I am an advocate for mental health and self-expression.
I am committed to making the most out of my talent and voice and deeply touch as many as I can. I am also committed to supporting others to fully embrace their artistry in whatever form.
I was born into a musical family in the Netherlands and grew up internationally at the heart of the European art scene.
From the age of six I studied violin first with Wim van Keulen in Amsterdam (Concertgebouw Orkest), then during adolescence in Paris as a teenager – where my father was director of Institut Néerlandais – with Miriam Solovieff (from the Juilliard School).
I studied voice (baritone) from the age of 18, at the Mozarteum in Salzburg (Sprecherziehung with Paula Lindberg) then in Holland with Margreet Honig & Udo Reinemann.
I sing recitals in 9 languages (art songs & chansons), baroque arias and sacred cantatas.
In 2019 I participated in a masterclass of Marco Beasley in Tuscany.
After completing a Bachelors Degree in German Literature and graduating at the School of the Arts in Utrecht in Classical Voice, I moved to Northern California in 1995 where I took many trainings in energy healing and human potential.
I am fluent in Dutch, English, French, Italian & German.
Since 2009 I regularly collaborate and perform with pianists Dmitriy Cogan and Dwight Okamura in the SF bay Area.
Reflections about Singing:
We learn to sing to translate “soul realities” into sound realities..
We learn to sing from our deep faith in the fundamental power of beauty.
We learn to sing to again and again radiate a sense of freedom into a fear, guilt, separation -ridden universe.
We learn to sing to remind humanity in this problem-filled universe to always give voice to whatever has been muted….
We learn to sing to mirror back into every single heart the emotional capacity, which lies dormant in the subconscious – the innate ability to suffer pain, to be happy, to love, to believe.
https://www.maxvanpraag.com/