Vocal Arts

Analysis Essentials Series: Diana Ankudinova | ”Can’t Help Falling In Love”

The 2nd addition to the Analysis Essentials Series, please enjoy my full vocal analysis of Diana Ankudinova's live performance of "Can't Help Falling In Love," originally by Elvis Presley. This audio comes from my most popular YouTube video to-date, recently surpassing 500,000 views -- if you'd like to watch the video, follow the link below. Enjoy!

 

https://youtu.be/-A-wAOR4XOQ

 

Geoff Castellucci: Flavors of Bass

Geoff Castellucci is a Bass Singer, Producer, Arranger and Co-Founding Member of VoicePlay. He studied music at the University of Central Florida, but most of his stage experience comes from the school of hard knocks. Geoff performed live shows for many years before starting his YouTube channel in 2019. Aside from his work, he enjoys cooking, gardening and spending time with his family. 

 

Peter and Geoff dive deep into Geoff's career as a member (and major contributor) of VoicePlay, his solo work, approach to vocal technique, upcoming projects, hobbies outside of music, and much more. Please welcome Geoff Castellucci. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/@GeoffCastellucci

https://www.youtube.com/@Thevoiceplay

https://www.instagram.com/geophr3y/

Jennifer Glatzhofer: A Jen of All Trades

Jennifer Glatzhofer has been performing on stages all over the UK from a young age. Her first love being Musical Theatre, she then continued training professionally and has been working in the industry since. Finding her own sound has always been a goal for Jennifer and whilst being a lead singer and pianist for a highly demanding functions band, ‘Joyrider Wedding & Function Band’, she has been able to focus on just that. Whilst learning more about her own voice and how the voice works, she then began teaching voice/singing lessons and now has students all over the world. This includes one to one teaching and even through her reactions and analysis videos on YouTube.

During the pandemic, Jennifer’s channel grew as she began to post reaction & analysis videos of artists, focusing on and demonstrating vocal technique, artistic choices and arrangements. On her journey towards 100k subscribers, Jennifer continues to share informative and entertaining videos whilst also sharing her love of music by posting covers. At the end of 2022 she released a covers album called “Layers” which features musical partner Ian Iredale. The album can be found on all major streaming platforms. The two have more recently released their first original single ‘I’m Not A Fan’. You can be sure to expect more original material coming in the future. 

Peter and Jennifer chat about her history as a musical theater performer, experience as a wedding singer, being a voice teacher, approach to vocal technique, upcoming solo projects, finding a healthy work/life balance, takeout food preferences, and much more. Please welcome Jennifer Glatzhofer.

Analysis Essentials Series: The Commendatore Scene from Mozart’s Don Giovanni

Peter Barber's full vocal analysis of one of the greatest scenes in opera, the Commendatore scene from Mozart's iconic opera, Don Giovanni. Peter recently had the immense honor of performing the title role of Don Giovanni at The Academy of Vocal Arts, which inspired him to share the audio of this analysis on designated podcast platforms. The sharing of this audio has thus created a new series (the "Analysis Essentials Series") within the larger podcast umbrella, where Peter will choose his favorite musical and vocal analyses to share in between interview episodes. Please enjoy this extensive breakdown of one of the most famous moments in opera history.

Lauren Paley: The Stairwell Siren

Lauren Paley, otherwise known as “The Stairwell Siren”, is a music and lifestyle content creator best known for her haunting covers she records in her garage stairwell. When her husband’s job went remote as a result of the pandemic, recording music in a one-bedroom apartment became a challenge. It was during this time that Lauren stumbled upon the incredible acoustics of the stairwell - now her recording studio away from home. Since dedicating her time to growing her social media presence, she has amassed a total of over 12 million followers across all platforms. When she isn’t posting covers, she is sharing glimpses of her personal life as a new mom with her fan base. 

Tim Foust: A Life of Bass

Tim Foust is a sardonic, yet sensitive, singer-songwriter who doesn’t take himself too seriously.

As an established performer with all-vocal country band, Home Free, Tim is known mostly for a bass voice that reaches notes deep enough to shake arenas. Now, as he begins to release new recordings as a solo artist, the world will be introduced to a master craftsman who can build a wall of sound using the unequaled range of his voice alone. An accomplished songwriter, Tim has achieved recognition for his compositions on Home Free’s Billboard Chart-topping albums, “Timeless,” “Dive Bar Saints” and So Long Dixie.” With an unmistakably authentic writing voice, Tim uses his clever wit to tell stories inspired by both fact and fiction. He enjoys being a wordsmith as much as a musician, and each piece is an opportunity for him to pen lyrics that stir emotion as well as entertain with originality and, at times, humor. Onstage, Tim is known equally for his voice and his personality. Like a big brother, he shows affection to his audience through jokes and teasing, and he’s built a community of fans who travel from far and wide just to be in the same room with him. Tim is a true musician’s musician, which is why he feels at-home in Nashville. Born and raised in the small town of Nederland, Texas, he went on to live in Los Angeles, Boston, Minneapolis, and At-Sea as a guest entertainer aboard cruise ships, before joining Home Free in 2010. In 2013, the group found international success after competing on, and winning, the NBC series “The Sing-Off”. Tim finally found a home in Tennessee in 2014, which is where he also met his wife and frequent musical cohort, Jenika Marion. Collaborating with friends is a huge part of what makes Tim happy and one of the ways he prefers to spend his time. He has been featured on releases by Peter Hollens, VoicePlay, Straight No Chaser, The Hound + The Fox and more. This year, he plans to use new platforms to share the stage and screen with his talented cohorts via stage and backyard shows, destination experiences, livestreamed events, exclusive recordings and more. He recently formed the supergroup, Sweet + Low Music Co., with some off his favorite vocalists, writers and multi-instrumentalists. Tim has two solo albums - “The Best That I Could Do,” a collection of country originals, and “Pieces of Me, Vol. 1,” and all-Tim, all a cappella Doo-Wop project.

Tomi P: Bass Singing Nation

Tomi P is a 22-year old bass singer from the Czech Republic. His musical training began with piano at age 16, and he as since developed into an outstanding vocal arranger and a cappella music producer, while maintaining his position as the bass singer in the vocal band, Shot-C. His YouTube career, where he has accumulated his largest following, started out as a hub for bass singer compilation videos, highlighting vocal ranges of various famous singers in the a cappella world. However, in the last five years, he has become one of the biggest up-and-coming a cappella musical artists himself, with over 32,000 subscribers, and millions of views. Recently, Tomi helped found a group of four bass singers called The Bass Gang in collaboration with Bobby “Bass” Waters, Marwan Ayman, and Peter Barber. With high aspirations, Tomi hopes to create a full-time living from his music, and become one of the leading names in the a cappella world. Tomi and I talk about the landscape of the virtual a cappella world, growing a following, his method for arranging music, his plans for the future, and many more topics. Please welcome Tomi P. 

The Bass Gang: May the Bass Be With You

The Bass Gang is a group of four bass singers, thriving in virtual collaboration from all corners of the planet — Bobby Bass from Connecticut, Tomi P from the Czech Republic, Marwan Ayman from Egypt, and Peter Barber from Virginia. During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Bass Gang assembled for their premiere project, entitled, “May the Bass Be With You,” covering four songs by the worldwide sensation, Billie Eilish. So far, May the Bass Be With You has yielded nearly 100,000 views on YouTube, tens of thousands of plays on streaming services, and tens of thousands more on Instagram and TikTok. Needless the say, The Bass Gang’s reputation has quickly permeated throughout the online bass and a cappella communities. With merchandise on the way, as well as plans for future collaborations, The Bass Gang is here to stay, and the buzz around them has only continued to snowball since the their first project came to completion.

In this podcast, we talk about how The Bass Gang started, how we pulled off enormous virtual collaborations from around the world, why we chose Billie Eilish, our whirlwind experience from the onset of the group in January through the culmination of our first project on May 31st, as well as a host of questions provided by BSN, the Bass Singing Nation discord server, without which, The Bass Gang would’ve never been founded, Please welcome The Bass Gang.

My Merchandise Store on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PeterBarberMerch

Veronica Swift: Trans Genre

At age 26, Veronica Swift has become one of the world’s most sought-after jazz talents. At age nine, she recorded her first album, and began professionally touring with her parents, as well as The Young Razzcals Jazz Project. At age 11, after recording her second album, she headlined her first show at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Just before graduating from the University of Miami, Veronica was awarded second place at the Thelonious Monk 2015 Jazz Vocal Competition, landing her a showcase at the esteemed Birdland Jazz Club in New York City, where she maintained a weekly residency while touring internationally with famous trumpeter, Chris Botti. Over the past few years, Veronica signed a record deal with Mack Avenue Recordings, and released her 2019 album entitled, “Confessions” with them. She has also toured and performed on numerous occasions with Michael Feinstein, Benny Green, Wynton Marsalis, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, appearing at many of the world’s legendary jazz festivals and clubs.

Veronica and I go way back, all the way back to 6th grade at Henley Middle School. A simpler time, and a more awkward time to be sure, but it looks like we’ve both turned out okay. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation, discussing what it means to be a storyteller, to be an artist, the comparisons between jazz and operatic lifestyles, international tours, going to school in Miami, and much more. We went out to dinner the day after this interview, and she casually clued me in that the week prior, she went out to dinner with Sting while she was in New York. I’m obviously a much more exciting dinner date than Sting, but save some fame for the rest of us, would ya? Please welcome Veronica Swift.

Bryan Hymel: Opera Life

Bryan Hymel is a professional opera singer, father, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Praised by The New York Times for his “unflagging stamina and impetuous abandon” during his 2012 Metropolitan Opera debut as Énée in Les Troyens, Bryan Hymel went on to be awarded the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Artist Award for his achievements in the production. He is also the winner of the 2013 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for his trio of performances in Les Troyens, Robert le diable, and Rusalka at London’s Royal Opera House. An exclusive recording artist for Warner Classics, his first solo album Héroïque earned Hymel the coveted Georges Thill Prize by the Académie Nationale du Disque Lyrique and the Newcomer of the Year Award from ECHO Klassik. Additional recordings include La Damnation de Faust with Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra, Robert le Diable with Daniel Oren and the Opera di Salerno, as well as DVD recordings of Carmen, Les Troyens, Robert le Diable and Les Vepres Sicillienes all from the Royal Opera House in London.  

Bryan and I talked about the realities of a career as an opera singer, starting a family as an opera singer, the psychological challenges of the business, vocal technique, and much more. Please welcome Bryan Hymel.