Would you mind not breathing?
Can you get inside my body?
I want you to dream about this.
The greatest sin is making boring music.
We should do something sexy for our next concert. Ladies, maybe you could wear some scarves.
Please put your finger on a hot stove.
Never go wonking on the hay.
Start as if you had just sat on a tack.
I can’t have it; you can’t have it either.
Tenors, be very careful not to sound like squawking hens.
You have to shape it even if it is a tenor line.
Holy smokes! Est-ce qu’on peut dire "sainte fumée"?
Put the tension in the first beer-can section of your body. Show me you’re alive.
Sopranos, you’ve got a bit of a sagging gut. Think girdles, girdles, girdles.
Do it on the bus; it’s a lot easier.
There are some interesting sounds happening.
It’s a little boring but it’s nice.
What is it that I do? What am I doing?
Can someone tell me what I’m doing?
What is the orchestra doing?
Come study with me; I could teach you lots.
I’m sure everybody is amazed by you.
Always have exciting pick ups.
Don’t go to Australia for that, just stay in the same country.
You have to engage the body and make it work for you.
Il faut toujours penser “en avant”.
Singing is not just la, la, la…
Sopranos, you are the ones who are the most exposed; you’re naked so you have to be the most beautiful.

2006

Le la est là!
Think like a man, which is very difficult.
You always have problems with the second men.
Think like a hockey team and breathe together.
Get ready for your “pork and beans” and the big bang!
There’s too much fishing around. Vous faites trop de poisson ici.
I’d love to be at an alto party. Altos always have so much fun.
Go ahead! Have fun with the altos.
It takes too much time to come in for the men; it usually does.
When you have a chance to move something, do it!
I know what I want. Do you know what you want?
Don’t cut off when I give you a cut off!
It’s the person in the middle who makes life interesting – it’s the filling in the sandwich.
Take baby steps when going down and big steps when going up.
You don’t have your own concepts; you have my concepts and my concepts are always right.
You put out your intentions into the universe and somehow it happens.
Trust me!
I should write a book.
It just slows down twice as fast…. (Robert Filion)

2007 – 2008

Un second major est toujours plus grand qu’on le pense.
Il faut prendre une position de fierté, une position de guerrière, une position d’Amazone. Avez-vous compris les altos?
Pourriez-vous enlever le son du coq de votre gorge?
Prenez une position de fierté comme mes paons.
I would like a reserved kind of forte, you know, a controlled ecstasy.
Sopranos, I need big seconds, at least 2 squares worth.
Always put your “mus” on the two.
I give you everything, energy and entertainment. You’re getting such a bargain, ladies and gentlemen.
If you’re going to make a mistake, go for it.
It’s going to be a success if you do your homework.
“Piano” is just an illusion.
You can never stop asking how.
Always surround yourself with beauty.
Jump into your emotions as opposed to staying in your head all the time.
A little more organic would be lovely.
It’s a horn moment, not a horny moment.
Altos, I would like it to be uglier.
I don’t want any wimpy singing.
Sometimes disharmony is beauty.
I don’t want the screaming witches sound.
Who do you think is doing the scolding? God, the Soprano, of course.
The success of every choir is in the unison of the vowels.
I’m all about colour.
It’s always good to have an exciting “P”.

2008 – 2009

There is no greater sin than making boring music.
I don’t believe you!
Beautiful, round sounds.
Wrong colour!
It sort of gives that Jetson moment.
Can I get a little Amazon quality ladies and not the fairy-nymph quality that you’re giving me now.
I need you to be convincing in every music-making moment.
God gave you this tool and (pencil) and if not God, than I did and that’s pretty close…
Chocolate warm.
No fauteuil position!
Do not bleed into the rests.
Why do you make your life so difficult? Just do what I say and your life won’t be difficult.
The secret of being sexy is to hold back.
Perfection exists. Let’s try to find it somewhere in this room.
What’s written on the page is what is done.
Get the body going and you’ll be amazed.
“Piano” is forte at a distance.
Please! No bargain basement sound.
We are all connected. Feel the energy among yourselves.
Strive for excellence!
Be the best that you can be. The only person stopping you is yourself.
Faut être dévoué, responsable et discipliné. Il faut avoir le désir.
Ne faites pas de « scoopage ».
Il faut chanter les virgules.
Les voyelles doivent être pures, ouvertes et justes avec beaucoup de couleurs.
Il faut préparer les choses, il faut préparer la prochaine mesure.
Faut travailler pour atteindre la beauté.
Ne soyez pas gênés par les notes.
Sing as loudly as possible without making an ugly sound.
Remember, for exciting sounds you need exciting breath.
Breathe in the vowel.
A + has 3 sharps; Eb + has 3 flats. Bruckner uses these keys as a symbol of the trinity.
Don’t lean into the rests.
Now why can’t you sing like that all the time?
Which is the correct sound, door number 1 or door number 2?
You have to save the energy in your body until you need it.
Know what your power is and maintain it.
Commit yourself! Sopranos have fun. Altos have more fun.
Don’t take breaths in the middle of a word.
Make the music come into the body.
Never have an east-west dialogue, always have and north-south one.
Move the long notes into the next phrase.
Small notes are important. Check out the blog on small notes.
Make the small notes count!
2009

That sounds like bocconcini going sour. May I have a fresh slice please?
Always spit over your left shoulder.
Don’t park in someone else’s driveway. Park right in the centre.
Oh, that’s a little on the anemic side.
Always speak elegance on the high notes.
Jump in with les deux pieds. Go for it!
We should have a course on lip action.
Think before opening your mouth.
I’m telling you what you want.
Maybe one day the basses will become sopranos. Chop! Chop!
That, ladies and gentlemen, is prima clasa!
You’re singing with flabby bodies. Your bodies are flabby. Make them tight!
I keep showing you your power, but you don’t believe me. Believe me!
Don’t attack it like a snow plough. It’s not the season!
Have elegance in your singing, elegant, like the Empress Maria Theresa. (Marie Antoinette’s mother)
You’re honking the horn too loudly – just a little toot please.
I’d love to choreograph this. (the Kyrie)
Shape the long notes.
Don’t go into life without passion.
Sopranos, hold it up! Think 18-hour bra.
You should sing those sixteenth notes as if you were being goosed. Faut se gousser un peu.
Altos, you’re the cream of the whole pie.
I want the sounds to be nice and round and juicy like mangos, but not too ripe mangos.
I don’t understand what you’re doing. I don’t think you understand what you’re doing.
The success of a hockey team is looking at each other, knowing where everyone is at all times. We must sing as a team, listening to each other.
I want ooo’s not 'yhews'. You can say 'yhew' only if you step in dog poo.
Feel the sound two inches below the belly button.
Welcome to well-tuned chords.
A lot of us go into life with no intent.
Go over your music. You should do one movement each day.