Jan Altman's Page

Surely! When I do my day workshops here in Philadelphia, I teach with a colleague all day (sight-singing and vocal/choral/ensemble techniques), and then at the end of the day I have another colleague who is a certified Alexander technician to work with our participants more specifically with their posture. She does relaxation exercises as well as what to focus on when standing and sitting, and how to allow the body to work optimally. Results are stunning!! For instance, most people think "sitting up straight" - that usually causes more tension in the body, but, if you think "sit up TALL", the natural curves of the bone structure are free to move about and feel suspended. Little ways to think about your posture can free the voice quite drastically!

Thank you for "friending" me Jan! Hope 2009 is a great year for choral singing where you are!

Hi, Jan! If you had wonderful experiences at the Berkshire Choral Festival, you would most likely enjoy my program in Italy called Umbrian Serenades: http://www.umbrianserenades.com

Regards,
Paulo

There's a phenomenon called "ego surfing." As you can imagine, it's where you search for your name on the net to see what you find. I did it years ago and found many links to a Jan Altman at a university in Virginia. I actually think I wrote to you back then, but can't remember what happened after that.

Shall I assume that you come from a Jewish background? Many families adopted the name Altman when they came to this country (it means "old man," as you undoubtedly know), but we were actually Altmans back in our little shtetl in Poland. (Well, not me, but my grandpa.) Doing genealogical research, I learned that there were so many Altmans there, they actually had their own synagogue!!