’s episode, I am interviewing a dear friend, Lily Ling, who is music director and conductor of the Hamilton Broadway show. I was connected with Lily through the mentorship program offered by the Maestra Music, an organization supporting women and non-binary musicians working in musical theater. They offered a lot of great webinars during the pandemic, and I was fortunate to be accepted into their program as a first cohort mentee.
Full disclosure, I am not terribly familiar with the industry or practices of musical theater, but through Maestra Music I have made friends in the field. In my conversation with Lily, you will hear me asking lots of questions based on my assumptions of the profession, and her insider responses and her genuine sharing are just something that I love about her as a person and a great musician.
Lily Ling is a Toronto based musician and the current Music Director and Conductor for the And Peggy tour of Hamilton. She is the first female to hold the title of Music Director and also the first person of East Asian descent to conduct the production. Most recently, Lily served as the Vocal Music Coordinator for the Netflix movie adaptation of 13: The Musical.
Other theatrical credit highlihts include Music Director and Conductor for 20th Anniversary Off-Broadway revival of john & jen and Associate Music Director and Vocal Coach for the Chinese language premiere of The Lion King. She holds a BMus in Piano Performance from the University of Toronto and an MFA in Music Direction from Penn State University. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education degree in Music and Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

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