Singing | Emily Eagen | All Levels | Period 3 | Week 2 (July 14-19, 2024)
This eclectic class will take you around the world as we learn a wide variety of love songs in different languages – romantic songs, yes, but also odes to other loves – nature, travel, life itself – and love songs to children, a.k.a. lullabies. We’ll enjoy the fun of trying out singing in different languages, and see how this opens up our imaginations and our voices. We’ll get comfortable with the basics of diction and pronunciation, then find the heart of the poetry as we connect to the songs themselves. We’ll go deep into a few different styles, touching along the way on how to use your voice in different ways, how to flex a song with ornaments and expressive phrasing, and how to really deliver a song. The romantic love songs will let us explore the highs and lows of passion, while the lullabies will let us tap into our inner calm, seeking the gentle center of our own singing. We’ll sing songs in French, Spanish, German, Ladino, Hindi, Serbo-Croatian, Swahili, and more, learning about the cultural contexts and nuances of the songs and styles as we go. Students are welcome to bring their own song suggestions to share, and we’ll try harmony and multi-part singing on the songs as we go along to enjoy the group experience. No prior knowledge is necessary, and no fear is warranted! With a welcoming, exploratory approach, this class will help everyone get through the hurdles and get straight to the fun of of singing in different languages!
About the Instructor
A native of Cincinnati, OH, Emily lives and works in NYC as a performer, songwriter, and teacher, where she divides her time between folk music, early music, and new music. Emily has worked with artists such as Meredith Monk, Ann Hamilton, Annie Dorsen, and Bang on a Can, and is a teaching artist for Carnegie Hall, where she leads Lullaby songwriting workshops for parents and families and hosts the video series “Sing with Carnegie Hall.” As part of a Carnegie Hall commission, Emily co-wrote Nooma (2019), an immersive opera for babies ages 0-3, and co-wrote songs for the album A Colorful World by Falu, which won a Grammy for Best Children’s Album in 2022. Also a specialist in early music, Emily is the Assistant Festival Director at Amherst Early Music, and weaves elements of medieval and renaissance music into her original work. Emily teaches vocal harmony and vocal technique at the Jalopy Music Theater and School of Music, and is a professional whistler and two-time International Whistling Champion. Emily was a founding member of NYC’s old time/blues/bluegrass band The Whistling Wolves, and currently can be heard with the vocal improvisation ensemble Moving Star, the close-harmony trio Up At Dawn, and on her forthcoming album of songs for the young and young at heart.