This event will involve exploring and possibly discovering participants’ “authentic” (rather than “acquired”) voices, in both speech and singing.  Six (minimum) to ten (maximum) participants will experiment in using physical-vocal exercises that help efficiently coordinate the principal voice-producing systems of cognition, respiration, phonation, resonation, registration, articulation, and expression. A couple of simple upbeat songs will be used for group singing, and it should be a positive learning experience for all participants – at least for the instructor!

Available for 6-10 participants. Email Leo to register (the.leo.fortune@gmail.com).

Clif Ware has always been artistically inclined. As a 5-year old, he eagerly drew WWII battle scenes. A few years later he took a year of private lessons in watercolor, followed by an art class in 9^th grade. But, when reaching the 10^th grade, his choral director-mentor discovered his tenor voice, and that was the beginning of his vocal-music career. Drawing and painting reappeared at times in temporary stints, including his taking art and pottery classes as a college student, and more recently, an acrylics painting class in 2012. Earlier, in 1985, he designed a new family home, with landscaping, that was built in New Brighton, MN.

Clif’s vocal music career spanned 47 years, including 2 years as music-and-youth director in a Methodist Church, 1 year as choral music director, and 43 years of university teaching, the final 37 at the U of MN-TC School of Music. During the early years he also earned graduate degrees, including a D.M. degree in voice performance from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

Throughout his career he performed extensively as tenor soloist, in recital, opera (55 roles), and oratorio. After retirement, he and his wife, Bettye, a professional pianist, formed a 50s band named The Silvertones, and performed several summer concerts in Salo Park.

As a writer, he’s authored four books—Adventures in Singing (4/e 2008), Basics of Vocal Pedagogy (1998), The Singer’s Life: Goals and Roles (2005), The Aging Challenge: Making the Most of Life After 50 (2009). He has also given numerous professional presentations nationally and internationally at professional meetings and educational institutions.

During early retirement, Clif and Bettye, also composed 36 songs, including Eco Songs, with 13 songs on various aspects of environmental sustainability. Their music collaboration—Bettye as pianist, Clif as instructor—continues with teaching quarterly 5-week Voice Exploration classes at the St. Anthony Village, MN Community Center.

In 2013 Clif and Bettye co-founded Citizens for Sustainability in St. Anthony Village, where they reside. Since 2013, Clif has published a sustainability e-newsletter, currently on hiatus while he focuses on other writing projects related to sustainability.

He and Bettye are interested in promoting the role of arts as a force for moving society toward a more sustainable future, by emphasizing the systemic role of humans as an integral part of Nature, from which all sustenance flows and upon which all life depends.

Dr. Ware’s website (https://clifware.wixsite.com/clifware) is devoted to singing and teaching, integral thought and mind-body connections, and sustainability concerns.