Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
FloFo Jenkins has her big moment
An opera legend may come to the silver screen.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Speaking of a few singers who should turn singing into a hobby, there is now a rumor that a movie is being made about the ultimate pay-to-sing performer.
Pay-to-sing programs are legion. They are typically set up for young singers to learn a role or get coaching and voice lessons over the summer while school is out. You can find pay-to-sing programs all over the Unites States and Europe.
There is a slight stigma to these programs because singers who are “good enough” get into Young Artist Programs (YAPs). There are about 50,000 singers going for 50 YAPs — those numbers have not been verified — so maybe it’s not just about being “good enough.”
Pay-to-sing programs are a great way to experience music for anyone and I’ll write more about pay-to-sing and YAPs another time.
However, there is one person who paid to sing in a much larger way. She was Florence Foster Jenkins. After inheriting her family’s wealth, she founded and funded the Verdi Club in New York City.
She started performing in salons and recital halls in elaborate costumes which she designed herself. There is a certain Quixotic air about her story that I find to be touching.
She was routinely and fairly criticized for her inability to sing. Most of the people who attended her performances were there to be entertained by her lack of vocal skills. Throughout her life, Jenkins never gave it up.
“People may say that I can’t sing, but no one can ever say that I didn’t sing.” How beautiful is that? How many of us can say the same about ourselves?
The recordings of Jenkins are from the early 1940s when she was more than 70 years old. There wasn’t much of a voice or a technique to begin with so these recordings of her aged instrument are off-the-charts bad when it comes to the singing.
I still come back to the fact that she was still singing at the end of her life. No one can say that she died with her song unsung.
Meryl Streep is reportedly in line for the role.
Here's something you might be interested in.
FloFo Jenkins has her big moment
An opera legend may come to the silver screen.
FloFo Jenkins has her big moment
An opera legend may come to the silver screen.
Florence Foster Jenkins
Speaking of a few singers who should turn singing into a hobby, there is now a rumor that a movie is being made about the ultimate pay-to-sing performer.
Pay-to-sing programs are legion. They are typically set up for young singers to learn a role or get coaching and voice lessons over the summer while school is out. You can find pay-to-sing programs all over the Unites States and Europe.
There is a slight stigma to these programs because singers who are “good enough” get into Young Artist Programs (YAPs). There are about 50,000 singers going for 50 YAPs — those numbers have not been verified — so maybe it’s not just about being “good enough.”
Pay-to-sing programs are a great way to experience music for anyone and I’ll write more about pay-to-sing and YAPs another time.
However, there is one person who paid to sing in a much larger way. She was Florence Foster Jenkins. After inheriting her family’s wealth, she founded and funded the Verdi Club in New York City.
She started performing in salons and recital halls in elaborate costumes which she designed herself. There is a certain Quixotic air about her story that I find to be touching.
She was routinely and fairly criticized for her inability to sing. Most of the people who attended her performances were there to be entertained by her lack of vocal skills. Throughout her life, Jenkins never gave it up.
“People may say that I can’t sing, but no one can ever say that I didn’t sing.” How beautiful is that? How many of us can say the same about ourselves?
The recordings of Jenkins are from the early 1940s when she was more than 70 years old. There wasn’t much of a voice or a technique to begin with so these recordings of her aged instrument are off-the-charts bad when it comes to the singing.
I still come back to the fact that she was still singing at the end of her life. No one can say that she died with her song unsung.
Meryl Streep is reportedly in line for the role.
Comments