Well Canto Turns One!

The Well Canto Newsletter

Happy Birthday, Well Canto!

Well Canto Mental Fitness for Singers was launched one year ago on February 1, 2024, with the intention of showing singers how to shape their own mindset, creating the inner strength to manage all the various aspects of being a student or working singer.

A whole year of regular writing has been personally therapeutic, and wonderfully creative. Publishing Well Canto allows me to live one of my highest values: helping others.

What’s New for Year Two?

The focus of Well Canto will both widen and narrow! My original target audience is student, pre-professional, and professional singers, as well as the people who support them. A huge part of a performer’s training is developing the mindset to cope with the pressures of performing, of filtering comments and advice from a vast array of mentors so that they are useful and not crippling, and staying in a headspace of curiosity and exploration rather than fear and judgment. But there are scant resources for these things, and it is mostly left to the individual to figure it all out.

These topics are not at all limited to performers, however. In fact, everyone on the planet - except maybe The Dalai Lama and a few other highly evolved beings - could benefit from tuning up their mental fitness. I know I can, and so I practice daily. Many Well Canto posts attracted other kinds of creatives for exactly this reason. And so I will lean into providing general healthy mindset strategies, and that is how Well Canto Year Two will broaden.

Specifically for Singers

As a reminder, I was a working classical singer for over 3 decades. I obtained a master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music, and lived and worked in NYC. I traveled all over the U.S. singing leading operatic roles, orchestral and oratorio repertoire, and recitals. As a young singer making my way I accepted every singing job: Christmas caroling, church jobs, professional choruses, and countless one-offs like singing in retirement homes. I loved that life and learned from every experience. Later, I raised a family with my heroic also-a-singer husband while we both continued in our careers. In other words, I lived the life...for a long time.

What I didn’t have is what I attempt to provide now as a former performer, a voice teacher, and nationally board certified wellness coach: tools for managing the mental gymnastics, the stress, the time management and organizational skills needed for this wonderful, crazy, roller coaster ride of the life of a working singer.

New Features

To that end, Well Canto Year Two is launching 2 new features aimed toward singers. First is the monthly Well Canto Conversations with veterans of the business - other singers, agents, conductors, teachers, etc, who currently work with aspiring artists. Each will talk about their experiences but also what they see or want to see in the developing generation. Valuable info! No more guessing!

Second, a monthly feature called Well Canto’s Authentic Singer will speak to singer-specific topics such as Embracing the Classical Aesthetic, How to Voice Lesson, and What Does Working Hard Look Like?, as well as some tough topics like Recognizing Abuse and Sexual Predation.

Every Well Canto post in the first year has been free to access. It’s been exciting to see the number of subscribers and followers go up and up and up. It was SHOCKING (and very encouraging) when a few voluntarily insisted on paying for their subscription. Many Well Canto posts will remain free and accessible, and others - like the new features - will go behind a very modest paywall.

If you choose (or have already chosen) to be a paid subscriber you will:

• Always have access to all Well Canto posts, including the two new monthly features The Well Canto Conversation, and Authentic Singer

• Have access to an audio version of Well Canto posts

• Support me and my mission to help us all cultivate a healthy mindset, thereby increasing our sense of well-being.

• Have my everlasting gratitude!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope you will find something of use to the development of your whole-artist self through The Well Canto Newsletter on Substack.

May you live in ease and kindness, with a free heart.

Well Canto is a registered trademark.

Singing Lessons with Barbara www.WAVS.info

Wellness Coachings with Barbara www.BarbaraShirvisWellness.com