Photo: Anna Anaka

Shane Raman

1. What are you reading?
The Lowlands, by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Jhumpa is such a wonderful writer and she deals with multigenerational stories, most often about families from rural India who immigrate to the USA.  I love the connections that she draws between different generations and seeing how choices that one person makes really does affect those around you.

I also like Lamperti’s book, Vocal Wisdom.  I find that it’s a healthy and simple way to think of vocal production and it really changed the way I think about singing.  I always thought of singing as being really complicated, and this helps simplify vocal technique for me.

2. What are you listening to these days?
White Sea – In Cold Blood, Audra McDonald – Go Back Home, Amy Grant – How Mercy Looks from Here, Barber art songs.

Barber’s art songs, and more specifically, “Sure On This Shining Night”, move me in a way that I can’t describe.  I don’t pretend to understand all of his songs in a cerebral way, but I feel the emotions in his melodies and his settings of such lovely poetry.  I find his compositional voice exists somewhere beyond my realm of understanding, which is somewhere deep inside of me.

3. Where and what do you teach?
I teach Private Voice Lessons at the Delta Community School of Music and The Sarah McLachlan School of Music. I enjoy teaching in all kinds of genres.

One of my favourite things is introducing students to different genres.  Often I will have a student pick a piece that they are really drawn to, and we’ll work on that along with a piece that I pick, which is usually the complete opposite of their choice.  It often works out well.  I think my strength is actually in musical theatre.  As a Broadway baby myself, I love classical Broadway, like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Adam Guettel, etc.

I mostly teach students from 15 years old to older adults.  I really enjoy teaching adults and dealing with their own inhibitions and issues.

4. What are your favourite websites, mobile tools, favourite singers?
I love the piano app on my phone and the Steinway metronome. I really love White Sea (Morgan Kibby).  I love the variety of styles in her music.  She has this voice that can do everything from classical coloratura singing, to a great rock growl.  Her music is a combination of 80’s synth pop mixed with a complete orchestra, high soprano riffs and really dark, interesting lyrics.  The composition of the songs is as varied as the elements that make her music so interesting.

Audra McDonald’s voice is like falling into the softest mattress you’ve ever slept on.  I’ve seen her both in Vancouver and New York, singing everything from pop songs to Rodgers and Hammerstein, to Opera and I am always moved by the tone of her voice, her all-encompassing performances and her down-to-earth attitude.

I’ve listened to Amy Grant for my entire life.  Her music and her voice have such honesty and integrity that I can’t look away.  I really like her compositional voice and her simple and effective song writing.  Her low smoky alto voice is soothing and kind.  Her music often feels like coming home.

Janelle Monae is also an amazing singer and performer.  I feel like her voice can adapt to any genre.  She often sounds like a young Michael Jackson and she has such a large vocal range and a great range of genres.  Her high energy performances and styling in black and white and her alter-ego of the Electric Lady/ArchAndroid make her even more interesting and inspiring.

Voices that remind me of the music that my parents like, and thereby remind me of my parents are always on my playlist.  Singers like Julie Andrews, Jim Reeves, Barbra Streisand and Bing Crosby always make me feel nostalgic and comforted and they are beautiful classic voices.

5. Do you have a particular repertoire expertise, and suggestions for members to explore?
No, I think I’m pretty good with most genres; I could brush up on my opera and jazz.

6. What are your recent and upcoming performances?
I sing with musica intima and our first concerts, “dolce e crudele” are October 3rd and 4th: featuring music by Lauridsen, Paul Mealor and Britten’s Hymn to Saint Cecilia.  I also sing with Cor Flammae who had a very successful first concert with the Queer Arts Festival in July. It has been very interesting and life-giving to be a part of a new choir that is a summer chorus of classically trained singers focussing on re-queering choral history.

7. What is your experience with NATS (volunteering, conferences, competitions, judging, etc.)
This is actually my first year with NATS.  I’ve been to a couple of meetings and I look forward to attending more recitals and workshops as my schedule allows.

8. What are your professional affiliations?
I have a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from The University of British Columbia.  I sat on the Board of Vancouver Cantata Singers for 5 years, and I thoroughly enjoyed being on the “business” side of the organization. I am part of the creative artistic team of Cor Flammae, and I am a member of NATS and of the NATS Vancouver Chapter.