Hey, Counties!

How’s that isolation going? We hope you’re healthy and safe.

As always, each episode of Counter Programming will focus on a "counter" of some sort. Today, we learn about countertenors.

Thank you to Bethany Berger for lending your voice for the intro section of the episode! You can do the same. Record a voice note saying, "Hi, i'm (your name), and you're listening to Counter Programming with Shira & Arielle." Then send it to us!

You can reach us by email: counterprogrammingshiraarielle@gmail.com. 

You can also reach us on Instagram @counterprogrammingpod.

Last week, Shira and Arielle covered counterfeit money. Check back in our feed to listen to our previous episodes.

Countertenor Info:

• A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5. Countertenors often are baritones or tenors at core, but on rare occasions use this vocal range in performance (via Wikipedia).
• As explained by Lestyn Davies, a Grammy award-winning countertenor, “It’s a voice produced by not using one’s ‘modal’ or normal speaking voice, but the higher range that occurs when the combination of larynx muscles and vocal cord position are changed in such a way that the air passing through the cords vibrates a much thinner outer layer."

Interview/Information about Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen:

• We talk about the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Hannah Senesh Hebrew Day School, Elton John's 60th birthday party (at MSG), castration, the Church, Princeton theses, La Boheme, and so much more.
• Here's Aryeh's website (gorgeous, right?!)
• Here's the clip that we played of Aryeh singing. AMAZING!
• Aryeh dispels some rumors about opera, so listen in to have your perspective shifted.
• We talk about the practice of castration (long gone) and how it has affected the opera world to this day.

Thanks for tuning in! Leave us a review on Apple or a comment on Castbox.

Tweet at us. Here’s Shira. Here’s Arielle.

At the top of the show, we told you about The Jordan Harbinger Show. Find it and listen here.

Buzzsprout, y'all, the best podcast host in the game. 

Thank you to Daniel Tureck, our engineer.

Thank you to Caio Slikta, our logo designer.

Our music is called Tennessee Hayride and it’s by Jason Shaw.