A Voice Apart

In 1984, my partner and I started a music school for children and adults. We had 7 teachers teaching all kinds of instruments and also giving vocal lessons . In 1986, my partner died and shortly after, I moved to a new location and started specializing to what I knew best and have done all my life – vocal development. In 1987, I turned The Royans School for the Musical Performing Arts, into The Royans Professional Vocal School , specializing in professional vocal coaching. Now we have started dealing with teenagers who wanted to be either the next Celine Dion and later, Mariah Carey and Britney Spears . Then came along Christina Aguilera and Ricky Martin . And then the music became more sexually and violently pronounced.  The music reflects and effects to what is happening at certain times in the world. The music theme and scene changes and the mentality (especially of the growing teenagers) also changes. The more “liberation”...

Being involved in the music industry for over 30 years in Canada, I have a lot of observations watching it from inside and out. When I first came in March of 1980, there were a lot of things happening, musically speaking and otherwise, as music is always a reflection of what's happening in that present time. There were great artists rising up, like Celine Dion, Madonna, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler and many more. Specializing in vocals , I started my career with the garage bands and pop star wannabes. Those years the immigration from European countries like Russia, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Poland and others was at a very high rate. A lot of people were coming with children and teenagers and being brought up the European way, were willing to work hard to give their youngsters music education and helping them to succeed in the music industry . The children of those times were also very receptive, seeing that the music industry was happening and true to their cause new stars wer...

As it appears to be, the latest craze in the entertainment business is "everybody's favourite" Lady Gaga's act...? Is it really though? It no doubts is for the young generation. Sometimes even too young. On July 12th I was cordially invited by one of my artist's mom to attend the newest Lady Gaga tour "The Monster Ball". Let's first talk about the audience. Needless to say, there were a lot of under legal age kids, who I'm not sure should have necessarily had to hear it with their ears and see it with their eyes. The material of the show was quite explicit and definitely not for all ages. It was a lot of liberation presented by Lady Gaga on every level. You could not understand who was male and who was female in that show and who was seducing whom. She was reciting in between of her "escapades" how liberated she was, how free she was (I presume in her sexual preferences and what have you) and did invite the audience to feel free and...