Interview with Philippe Castagner

Ever wondered what happens when you sing, what methods to use for effective practice, and how to advocate for yourself as a performer? Listen to this riveting episode with tenor Philippe Castagner; he shares his journey back from a career that had fallen apart, how he taught himself what he needed to know to succeed, and so much more. Philippe Bio: Philippe Castagner is a professional operatic tenor. After winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition at the age of 22, his career briefly flourished, but proved unsustainable. After determining that the cause of his failure was a lack of technical preparation, psychological resilience, and physical fitness, he set out to craft a new vocal pedagogy using historical and contemporary sources. The resulting "New School Singing" is a pedagogical system built on the premises that the human voice is not an instrument, that voice culture is the process of influencing a living being, and that vocal techniques are species of direct action rather than examples of tool use. As a result of applying this new philosophy to his own singing practice, he was able to successfully return to life as a professional operatic tenor, singing lead roles on stages in Germany, Czechia, and Italy. His experience compelled him to start Mister Opera, a sometimes controversial YouTube channel that seeks to educate, entertain, and advocate for consumers of vocal pedagogy. He currently resides in Pilsen, Czechia. Show Notes: Ingo Titze- Nonlinear source-filter coupling in phonation: Theory Complete Vocal Technique The Art of War - Sun Tzu