Gretchen's Thoughts on Music:
8 WEEK PERFORMANCE STUDY
This is an excellent opportunity to prepare for auditions, or simply have a non stressful experience of preparing songs and performing a mini recital.
Pick 5 songs. Examples could be:
5 show tunes
3 art songs. and opera aria, and a show tune
5 standards
5 jazz tunes
You will be coached on each song
Organize into mini recital
practice performance techniques
Present recital
Call [...]
My theory on why we hear music the way we do.
Have you ever wondered why” Happy Birthday” sounds, well, happy? Why does the major key sound happy, and the minor key sound sad? I had a great article on Leonard Bernstein, which I’ve unfortunately lost, but remember him expressing similar views. My friend reminded me of this book of his.
I remember being in college when [...]
2.20.09 Song for Princess Diana “Add To The Flowers” - how it came to be
On the COMPOSITION page you’ll find the song from my CD, “Add To The Flowers”.
On Tuesday morning following the untimely death of Princess Diana and those with her, I was working away in the kitchen and watching the news. I was stunned by the flowers that were growing in height and and covering the ground, [...]
A Word About Teaching
I’m a classicaly trained singer. And I love singing music of the great composers. Nothing thrills me more than to turn the phrase of a Mahler song. Being also a song writer, I find I write in many styles - from classical to country and blues to ballads. Therefore working with students of various interests [...]
About Gretchen
Gretchen Hewitt is a passionate St. Louis music professional, whose talents range from vocal performance and acting to original compositions and training. The Post-Dispatch has remarked that her performances truly "sparkle", and those who work with Gretchen have seen the passion she brings to the St. Louis music community.