{"id":4775,"date":"2020-10-26T23:55:24","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T23:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amateurmusic.org\/info\/?p=4775"},"modified":"2020-10-28T22:47:12","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T22:47:12","slug":"blogpostamillikanstates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amateurmusic.org\/coda\/blogpostamillikanstates\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Choral Singer Abigail Millikan-States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

We have a treat in store for amateur choral singers: On six Saturdays beginning November, Amateur Music Network will host Singing Saturdays with Ragnar Bohlin, <\/a>featuring music by Mozart, Bach, Brahms, and Handel, as well as holiday favorites. One singer who\u2019ll be eagerly participating is soprano Abigail Millikan-States of Corte Madera, California, who told us: \u201cChoral singing is my greatest passion, and it\u2019s truly an honor as an amateur singer to have the opportunity to work with Ragnar.\u201d We asked Abigail to tell us more about singing on- and offline.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Abigail Millikan-States<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before COVID, where did you sing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve sung and danced all my life. I grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I sang with a Balkan folk group. I also did international folk dancing and Appalachian clogging, which really enhanced my singing. When you dance those complicated rhythms you understand them in your bones.<\/p>\n

I typically have sung with seven choirs over the course of a year, and participated in many singing workshops. I\u2019ve toured extensively, most recently with Marin Oratorio<\/a>, and the Villa Sinfonia<\/a> orchestra in 2017 to sing at St. Stephen\u2019s Basilica in Budapest and in the Esterh\u00e1zy Palace outside Vienna, as well as many other places\u2014including the cemetery in Vienna! With a smaller Marin Oratorio group, I\u2019ve sung the National Anthem before four San Francisco Giants games!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Marin Oratorio performing before a San Francisco Giants game<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How have you kept up with your singing practice since the shutdown?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I joined two English choirs on Zoom: Gareth Malone\u2019s Great British Home Chorus<\/a> and the Sofa Singers<\/a> under James Sills. Both of these choirs connected singers from all over the world, which is thrilling in its own right. I also participated in Eric Whitacre\u2019s Virtual Choir 6: Sing Gently,<\/a> which I enjoyed very much.<\/p>\n

Then in August I joined two online choirs at the College of Marin under the direction of Boyd Jarrell: Marin Oratorio and Chamber Singers, both of which have been favorites of mine for many years. I’ve also been participating in many Zoom and YouTube workshops with the San Francisco Choral Society<\/a> and San Francisco Bach Choir.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
Marin Oratorio singing at the Esterhazy Palace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Have you sung under Ragnar Bohlin in the past?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes! In 2011, when AMN founder Lolly Lewis was working for the San Francisco Symphony, she led the Community of Music Makers<\/a> program for adult amateur musicians, and I took part in most of the choral workshops. I was elated to get in-person vocal instruction from Ragnar. He\u2019s a true master. I\u2019m deeply grateful that AMN is allowing this opportunity again, albeit online. Ragnar has a delightfully expressive way of conveying the nuances of vocal rehearsal and performance, and he has an extensive knowledge of classical composers, their languages and their repertoire. And he understands how body mechanics work with a singer\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

Any tips for getting the most out of an online singing workshop?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Online workshops let us hone our skills in a different way, because there\u2019s no one to hear us and no one to rely on or blend with. I find it useful to record the workshops on my iPhone and play them back later. From Eric Whitacre\u2019s Virtual Choir practice I learned how to record myself and upload it into a mass video. Great fun! Another fun thing about online workshops: I can watch the faces of the other singers, which I never get to do when we\u2019re singing together live.<\/p>\n

Where else are you singing now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I sing every day\u2014sometimes in my car, where I keep a lot of CDs, and sometimes while I walk. I walk four or five miles every day and sing while I walk. It\u2019s great for respiratory endurance. I walk along a salt marsh here in Marin County\u2014there\u2019s rarely anyone else around to hear me.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tREGISTER NOW FOR SINGING SATURDAYS\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t

Top image: A screenshot of Eric Whitacre\u2019s Virtual Choir 6.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have a treat in store for amateur choral singers: On six Saturdays beginning November, Amateur Music Network will host Singing Saturdays with Ragnar Bohlin, featuring music by Mozart, Bach, Brahms, and Handel, as well as holiday favorites. One singer who\u2019ll be eagerly participating is soprano Abigail Millikan-States of Corte Madera, California, who told us: \u201cChoral singing is my greatest passion, and it\u2019s truly an honor as an amateur singer to have the opportunity to work with Ragnar.\u201d We asked…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,26,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMeet Choral Singer Abigail Millikan-States - Amateur Music Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amateur singer Abigail Millikan-States talks with AMN about her choral journey, and about how to be an active singer during the pandemic.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/amateurmusic.org\/info\/blogpostamillikanstates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet Choral Singer Abigail Millikan-States - 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