Eloise Ristad deals here with complex problems which torment and cripple so many of our most creative and talented people, and she does so with compassion, wisdom, and wit. The problem of stage fright, for instance, is a suffering of epidemic proportions in our society, and involves modalities of thought and projections that rob spontaneity and enthusiasm in artistic performance. Those interested in creative education have long felt that an entirely new, holistic and nurturing process of allowing individuals to discover and express themselves is needed if our educational system is to avoid the neuroses and creative blocks of the past generation. This book illuminates through its conversational style the destructive inhibitions, fears, and guilt experienced by all of us as we fail to break through to creativity. This story is told to me day after day in conservatories and college campuses around the world. Indeed I felt at times that she was telling of my own most petty and debilitating fears. But what is important, A Soprano on Her Head supplies answers and methods for overcoming these universal psychological blocks--methods that have not only been proven in her own studio, but which trace back through history to the oldest and wisest systems of understanding the integration of mind and body. The work bears scrutiny both scientifically and holistically. - Foreword.

Suggests techniques for overcoming self-consciousness and improving musical performances, shares a variety of exercises, and includes advice on improving one's listening skills.

Lady in Red,Where is Your Head? by first-author Carolann deBellis, tells the story of a woman who survived a brain injury and a coma after a car accident on an icy New Jersey Turnpike in 1987, when she was 34. Carolann had it all, the perfect life, before the accident-a great job at a hot Philadelphia salon, a passionate 12-year marriage and a wide circle of friends and family who marveled at her energy and infectious spirit. Then, in the aftermath of the near-death accident, she lost it all-job, husband and sense of self. After learning to walk, talk and cut hair again, she faced the life-long task of going beyond recovery, beyond recreating the person she was before the accident to aspire for something better. Psychological counseling and the support of a loving circle of family and friends helped her to see that all was not perfect before the accident, helped her redefine a new Carolann, a work in progress whos less self absorbed and more self aware, less controlling and more open in her relationships with men in her life. If it werent for the imperative, painful job of remaking herself physically, cognitively and emotionally from a child-like state after the accident, Carolann might never have undertaken the intense personal journey that leads her today, at 57, to say I thank God my brain injury cured me. More than a conventional memoir or self-help guide, Lady in Red stitches together Carolanns own words, a diary that her cousin Michael Biello wrote during her coma and rehabilitation, hospital documents, notes from nurses and visitors and Carolanns collection of inspirational quotes. I wrote and rewrote this book over 20 years to help others who have suffered or know someone who has suffered a brain injury, Carolann says. Certainly those directly or indirectly affected by a traumatic brain injury will benefit from reading her book, but so will anyone who believes its never too late to re-examine yourself and get to work making yourself a better person. "with a closed-head injury that left her in a coma for ten days, among other injuries. She writes of the aftermath of her memoir, Lady In Red Where Is Your Head." - Blueink Review "honesty sheds light on the harsh realities of brain injuries and how a life can be forever changed." -Foreword Reviews "Both sources provide information about her progress and also illustrate how much her friends and family loved and cared for" - Kirkus Reviews

An opera singer intent on writing the Most Beautiful Song In The World goes on a magical journey with the help of some songbirds, a librarian seeking a magical book, and a gardener who can grow anything.

The long-anticipated memoir of one of the greatest and most celebrated American singers of the twentieth century

DIV With National Socialism's arrival in Germany in 1933, Jews dominated music more than virtually any other sector, making it the most important cultural front in the Nazi fight for German identity. This groundbreaking book looks at the Jewish composers and musicians banned by the Third Reich and the consequences for music throughout the rest of the twentieth century. Because Jewish musicians and composers were, by 1933, the principal conveyors of Germany’s historic traditions and the ideals of German culture, the isolation, exile and persecution of Jewish musicians by the Nazis became an act of musical self-mutilation. Michael Haas looks at the actual contribution of Jewish composers in Germany and Austria before 1933, at their increasingly precarious position in Nazi Europe, their forced emigration before and during the war, their ambivalent relationships with their countries of refuge, such as Britain and the United States and their contributions within the radically changed post-war music environment. /div

NATIONAL BESTSELLER, New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and a Best Book of the Year from NPR, Boston Globe, BuzzFeed, and others. The mesmerizing story of one woman's rise from circus rider to courtesan to world-renowned diva—"a brilliant performance" (Washington Post). The Queen of the Night tells the captivating story of Lilliet Berne, an orphan who left the American frontier for Europe and was swept into the glamour and terror of Second Empire France. She became a sensation of the Paris Opera, with every accolade but an original role—her chance at immortality. When one is offered to her, she finds the libretto is based on her deepest secret, something only four people have ever known. But who betrayed her? With epic sweep, gorgeous language, and haunting details, Alexander Chee shares Lilliet’s cunning transformation from circus rider to courtesan to legendary soprano, retracing the path that led to the role that could secure her reputation—or destroy her with the secrets it reveals. “It just sounds terrific. It sounds like opera.”—The New Yorker “Sprawling, soaring, bawdy, and plotted like a fine embroidery.”—NPR

“The last novel where I rooted for every character, and the last to make me cry.” - Marlon James, Elle From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Overstory and the Oprah's Book Club selection Bewilderment comes Richard Powers's magnificent, multifaceted novel about a supremely gifted—and divided—family, set against the backdrop of postwar America. On Easter day, 1939, at Marian Anderson’s epochal concert on the Washington Mall, David Strom, a German Jewish émigré scientist, meets Delia Daley, a young Black Philadelphian studying to be a singer. Their mutual love of music draws them together, and—against all odds and their better judgment—they marry. They vow to raise their children beyond time, beyond identity, steeped only in song. Jonah, Joseph, and Ruth grow up, however, during the civil rights era, coming of age in the violent 1960s, and living out adulthood in the racially retrenched late century. Jonah, the eldest, “whose voice could make heads of state repent,” follows a life in his parents’ beloved classical music. Ruth, the youngest, devotes herself to community activism and repudiates the white culture her brother represents. Joseph, the middle child and the narrator of this generation-bridging tale, struggles to find himself and remain connected to them both. Richard Powers's The Time of Our Singing is a story of self-invention, allegiance, race, cultural ownership, the compromised power of music, and the tangled loops of time that rewrite all belonging.

In The Sopranos Sessions, renowned television critics—and New York Times bestselling authors—Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest television series of all time. Foreword by Laura Lippmann On January 10, 1999, a mobster walked into a psychiatrist’s office and changed TV history. By shattering preconceptions about the kinds of stories the medium should tell, The Sopranos launched our current age of prestige television, paving the way for such giants as Mad Men, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones. As TV critics for Tony Soprano’s hometown paper, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz were among the first to write about the series before it became a cultural phenomenon. Sepinwall and Seitz have reunited to produce The Sopranos Sessions, a collection of recaps, conversations, and critical essays covering every episode. Featuring a series of long-form interviews with series creator David Chase, as well as selections from the authors’ archival writing on the series, The Sopranos Sessions explores the show’s artistry, themes, and legacy. “This amazing book by Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz has bigger twists than anything I could ever come up with.” —Sam Esmail, creator of Mr. Robot

#1 New York Times bestseller Susan Elizabeth Phillips returns to her beloved Chicago Stars series with a romance between a Chicago Stars quarterback and one of the world’s greatest opera singers—and a major diva. “Re-entering the world of the Chicago Stars is like a beloved friend come to call.” — #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr Thaddeus Walker Bowman Owens, the backup quarterback for the Chicago Stars, is a team player, talented sideline coach, occasional male underwear model, and a man with a low tolerance for Divas. Olivia Shore, international opera superstar, is a driven diva with a passion for perfection, a craving for justice, too many secrets—and a monumental grudge against the egotistical, lowbrow jock she’s been stuck with. It’s Mozart meets Monday Night Football as the temperamental soprano and stubborn jock embark on a nationwide tour promoting a luxury watch brand. Along the way, the combatants will engage in soul-searching and trash talk, backstage drama and, for sure, a quarterback pass. But they’ll also face trouble as threatening letters, haunting photographs, and a series of dangerous encounters complicate their lives. Is it the work of an overzealous fan or something more sinister? This is the emotional journey of a brilliant woman whose career is everything and a talented man who’ll never be happy with second place. Tender and funny, passionate and insightful, this irresistible romantic adventure proves that anything can happen…when two superstars collide.