About Masterclass Lady
Rosanne (Giallonardo) Simunovic began her musical career in Timmins, Ontario. She studied piano with Anne Pizzale and later, at an advanced level, with Soeur Anita Vaugeois (Sister Cecile of Les Soeurs De L’Assomption in Timmins). Her vocal and accompaniment skills were nurtured by her aunt, the late Dorothea Mascioli.
When Rosanne graduated from O’Gorman High School, she moved on to the University of Toronto where she continued her piano and vocal studies while attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She was hired as a piano accompanist for several musical companies, most notably, the National Ballet Of Canada. She presently holds an A.R.C.T. Teacher’s Diploma in Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Rosanne has studied choral conducting with numerous well known Canadian Conductors, including Wayne Riddell of Montreal, Quebec and the internationally renowned Dr. Elmer Iseler.
She has been a founding member of numerous community-based arts organizations: the Timmins Arts Council, later known as Arts & Culture Timmins, the Timmins Symphony Orchestra, and, the Timmins Youth Singers…as well as the TYS Alumnus choir, the Timmins Concert Singers. In 1987, she was also selected to be the conductor of the Timmins Board Of Education Choir, comprised of talented students from Grades 5 to 8.
In 1988, she was elected to the Board Of Directors of the Ontario Choral Federation (now known as Choirs Ontario), where she served as Chair of the Festivals Committee for six consecutive seasons. In 1996, in honour of the Ontario Choral Federation’s 25th Anniversary, Rosanne was selected as one of 25 recipients of the OCF’s Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the choral art. The ceremony was presided by Lieutenant Governor, Hal Jackman.
In November 1997, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Rotary Club Of Timmins to receive the prestigious Paul Harris Award for her years of dedication to the artistic development of young musical talent in Timmins.
In August of 2002, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Board Of Directors of Choirs Ontario to serve as Conductor of both the Provincial Junior and Teen Choir Camps, now renamed in honour of the Camp Benefactors, Don and Lillian Wright.
In November 2002, Rosanne was the one of the recipients of the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, honouring her work in the development of the arts in Timmins.
Under Rosanne Simunovic’s direction, the Timmins Youth Singers and the Timmins Concert Singers have been featured in numerous choral festivals and performing opportunities outside of Timmins. In 1985, they were selected to partici
July 29, 2008 
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here are some ‘picksburgh’ haha vids
These are really good and he did some new runs on Angels and SBM:
Angels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHrhcMl6lsA
SBM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DU8XnJVL_M
Apologize: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RINzYpKQKW4
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Hello: http://youtube.com/watch?v=flMBHCWxPbs
Billie Jean: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tjjvf9hSrPs
Aside from his “Tom Jones” moment at the end of Billie Jean (although, it is kind of funny!), I wanted to ask you review the performances from a different perspective than usual, MCL.
I always post “Hello” and “Billie Jean” because to me the strong pieces of his set (as opposed to, say, Archie who seems to have four songs that are perfect for him). The other performances I just listen to once after each show, just to make sure he sounded fine.
But, MCL, I wonder if you could offer your technical expertise as far as how different songs really allow different singers to shine (and other songs not as much). You can use David’s songs as an example (if you have time, of course!).
Here is “Time of My Life” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ea13X4JTpM). I actually think it’s the third strongest song in his set (for him).
The weakest songs in his set (for him, once again), I believe, are “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” and “My Hero” (http://youtube.com/watch?v=jdTguMdZrRE). That video has both songs.
There’s a lot of speculation that both he and Michael didn’t choose to sing their Aerosmith songs. Rather, they were “encouraged” to do so because of the tie-in with the tour’s Guitar Hero sponsorship.
“My Hero”, though, he chose as a dedication to his brother. However, it’s too bad he couldn’t do the acoustic version from his hometown visit. Even if you don’t get to masterclass it, notice how the stripped down rendition allows his beautiful voice to soar. The link for this acoustic one is below.
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Oops, MCL, some of those links didn’t post above!
“Time Of My Life”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ea13X4JTpM
(Like I said, my view is that this one is a pretty good song for him, but not as good as “Billie Jean” and “Hello”)
“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”/ “My Hero”: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jdTguMdZrRE
(I don’t think these ones work as well for him, although, as I said, the acoustic “My Hero” is phenomenal!)
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That changed up run at the end of Stand by Me !!!!!!! Wow!.
MCL are you sure you didn’t help Archie out “with the high notes” ???? Just your reassurances about his singing and he decided to really go for it???
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Here is WYSYLM from Pittsburgh
His “talking” voice sounds a bit strained and he seems to be breathing with difficulty – between the giggles — but then he somehow starts singing beautifully. He sustains the high notes in the whew whew whew part near the end of the song.
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Hey guys and gals. I haven’t forgotten about you. I was just distracted with the Toronto recaps.
I watched SBM and was blown away. My goodness this young man likes to challenge himself. And, no, I didn’t help him with his high notes because there were tons of people around us, but I did reassure him.
He’s just tired – they all are – and that’s when the technique starts to feel less efficient.
But, when you hear him, it’s not evident at all – except during “Angels” and probably because it’s his first song. Once he starts to move and groove on stage, David is just fine. And “Angels” still gave me chills – his voice is such a gift from above! All his songs were pure magic and, let me tell you, he had the crowd in the palm of his hands.
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Againstthedyingofthelight – I will address your questions later on today, but, in a nutshell, David’s songs were superb and extremely powerful.
And, my favorite of his was “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” – it was a zillion times better than when he performed it on the show and the vocal power and creative artistry he exhibited in this number were brilliant. Just outstanding.
However, all of his songs kept me mesmerized. You cannot compare the two Davids -two distinctly different styles and voices and they both deserve every ounce of success that they can squeeze out of the music industry. We need them both!
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Frogcooke = I just watched “Angels” and it was oustanding and I love how he brings his arms up at the end to punctuate the ending with more visual and aural power.
He looks tired, though, and I wish Dean could travel with him or even if he could see him once a week would be beneficial.
David’s voice is still undergoing some changes and I think that Dean’s presence would reassure him that all is well and/or could eliminate any concerns he would have.
Also, where was the fog machine at the beginning of this song? Perhaps this was a problem for David – all that fog disoriented him? The fog finally kicked in at the “yeah yeah” section where he sings with his signature, soulful style. He also releases one hand from the piano to allow for more vocal freedom.
Boy – these singers need a week off – not a day! This is a brutal tour. Brutal!
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I loved his new melodic twists during “Angels”. Excellent. I think he added them to take some sustaining pressure off his voice. Smart, smart move!
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Archiefan yeah I noticed he seems to be a bit out of breathe between his songs lately, I noticed this in the Toronto videos at first and a bit in the Picksburgh(lol that never gets old) videos. So far no newark ones.
But Im wondering if it because he hasnt been to osure of his high notes and maybe a bit fear of losing some technique or soemthing, thats he’s been trying to mput more into his performances to compensate? Because like in the finale on AI he was practically out of breath after each of his 3 songs. Probably because he was exeprting alot more energy into it coupled with the fact he still pretty much one vocal cord down so it requires more anyway.
Anyway I hope some of that made any kind of sense as to what I was trying to say.. Im not even sure I understand it. lol
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Oh gosh… look at all those typos… @__@;
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N,o, no, MCL, I wasn’t trying to restart the Davids comparison. God knows there has been enough of that! I was just saying that I think, in my own opinion Archie did a better job of selecting songs for his set on this tour.
If I could have constructed Cook’s set, I would have gone with:
1. Hello
2. Always Be My Baby
3. Living On A Prayer (acoustic)
4. Time Of My Life (acoustic)
5. Billie Jean (encore)
David is a much more versatile artist than he’s showing on the AI tour, but it seems that there is an effort to put each singer into a box– David C. is the “rocker”, David A. is the “balladeer”, Syesha is the “diva”, Brooke/ Jason are the “folkies”, etc.
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No – I didn’t think you were starting the comparison issue at all. But song selection is crucial and I think, out of all of the singers, David A. has the most eclectic song selection – one that appeals to a wide range of listeners.
But, Cookie is a rocker and there are many songs that he does so well in this genre. I guess everyone has their favorite numbers that they wish to hear, but I thoroughly enjoyed David C.’s set.
Although, I agree with you, it would have been cool to hear Cookie perform an acoustic song – he certainly has the voice for this, especially given the fact that I heard samples of his Analog Heart album.
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Although I’m a current resident of Seattle, I went to Pittsburgh to the concert there. I was born there and lived there more on than off until I graduated college. Got to see Archie from the 4th row, dead center and agree with a lot of the comments here about him being more out of breath between songs. He also seemed even smile-y-er than usual.
Anyway, frogcooke, I have a tidbit about “Picksburgh”–that’s how many many many of the long-time natives pronounce it. It’s not even poking fun at the place, it’s just the local accent. So my theory is that David’s sensitive ears picked that up. It delighted me, too!
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Oh thats cool Bianca! Thats for that tidbit. hehehe So cute. And how does he be smile-y-er LOL LOL
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Miss Bianca -he was breathy in between songs in Toronto as well. He’s just exhausted – but you would never know it hearing him sing. Plus he pours every ounce of strength into his songs – he is relentless as a performer – always gives over and above to his audience.
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Someone made this comment over at MJS, and i’d just like your input on it.
“David Cook’s voice was pretty bad singing Billie Jean in Pittsburgh (his voice sounded tired and completely off-key most of the first half of the song), although he sounded better in Newark.”
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Oh my Gosh, it must be Seafair weekend here. My house just got buzzed by the Blue Angels.
Back to Archie (but I thought I’d throw that in, since they are high-flying Angels, LOL).
MCL–yes, couldn’t tell a bit while he was singing. It was sublime. And as for being smiley-er (I have no idea how to spell this, I suppose I should say he smiled even more) maybe it was because I was so close (although I’ve seen a lot of good close photos) but his smiles seemed even more genuine and twinklier than usual and he smiled a LOT during “Stand By Me” especially. Not while singing of course, wouldn’t want to stretch his mouth, LOL. But between he was really beaming. It was lovely to see.
I can’t comment on David Cook. I think by Billie jean I had expired because I don’t even remember him singing it, LOL. I stayed until the very end though…so I must have heard it. Cook was quite a bit better overall than he’d been in Tacoma, much more like he had been in LA. He was was great waving the terrible towel but his joke about it was … terrible. Picksburghers have heard them all before, remember, LOL.
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Kinda like that rehashed pirate joke eh?
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Frogcooke and Miss Bianca,
I wasn’t sure until I heard you guys cite both Pittsburgh and Tacoma as cities where Cook gave “bad” performances of Billie Jean, but when I saw you include Tacoma, I realized that you probably just didn’t “get” what he was doing vocally.
If you’re not a rock music aficionado you may not be familiar with the many vocal affectations rock singers use. I’m not being rude to you guys– the Idol judges often didn’t get them either. For example on final three week, Randy called DC’s “Dare You To Move” “pitchy”. It actually wasn’t pitchy at all– he just sang it in a particular rock style (althought it wasn’t a wise strategic choice to employ that style on Idol). “Always Be My Baby” is another performance where some people didn’t seem to realize the effect he was going for on the verse, although the judges did evidently “get” that one.
Anyway, Pittssburgh and Tacoma had both quite good Billie Jeans (unlike, say, Detroit). And he did receive outstanding reviews from the concert reviewers in both cities.
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Againstthedyingofthelight, you’re right about me not being familiar with contemporary rock singer vocal inflections. However, I don’t believe I ever said that Tacoma was a “bad” performance–only that LA was better–which in my opinion, it was, having much more to do with energy than any particular aspect of his vocals. And I said I couldn’t comment on Pittsburgh’s Billie Jean–I was exhausted by the time he performed and couldn’t even keep on my feet even though I very much wanted to be. I was at all three of these performances, by the way, meaning I’ve flown 6800 miles to go to Idol concerts this year.
Do you have somethings that I could listen to that might illustrate this style? I’m really into learning.
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Miss Bianca, I’m not sure if you’re still reading this thread, or if our discussion is hijacking it, but I will post a link to the aforementioned DYTM, as an example and then offer a few comments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk-JX863fdk
His delivery on this song was intentionally angsty/ tortured. Notice the softer singing on the verse and clipped phrasing and unenunciated diction (on the verse). The dead giveaway that this was how he intended it to sound (as opposed to what Randy called “pitchy”) is his physicality. See how he’s practically swallowing the mic and cocks his head way over to the side. That’s very typical “rock” posture.
(Having said this, I was annoyed at him after this performance. This affectation will work fine for him at his solo shows. But, Idol was not the place to try this.)
There were two other performances where the judges clearly did not “get” what what he was doing. On “I’m Alive” (Neil Diamond night) and “Hungry Like The Wolf” he heavily “rasped” up his voice. They didn’t sound as “pretty” as some of his other songs, but it was a very “rock” vocal choice. Once again, it’s probably something he should have saved for his own shows, rather than expecting the at-large AI audience/ judges to appreciate what he was trying to do.
Somewhat surprisingly, the judges did “get” what he was going for with his vocals on “Always Be My Baby”. Or maybe they were just overwhelmed by his dramatic rearrangement of the original. But, some people online thought he was off-key in the lower register until he got to the chorus. But, what he actually was trying to do was to produce “haunting” sounding vocals, in keeping with the mood of the version of ABMB he had created.
Anyway, what is going on with the different versons of Billie Jeans is that he sometimes uses different voices in different parts of the song. Some of them may sound more tuneless than others, but trust me when I say he is aware of exactly what he is doing each time he switches it up.
I suspect that the singers get bored singing their songs the same way each night. So where Archie may change around his runs, Cook, since he doesn’t use runs (except to “slide” on some of his notes), in order to maintain his own variety, uses “different” voices, changes his slides and step-ups/ step-downs, shifts around his glory notes, and changes his phrasing, accented syllables, and inflection, etc.
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