The Notes Session, Episode 0: Why Are We Here?

We are Jacquelyn Stucker and Theo Hoffman, the creators and co-hosts of The Notes Session. Despite having similar artistic sensibilities and lots of friends in common, we somewhere were almost never in the same city at the same time, so we traded messages about whatever was exciting, frustrating or inspiring us in opera. When those voice notes finally left the chat, they became The Notes Session. In this episode, we cover: - Who we are: mid-career American soloists working in opera and concert in the US and Europe; - How this podcast started and why we're launching it now; - What we're doing that's different; - Our values: curiosity over criticism, positive language (but not positivity for its own sake), knowing that our preferences aren't objective fact, and sticky ideas over gossip; - And, what you can expect: "consensus punditry," live-show reports, conversations with very smart guests, close listening to great singing, and longer research-driven deep dives. Next week, we're releasing our first "Consensus Punditry" episode, titled No Better Way. We're asking the question of when is nudity onstage the only way to tell the story, and we think we've got a working hypothesis. New episodes (most) Thursdays. We're glad you're here.