The thriving singer's podcast

In our conversation today we take a deep dive into the Feldenkrais method as a way to release tension in the body by developing a deep awareness of how the mechanisms of the body are constructed and how they work together as a whole, that is, how one movement affects another. And we discuss why it’s important to develop this vision of how the body works as a whole in order to really be in control of your development as a singer. F.ex if you don't know how your ribcage is supposed to move how are you ever going to do it correctly? We even cover topics like breath and weight lifting!

If you have struggled with tension in your body when you sing, then this episode is for you! Developing awareness of your body and how it wants to move is a life skill like no other! Marina also guides me through some short lessons that you can try alongside us and see if you discover something for yourself.

Marina Gilman holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Indiana University, Master of Music degree from Ithaca College, and a Masters of Art in Communication Disorders from Northwestern University. She graduated from the Montreal Feldenkrais Training in 1996. She is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais® Practitioner, singing teacher, performer, and licensed speech pathologist with a specialization in voice. She has taught voice at Cornell University, Syracuse University, and in the Theater School at DePaul University Chicago. Marina has also taught at the School at the Steppenwolf Theater Company summer program. In her capacity as a licensed speech pathologist Marina has worked at major medical voice centers in Chicago and recently retired from working as part of the interdisciplinary team at the Emory Voice Center, Department of Otolaryngology, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Her interest in the somatic aspects of voice training began with her personal struggle with body tension. Over the years she has worked to bring the Feldenkrais work into her clinical, academic, and studio teaching.

Marina Gilman’s performing career includes recitals as well as leading operatic roles with regional opera companies. Marina regularly taught Feldenkrais workshops for actors, singers and voice therapists, as well as presented at professional voice and medical conferences. She has published research on voice in medical voice journals and is the author of Body and Voice: Somatic Re-education, available through Plural Publishing.

Connect with Marina Gilman

E-mail |

Resources Mentioned:

• Body and Voice: Somatic Re-Eduation by Marina Gilman
• Bodymapping
• Interview on Voice Matters with Liz Johnson
• Moshé Feldenkrais

Ingela Onstad is a High-Performance Coach for performing artists and other professionals in the public eye, as well as a professional soprano, psychotherapist, and board-certified coach.

Her coaching business, Courageous Artistry, supports performing artists in their quest to perform at the top of their abilities. She helps performers address emotional wellbeing and mindset in order to help them take massive action towards creating or maintaining their dream careers.

She has thousands of hours of clinical experience as a therapist with a variety of ages and issues, but helping performers is her true passion.

Ms.Onstad has presented on the topic of performance anxiety at dozens of institutions across the United States and Canada.

In addition, Ms. Onstad is a soprano who has enjoyed a varied international career in opera, concert work, and contemporary music. Operatic highlights include performances throughout Germany, Canada, and the United States.

She continues to maintain an active performing career.

In our conversation today we talk about how to deal with our natural tendency to break into fight or flight mode. We talk about how thoughts and emotions are not facts and how we can better our self-talk and thought patterns so we don’t end up standing in our own way.

She guides us through breaking down big overwhelming goals, like getting an agent, into manageable steps. We talk about how we as singers are entrepreneurs and that we are essentially running a business with every single role that entails.

How there is no shame in finding alternative ways of supporting oneself while you build your career. And lastly how every single aspect of our lives contributes to our well-being or not, and how being vigilant about building good habits may help your anxiety.

Connect with Ingela Onstad, MM, MA, LMHC, BCC

Website | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Linkedin

Resources Mentioned:

• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman
• Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman
• You are a badass by Jen Sincero
• The alter ego effect by Todd Herman
• The artist's Way by Julia Cameron
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Shirley Tennyson, MA, EdM CCC-SLP, is a certified Speech-Language Pathologist with a particular interest and training in voice disorders. She graduated with Master's Degrees from Ohio University and Columbia University.

Her specialty is working with people who have voice disorders caused by such things as polyps, nodules, or cysts on the vocal folds, a paralyzed vocal fold, atrophied vocal folds, as well as voice problems resulting from neurological conditions, e.g., spasmodic dysphonia, Parkinson Disease, etc.

As a singer/actor herself, she particularly enjoys helping singers of all genres, actors, and performers resolve their vocal issues. Anyone who relies on his or her voice to earn a living is considered to be a professional voice user. This would include teachers, clergy, attorneys, salespeople, and receptionists just to name a few.

In our discussion today we talk about the most common vocal disorders in performers i.e nodules, polyps, vocal fold hemorrhage, and Edema, what they are, and how they form.

How problems with the singing voice can often be traced back to how you use your speaking voice. We discuss the mechanisms of the Passagio. We discuss why posture is so important to accessing your optimal sound, the dos and don’ts of vocal hygiene and vocal conservation, and last but not least breath.

Connect with Shirley Tennyson, MA, EdM CCC-SLP

Linkedin | email mentioned at the end of the interview

• https://www.essentricstv.com
• Alexander Technique
• Feldenkreis

My guest today is a dear friend and colleague of mine Francesca Mondanaro. A fabulous singer and a master teacher. At the forefront of our discussion today are topics such as working with and Identifying the big voice and what “building” one actually means. Why developing and listening to your own intuition is so important in addition to three metrics Francesca has defined for trusting vocal growth for the young singer who is still learning to take ownership of their own instrument.

Why developing and knowing your WHY is crucial in being able to play and stay the long game, which is what it takes to build a career in opera, and dare I say in any business for that matter.

There is some powerful information in this episode that you can profit from no matter where you are in your career.

After a 15-year international career performing as a dramatic soprano with such companies as Deutsche Oper Berlin, Spontini Festivale, Sarasota Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera Baltimore, Opera Delaware, Teatro Grattacielo, and many more, Francesca Mondanaro has moved into teaching voice for emerging young artists and working professionals in opera and musical theater.

In 2022 alone, her clients have been featured in roles with Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Opera, Florentine Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, Opera Delaware, Teatro Lirico d’Europa, Opera Orlando, Baltimore Concert Opera, Barn Opera, San Diego Opera, and the National Broadway Tour of Disney’s Aladdin, just to name a few.

She has also been a guest master teacher for the Vancouver Opera Young Artist Program and Brooklyn Music School since 2018. Francesca is absolutely passionate about working with unique instruments, and the whole human, not just the voice, by creating a nurturing, positive environment in her studio that allows for each individual artist to find their most authentic sound, built on a technique that gets them where they want to go on their artistic journey.

It was such an honor to have had Francesca on the podcast as she is a wealth of knowledge and experience! A fabulous singer and a master teacher and just such a warm presence to be around!

Connect with Francesca Mondanaro:

Website | Facebook

Resources Mentioned:

• The artist's Way by Julia Cameron
• The body keeps the score by Bessel van der Kolk
• Ikigai by Héctor García