Fach My Life

Ros and Adele answer questions sent in by curious listeners! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

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Ros interviews the incredible Dr. Christine Jobson, a multi-talented entrepreneurial soprano who sings loud and proud the message 'Black girls sing opera'. Well, they do, and bloody marvellously too! Listen to hear about Dr. Christine's journey in academia, her passion for exploring and programming music by black composers, and her fight to show children of colour that they do have a place in opera. Check out https://www.christinejobson.com/ and shop her collections at https://www.christinejobson.com/shop AND check out @blackgirlssingopera on Instagram --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros interviews the wonderful baritone Clinton Fung, who shares his thoughts on microaggressions, what needs to change in opera, and how being bribed with food launched his singing career. Follow Clinton on Instagram at clintonfung7 and check out clintonfung.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros and Adele report on various aspects of race and racist structures within opera, including: the treatment of Pretty Yende at Charles de Gaule Airport, casting discrepancies, whether companies have walked the walk following their Black Lives Matter statements in 2020, and recommendations for other podcasts and reading material. Links in Linktree and here: https://www.bipocarts.com https://theconversation.com/opera-is-stuck-in-a-racist-sexist-past-while-many-in-the-audience-have-moved-on-120073 Just read this too: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/28/preserved-in-aspic-opera-embarks-on-diversity-drive this is v current from asian racism: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scottish-opera-pulls-out-of-award-in-nixon-in-china-make-up-race-row-v6vqkq5s5 https://open.spotify.com/show/2wWVYrO8YXp2zKvjRhxksY?si=6_ZGtpH5StCwHBO1x9ItJA&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros and Adele have a mid-season regroup about several pressing issues! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros and Adele discuss the lack of accessibility for state-educated students in UK conservatoires, and how the institutions themselves and the government are failing young potential musicians by depriving them of the building blocks needed for success in classical music that their privately-educated peers have handed to them. Question: why are certain people in Britain so bloody obsessed with where you went to school? Articles referenced are: https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/specialist-arts-colleges-among-most-elitist-country also https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2019/05/22/the-conservatoire-crisis-is-oxbridge-a-model-for-widening-participation/ and https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk/2005/may/10/highereducation.accesstouniversity --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros and Adele discuss 'genius-worship' in classical music and the harm that can be done by elevating a few people beyond accountability. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Article 1: https://www.middleclassartist.com/post/fat-shaming-bullying-is-anyone-protecting-our-young-singers Article 2: https://www.middleclassartist.com/post/why-do-fat-singers-fight-so-hard-for-an-industry-that-hates-us Article 3: https://www.middleclassartist.com/post/fat-shaming-in-the-metropolitan-opera-children-s-chorus-my-daughter-was-eight-years-old --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros and Adele give an overview of their direction for season 3, beginning to ask the question 'who gets a seat at the opera table?' --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros and Adele answer a listener's request for advice on whether they should pay the application fees for a prestigious competition's 'virtual edition'. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Trigger warning ❤ Adele and Ros discuss some of the disappointing reactions to the growing movement for women's safety in response to the murder of Sarah Everard, and touch on the Tulsa Opera's decommissioning of a black composer for one of his libretto lines 'God damn America'. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this between-seasons miniseries, FachNotes, Ros and Adele voicenote each other about hot topics and how they relate, directly or indirectly, to life as an opera singer. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Join Ros & Adele for further and final thoughts on all of the topics relating to exploitation that have been discussed over the season. Vocal Matryoshka podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4JQ5imvVYSr3eZ7OAGIyc8 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this very special episode, Ros and Adele answer questions submitted by listeners! Topics covered include side hustles, picking yourself up after rejection, dealing with 'amateursplaining' and oh so much more! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros and Adele call on opera studios and young artist programs to make important changes to their application processes and to start treating young singers with professional courtesy. The episode contains the host's own stories as well as listener experiences of being messed around and scammed by opera studios.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://theoperadolls.com/?ref=z6xg6kfaroab ............. this week, Ros and Adele talk about the role of agents and managers for opera singers, and how holding agency auditions has become a lucrative practice for many agents, both legitimate and sham. The girls recount their own horror stories of auditioning for certain agents and share listener experiences as well. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Adele analyses the impact of conservatoires charging application fees and the resulting lack of equity in the classical music world. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCaffeinatedGinger In this episode, Ros delves into competitions, the ethics of competition fees and practices, fake online competitions and corrupt practices. In a Q&A session with listeners, Ros uses her own experiences to advise singers on how to approach competitions. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCaffeinatedGinger Shop with the Caffeinated Ginger! In this episode, Adele interviews Milana and Ben, the incredible young founders of the DNA Contemporary Music Festival, and the hosts discuss the endless potential of launching one's one projects as an artist, as well as the concepts of neutrality and being believed. Adele and Ros would like to reach out a hand to young artists creating their own projects, no matter how small, and female composers of all levels, to contact us and we will use our platform to help you. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this episode, Ros interviews the tour de force Zach Finkelstein, of Middleclass Artist. You can order Zach's latest album here: https://www.zachfinkelstein.com/product-page/order-cd-dark-is-yonder-town and can read his publication at www.middleclassartist.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://theoperadolls.com/?ref=z6xg6kfaroab All information recounted in this episode is either freely published on the pay-to-sing program's own website, is common knowledge, or is alleged to us from listeners' personal experiences. In this episode, Ros and Adele unpack the phenomenon of Pay-to-sing programs for young opera singers. They investigate the high-profile case of Chicago Summer Opera, and reveal details of several programs that have not delivered on promises paid for. The hosts reflect on whether pay-to-sings can ever be truly ethical, and whether if the system continues in this direction, the opera industry will slowly die. Please leave a 5 star review on apple podcasts, and you can subscribe to Fach my Life Pod on YouTube to listen to the show there, and get some exclusive content. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SingPrettyDesigns --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SingPrettyDesigns In the Fach My Life Christmas Round-up, Ros and Adele talk the mythical rent-paying Messiah, Jonas Kaufmann's Christmas album, Strictly Come Dancing, rejection emails that come just in time to ruin your Christmas or New Year, and their plans to go full detective with season 2 in 2021.

Sponsor: follow @singprettydesigns on Instagram. Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SingPrettyDesigns .............. Ros & Adele discuss the glorious fun of costumes and dressing up as an opera singer... and the costumes that have revolted, disappointed and even physically injured them! Mentioned links for further reading: https://pastebin.com/Qmu2cP22?fbclid=IwAR0hxQo1JExpJ7kgEs9na4UIrPC9SmrYCKH6WwKo0Oh4WTrq-XymA0MBsmk and http://www.throwcase.com/2016/01/11/sally-mcnallys-tips-for-singers-what-to-wear-for-your-audition/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Shop with Ros & Adele at the Opera Dolls by this link: https://theoperadolls.com/?ref=z6xg6kfaroab and click for a FREE opera-themed activity book. In this episode, Ros and Adele interview Naomi Pohl, deputy General Secretary of the Musicians Union, about her work on the Safe Space campaign, and the MU's development of an app which will allow anyone working in the music industry to report inappropriate behaviour that they have either witnessed or personally been victim to. The girls discuss their own instances colleagues stepping in to defend them at rehearsal, and also of colleagues overriding bodily autonomy. Follow us on Instagram at @fachmylifepod or on twitter @fachpod --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://theoperadolls.com/?ref=z6xg6kfaroab This episode, Ros and Adele discuss the constant stream of rejection as a female opera singer, how women are set up to be phased out of the industry, and gaslit by companies conflating their own need to choose one singer put of hundreds or even thousands with the concept of a 'standard' or 'level'. We truly hope that this episode will actually give a boost to the self-esteem of female singers, and we discuss the various psychological and physical consequences of a stream of rejection. We would particularly like to thank Zach Finkelstein, Dana Lynne Varga and Hillary Le Bonte for their excellent research on the subject of women's exclusion from opera. Article link: https://www.middleclassartist.com/post/excluded-penalized-indebted-harassed-a-study-of-systemic-discrimination-against-women-in-opera We need to discuss this --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://theoperadolls.com/?ref=z6xg6kfaroab join us for the second part of our interview with the wonderful Vick Bain, where she details her work with Attitude is Everything, and her consulting work with the Max Steiner orchestra. Ros and Adele question why ableism is accepted on the opera stage, and discuss listener stories and their own experiences of women losing out on bursaries to men who don't fully participate in programs. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link: https://theoperadolls.com/?ref=z6xg6kfaroab This week, Ros and Adele are joined by the tour de force Vick Bain; the first part of their interview and subsequent episode discussion covers the F-List, gender pay gaps and parent's rights in the music industry. Tune in to hear about Vick's work with PIPA, her PHD on women in the music industry, and listen to the trio discuss why men make vertical progression in the music industry while so many women remain stuck at square one. As always, Ros & Adele love to hear from you on Instagram @fachmylifepod or on twitter @fachpod or you can send an email to fachmylifepod@gmail.com - do get in touch if you have questions for Vick and we will pass them onto her and get back to you! You can also follow Vick @vickbain on twitter! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Sponsor link - The Opera Dolls: https://theoperadolls.com/?ref=z6xg6kfaroab Follow the link for a FREE opera-themed activity book and to shop adorable dolls based on opera characters that SING when you squeeze them, and opera-themed colouring books! In this episode, Ros and Adele ponder WHY so many men in and outside of the operatic profession pass constant comment on the way that women look, why 'good looks' is automatically assumed to mean thin, and why anyone ever thought that 'models who can kinda sing' would get through the role of Turandot. Join the dynamic duo again for discussion about the operatic industry and the world at large, stories of the hosts and listeners that can be both funny and poignant, and recommended further research into issues mentioned. Instagram accounts that are recommended in this episode are @ourstreetsnow and @sparklejams - and you can follow @fachmylifepod on Instagram or email fachmylifepod@gmail.com to share your own stories, connect with our hosts or ask follow-up questions. Messages will be treated with the strictest confidence and your name will never be shared. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In Episode 3 of Fach My Life, Ros & Adele look back on the strange turn of events that saw them together in a foreign land when the first Corona lockdowns kicked off in March, and discuss one brave listener's account of predatory behaviour from a singing professor. If you are affected by any of the issues discussed in this episode and would like to contact Ros & Adele, please do get in touch @fachmylifepod on Instagram, @fachpod on Twitter, or email fachmylifepod@gmail.com and please do rate and review this podcast if you like it, on Apple Podcasts! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ros and Adele share horror stories from their work-travel chronicles, and muse on the balance of cost and efficiency when travelling to audition or perform as an opera singer. Got a funny travel story of your own? Write to us on Instagram at @fachmylifepod or email fachmylifepod@gmail.com Extra reading recommended: https://comescrittobysaraduchovnay.wordpress.com/2014/11/ Sara Duchovnay --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In the first episode of brand new podcast Fach My Life, opera singers Ros and Adele dive into the topic of dealing with sexual harassment as a professional woman, both in the opera industry and the wider world. Ros & Adele meet weekly to discuss all of the FML moments of life as an opera singer, and FML world issues too. Join the conversation on instagram @fachmylifepod or email fachmylifepod@gmail.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app