VoiceBox

Beyond Cultural Borders

Monika Jalili, an American vocalist specializing in the Persian repertoire, and Briget Boyle, a singer of Irish extraction who is a member of the acclaimed Balkan vocal ensemble Kitka, explore the triumphs and challenges of singing the repertoire of cultures far removed from their own.

Harmonic Landscapes

Chloe, Erika and Rachel Tietjen of the T Sisters, an Oakland-based singing group, together with vocalist Melody Walker, talk about how voices can create lush harmonic vistas.

Bay Area Vocal Music Showcase

Concert presenter Therese Davis (aka Ms Momo), who founded The Songbird Festival in 2009 to celebrate local vocal artists, discusses some of her favorite Bay Area vocal acts.

Woody at 100

VoiceBox celebrates Woody Guthrie's centennial birthday with conversation and song when Peter Glazer, professor of Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley and creator of the stage show Woody Guthrie's American Song, shares his thoughts on the seminal American folk artist.

Young Voices

Bob Geary, who heads up The Golden Gate International Children’s and Youth Choral Festival, shares the music of youth choirs participating in this year’s event from China, the United States, Indonesia, Georgia and other countries.

Under the Knife

Laryngologist Mark Courey and voice pathologist Sarah Schneider explain what happens when professional singers undergo voice surgery from the operating theater to the all-important rehab process. Program generously underwritten by The American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA).

The Fachs of Life

Fach, a method for classifying a classically trained singer’s vocal “type,” can be both a blessing and a curse to a singer’s career. The San Francisco Opera Center’s Sheri Greenawald discusses the workings of fach and how it can change over the course of a vocalist’s lifetime.

Barbra & Meryl

Actresses Barbra Streisand and Meryl Streep are the main focus of a discussion about great actors who also happen to be great singers with Chad Jones, theatre critic and performing arts blogger, and vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway. Program generously underwritten by The San Francisco Symphony.

VoiceBox Live: Drinking/Songs

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, VoiceBox, the Fill A Steins men’s a cappella ensemble and beer cicerone Sayre Piotrkowski present an interactive exploration of the ancient global connection between singing and beer. Recorded before a live audience at 50 Mason Social House in San Francisco on May 16.

Turntable Fable

Peter Varshavsky of Porto Franco Records and Avi Ehrlich of Silver Sprocket Records present a candid view of the highs and lows of running a record label for singers.

The Real Glee

College a cappella experts Charlie Forkish, Bill Hare, Deke Sharon, Mickey Rapkin and Will Tarpeh exchange thoughts on the current state of the booming college a cappella scene.

The Great VoiceBox Choral Music Showcase

Bay Area Choral Director founder Helene Whitson explores some of the best choral music CD releases of the past year.

Viva Flamenco!

Carola Zertuche, artistic director of San Francisco’s Theatre Flamenco, and Nina Menendez, artistic director of the Bay Area Flamenco Festival, chart the impact of vocal music on Spain’s flamenco tradition.

Elements of Badness

Composer and blogger Brian Rosen discusses the worst songs in the world and what makes them so bad. (playlist)

Weill's Voices

Stanford Music Professor Stephen Hinton discusses the vocal music of Kurt Weill and the singers who have helped to seal the German composer’s reputation over decades. (Re-run: show first aired on February 24, 2012).

Bay Area Bombshells

Matt Lombardi and Jamie Freedman of Hear It Local, an online resource that connects artists, venues and audiophiles, curate a program featuring some of their favorite female vocalists from the Bay Area music scene. (playlist)

Innate Chemistry: How singers communicate with their bands

When you’re the one standing in front of the mike, it’s easy to feel like you’re the center of the universe. But communicating properly with your band members is absolutely key to giving a successful performance. Jazz vocalist Ellen Robinson and instrumentalists Sam Bevan and Kristen Strom join VoiceBox host Chloe Veltman for a discussion about the subtle yet powerful art of communication that takes place between great singers and the great instrumentalists that surround them.

(playlist)

Songs of America: Thomas Hampson on the Great American Songbook

Song is deeply ingrained in this country’s cultural identity. The celebrated American baritone Thomas Hampson joins VoiceBox host Chloe Veltman for a discussion about how the poetic and sonic legacy of vocal music has shaped American culture across the centuries. (playlist)

It Takes Two, Baby: On the relationship between speaking and singing

Every voice specialist knows that if you want to sing healthily, you first have to be able to speak healthily. Join VoiceBox host Chloe Veltman and American Speech Language Hearing Association voice experts Sarah Schneider and Joanna Cazden for a conversation about the connection between the two ways we use our voices. This episode of VoiceBox is generously underwritten by the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA). Visit www.asha.org for more information. playlist)

Eurovox: The EU A Cappella Scene

The United States tend to dominate the pop a cappella scene these days thanks to the appeal of TV shows like The Sing Off and the growth of the college a cappella movement in this country. But Europe is an equally vital place for the genre, as Tine Frise, a member of the Danish vocal ensemble Postyr Project, explains in conversation with VoiceBox host Chloe Veltman. (playlist)