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Speak Up to Sing Out
“To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices.” These words were the backbone of composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s acceptance speech at the 2020 Oscars—she being the fourth woman ever to win an Oscar for Best Film Score and the first since 1997. The clarity and courage behind this intention was likely hard fought. Forged out of no longer being able to bear the weight and consequence of not speaking up. The next morning, I woke up to several social media posts from female colleagues quoting Guðnadóttir. Her words resonate with anyone who…
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Meeting Limiting Beliefs with Pliability
When coaching a voice student through self-doubt, I often allude to “limiting beliefs.” I’m borrowing this phrase from a larger zeitgeist—a quick Google will show you how prolific this concept is. The semantics of “limiting beliefs” reveals both the poison and the antidote. Limiting quantifies the cost of self-doubt to our potential, while belief suggests that a shift in mindset is possible. I recently joined a workout that is a combination of yoga and aerobics—many of the exercise sequences incorporate use of a mini-trampoline. The class is rigorous and the element of bouncing is equal parts exhilarating and intimidating. I often catch myself thinking two things: “man, these other women…
