Nora Maynard » Performances

Scubaphone: Symptoms

Nora — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 19:44:14 +0000

Here’s my band, Scubaphone, performing our original song “Symptoms“. We entered our video into NPR’s Tiny Desk competition last month and WON! …JK, gotcha This really excellent gentleman won; The Fantastic Negrito.

Scubaphone Colorfools

But not all was lost! We grew so tremendously as an ensemble during the process!Among other life lessons, we learned:

How to have a reasonably-non-nauseating recording experience (Thanks to Nick Joliat {also on keyboards}).

That we really do prefer videos as a recording medium (Thanks Paula Te!).

How to make Estonian chestnut creatures under the tutelage of our drummer, KEK.

That Ale has a very stylish house.

Perhaps we learned some other things as well along the way…but we’re going to save those for our next show. See you then!

Don’t Drool On The Rose

Nora — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 23:58:23 +0000

Amanda Sindel-Keswick and I sang this incredibly lush duet, “The Presentation of the Rose” from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.

Thanks to Longwood Opera for hosting us at their Nov 2013 Scenes Concert.

So fun to sing! (I won’t really blame you if you drool; it’s really pretty music…)

No Drooling Allowed

It’s Mabel

Nora — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 23:48:17 +0000

Here’s a video of me singing “Poor Wandering One” with MIT’s Gilbert & Sullivan Players in Dec, 2012.

Playing Mabel was a riot, especially alongside Joshua Collier who is a joy to interact with onstage.

It’s Mabel

Sweeney Todd with TMT

Nora — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:11:13 +0000

I had a wonderful time on Sweeney Todd with Triboro Musical Theater this past January! Vivian Humphrey, David Renoni, and Laura Norton really know how to pull a show together in a month flat, very impressive. Only minor injuries sustained; one of my nails is still growing back after getting slammed in the trap-door-of-death, but it certainly gives me a story to tell! It was just such an awful coincidence that when I scream bloody murder it sounds so like the factory whistle sound-effect…

Certainly an important item on my bucket list; I got to play the Beggar Woman and had such a great time pulling out the crazy! Thanks to Ben Bagley (Anthony) for giving me free reign to solicit him in as disturbing a fashion as possible! Devin Romanul (Sweeney) and Sarah Mielbye (Mrs. Lovett) were both quite fabulous as the leads and really fun to work with. I never thought I would get a chance to work with so many people who really understand this story so thoroughly. Sure, I wrote a big paper about the history of the Sweeney Todd legend during grad school, but I didn’t think other people really DID that. It turns out Vivian wrote her thesis on it, and the other leads were just as obsessed as I was! Besides getting to know some very talented folks and gaining a new appreciation for the intricacies of Sondheim’s score, I also learned how to use a circular saw, woohoo!

We received nothing but positive reviews. Tony Annicone writes “This tale of murder and vengeance is given a topnotch presentation by a talented cast with marvelous voices in a score of over 300 pages.” “The mysterious Beggar Woman is wonderfully played by Nora Maynard. She displays her comic timing as this insane creature when she tries to steal pies from Mrs. Lovett. Nora also displays her strong singing voice in”Alms” and “City on Fire”.”

I will be sure to post excerpts from the DVD once it comes out. Thanks to all my friends who came out to enjoy the show, especially my parents and boyfriend who travelled over 1,000 miles to be there for my post-graduate debut! I feel very loved and supported, thanks so much for being there.

AMF 2011 Performances

Nora — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:14:48 +0000

Here are two informal videos from the Atlantic Music Festival 2011.

The first is “Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben” from “St. Matthew’s Passion” by J.S. Bach. I’m joined onstage by Megan Barth on piano and Bianca Garcia on flute.

Aus Liebe

The second is Don Jose and Micaela’s duet from the 1st Act of Bizet’s “Carmen”. Richard Newman (Tenor) sings as Don Jose, and Amaya Dominques has a non-singing part as Carmen that director Nic Muni added to emphasize Don Jose’s new obsession. I apologize for the overexposure!

Carmen

Summer Solo at Home

Nora — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:14:40 +0000

Here’s a video that was taken this past summer at my church at home, Second Congregational Church in Rockford, IL. I always enjoy singing at Second Con when I visit my family, as they always welcome me home so graciously! Bob Bates (organist) & I are performing “Alleluia” from Mozart’s “Exultate Jubilate”. This was one of the first coloratura pieces I ever learned, and I think it’s taken me about this long to come to appreciate the eloquence in everything Mozart writes for the voice. Of course, it also helps to come up with ten completely different reasons to say “Alleluia.”

Alleluia

7 Rabbits on a Pole

Nora — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:31:41 +0000

Here is the video of Act 1 of “Seven Rabbits on a Pole”, an as-yet-unfinished opera by Pasquale Tassone, with librettist Elizabeth Searle, based on the play by John Picardi. We performed and recorded it last summer in Pickman Hall at Longy School of Music.

Just to prepare you, I play 22yr old Julia, a girl with special needs somewhere on the autism spectrum, dealing with a lot of family drama on a Depressiona-Era farm run by her Italian immigrant father and brothers.

Seven Rabbits on a Pole, Act 1

Atlantic Music Festival 2011 Pictures

Nora — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:26:50 +0000

These photos are all from AMF 2011 at Colby College in Waterville, ME, where I was privileged to study with Carla Rae Cook, Anton Belov, Nic Muni, and Arlene Shrut. It was a truly marvelous experience! It very much recharged my artistic batteries after the draining push to graduate this past May.

A scene from the opening act of Carmen, between myself as Micaela and Richard Newman as Don Jose.

From the 2nd Act Duet between Adina and Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore.

Aha! (says Adina) He’s still in love, just TRYING to ignore me. He will fail, of course.

Singing Milhaud’s “A Cupidon” with Arlene Shrut as my pianist and coach.

This next photo isn’t entirely accurate; there were actually more men than this in attendance,

but Ian was the only one feeling particularly photogenic that evening.

Here’s the entire crew, having a wonderful time at the finish of the Champagne Trio in “Die Fledermaus”.