Janine Harris - Soprano

An Inside View of Allan Lindquest: Quotes from a Master Teacher

When I worked with Alan Lindquest years ago he offered thoughts that I like to quote from time to time.

He once said, “You know David singing is the voice of the soul, and if the singing voice is stuck, then part of the soul is stuck.” I have found this to be so true for those of us who are ‘singer identified’. It really does not matter if one is a career-oriented singer, a church or synagogue volunteer singer, or an amateur who just loves to sing. This quote seems to be true for so many.

He also said, “David, we don’t just teach the voice, we teach the entire person. This is why we must approach teaching with a nurturing and caring attitude. It is the only way a singer feels safe to grow.”

How grateful and fortunate I feel today from having met and studied with this man.

Have a nice day. David

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” Leonard Bernstein, who died in 1990.

In other news I’m pleased to report my German has reached a level where I can write short, basic emails without needing to translate every word first. Almost. 😅

Hallo, Deutschland.

Nothing like starting the day with a good news story!!! Congrats Amy Johanne Moore and Jess!!! ❤️

The Song Company announces dual artistic directorship Singers Jessica O’Donoghue and Amy Moore to serve as Co-Artistic Directors for the 2024 season, the company's 40th.

And again Christopher Richardson Bass Baritone!

With a few months before our next program, Songs from a Strange Land, we thought we'd take the opportunity to reflect on some performances from the past few years. Today we're throwing back to February 2022 when we performed Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem at the . This was our first major performance post-lockdowns, and as you can see, we were all smiles!

Awww, these photos are quite cute! Thanks for the smiley times The Song Company!

With a few months before our next program, Songs from a Strange Land, we thought we'd take the opportunity to reflect on some performances from the past few years. Today we're throwing back to February 2022 when we performed Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem at the . This was our first major performance post-lockdowns, and as you can see, we were all smiles!

Please note I am taking an extended break from social media! Please email/text for anything urgent. I won’t be checking fb messages during this time.

JMH x

Loving Don G! Celeste Lazarenko is next level! Louise Keast - Soprano rocking it too!!!!

It’s time to come home. What a wonderful, insightful, stressful, growthful, expensive trip 😛

Here in Germany it is 16 degrees (!!!) and I am learning Wagner. Are pigs flying somewhere? But if this is a hint for 2023 I am IN! Happy NY to my loves in Sydney! xx

Hard to believe this was just over a month ago! One fun thing about different productions of Die Zauberflöte is seeing how the “ladies” are done, because they are not quite human, not quite magical creatures and there is a lot of artistic licence to be had. So here are some cute lil piccies of me and the gals… 😉 Elise Morton Olivia Swain - Soprano Jeremy Boulton - Operatic Baritone & Alex Young

Photos by … well I’m not sure the photographer’s name! Please comment below if you know!

I’ve had a short stop in London, a moderately good audition and an awesome coaching with Tony L. It’s always a pleasure to be here, even if the coffee is absolutely rubbish! 😛

J’adore Paris ❤️🇫🇷🥖🍾🥂

This was a truly unforgettable birthday.

Heute habe ich Geburtstag! Or perhaps I should say…

Questo è il mio giorno di nascita!

After my audition in Vienna I took a train to Innsbruck. I’ve been there before so didn’t spend much time (though the self service coffee bean vending machines were definitely a new experience, as was the hazelnut flavoured sushi, both pictured below). I did continue on to Milan the following day, which (lucky me!) is where I am now for my birthday. The train ride through the alps has actually been on my bucket list for a while and I was not disappointed. I am sure my photos didn’t capture it well at all but it was like a real life version of the front of a beautiful glittery Christmas card. There was mist, there were lakes, there were endless forests of snow covered pines. There were tiny villages. It was about a four hour journey and by the end of it I was in a different climate. By the end there were steep cliff faces, lovely autumn leaves and vineyard after vineyard. There was also a salad for lunch with yummy local produce, for which, considering how much bread I’ve eaten lately, I was very grateful!

I was considering entering a competition here and in the end decided against it for a few reasons. This trip of auditions has not really been about auditioning for work (though if someone were to offer it I certainly wouldn’t turn it down 😉 ). It’s been more about understanding where I am, what my voice does in pressureful circumstances, and what I need to focus on next, not just as far as my singing is concerned, but also as far as my life is concerned.

I don’t know what the next little while will look like. What I do know is that I am grateful as anything for how things have worked out for me and how much I have learned about myself these last months.

Travel and birthdays and Prosecco tend to bring out my reflective side. But enough with the essay, a bright yellow Saffron Risotto Milanese has just arrived in front of me and I have a date with the Duomo this afternoon!

Audition breakfast in Wien, incl byo coffee from Kaffeekirsche in Berlin, because nothing else will do!

It’s been two weeks now in Berlin and even though I know I’m lucky to be here, it has been a bit surreal to me go from what was the absolute insanity of the last few weeks of uni to having rather a lot more “free” time - or at least, unstructured time. Between practising and brushing up my German it’s not that there isn’t a lot to do, but I was getting a bit bored of my own company, and I was pretty unhappy with my first audition; so my mental health had taken a little battering, on top of a long jetlag (thank you date r**e drugs for the long haul flight) and delightful food poisoning from what was supposed to be a reputable restaurant. I’m seriously considering becoming a vegetarian while I’m here…

Call it divine intervention but things turned around yesterday in a few wonderful ways. Firstly - it snowed! Properly. There had been little hints, but yesterday I came out of the U-Bahn and it was - how does one say? Chucking it down! I was on the way to my first coaching in a few weeks. Suffice to say I’ve never travelled to a coaching in the snow before! It was AWESOME. And then it got MORE awesome because in this coaching with the amazing Simone Easthope I managed to unpack a problem I’d been struggling with for a while and approach it in a different way. I won’t bore you with the details, but it was a great relief to find an entry point to that particular problem!

Anyway apart from being a genius, I found that Simone is also absolutely lovely. She must have known I was having a bit of a rough introduction to Berlin because she was kind enough to invite me this very evening to a performance she’d curated in the most outrageously cool venue you would ever find - a concert with the male soprano, Bruno de Sal, who had a great voice and presented a beautifully thought out program with the amazing Aussie pianist Thomas Victor Johnson. It was totally inspiring to meet a bunch of Aussie artists and see them and their friends killing it in Berlin, and they were all so welcoming to me! Further proof that real artistry is really just synonymous with being a kind and thoughtful human being.

Today I’m on a train to Vienna, with a brief stop in Prague (this is awesome - it’s the little things!); I’ve just been treated to the most beautiful sunrise (photo completely inadequate); the dusting of snow over the landscape is completely magical and I am pleased to say I’m feeling a bit more myself again.

Thanks to all my wonderful friends who’ve kept encouraging me through the Dark Times. I am grateful to you all! Next stop: Praha!

Today’s vino is well deserved! Now while I have your attention quick note to let you know that tomorrow night at St Paul’s college in Sydney I will be singing in a concert with my fellow con opera graduates - a lovely way to say goodbye as I am heading to Europe for a few months on Saturday! I’d love to see you if you can make it, the tix are a negligible $20 or something, but I can’t seem to share the poster so pm me if you’d like more details!

I am so excited to be a part of this incredible series of performances with Cantillation and Pinchgut Opera! Miriam Allan is glorious and I get to stand next to her for half the concert! Erin is a phenomenal leader and I am having so much fun! Please join us tomorrow at City Recital Hall at 5pm or later in the week at MRC! Details of a broadcast coming soon too. 💐💐

This weekend I’m performing with ANOTHER lovely chorus of ladies - and the incredible, ethereally-voiced Miriam Allen - in Women of the Pietà for Pinchgut Opera. It’ll be an evening of baroque vocal deliciousness. You can’t really go wrong. And repeated the following weekend at Melbourne Recital Centre. Please come! ❤️

📣 New seats released!

We have just released the box seats on Levels 2 and 3 at City Recital Hall to give you an up close view of the singers and orchestra in Women of the Pietà.

Front Row Box seats from $69, with Student seats just $25.

Sept. 10, 2pm & Sept. 11, 5pm
City Recital Hall, Sydney