IVA Voice

06/05/2026

Dear Friends,

https://sweeteaters.bandcamp.com/track/fu***ng-for-virginity

Today we want you to jam to “F**king for Virginity”. This is the first release from the Sweeteaters EP, the band Geoff Bennington and I formed after touring for a few years for IVA. The title comes from an anti-Vietnam war protest slogan “bombing for peace is like fu***ng for virginity”. We hope you’ll especially like the chorus of the song. And that you’ll do some serious dancing today for PEACE.

https://sweeteaters.bandcamp.com/track/fu***ng-for-virginity

We have a special guest on this track, the rapper Nory. We love his sound and asked him to be a part of the song. He’s a Saudi-American rapper living in Brooklyn. Check him out on https://www.nory.fyi/

The song has only been released on https://sweeteaters.bandcamp.com/. (Please follow us there). You can stream or pay what you wish for the track, so if you’d like to support our music, I know I’d especially appreciate it as I’ve been limited in my ability to work this past year.

Let us know how you like the song. Especially on http://www.instagram.com/wearesweeteaters .

Sending PEACE and LOVE,
Emily and Geoff

05/29/2026

Hello Friends and Fans!
We have great news - the new Sweeteaters EP is MASTERED!
We'll be releasing it one track at a time over the upcoming months. The first one will arrive on Bandcamp in a week on Friday, June 5.
**Follow us on https://www.instagram.com/wearesweeteaters/ for updates and more super fun photos like the one above.**
Geoff and I have been battling it out to get to this moment. I'm still undergoing cancer treatment and hoping that radiation, immunotherapy and CAR-T get the last lymph node that I had biopsied. Geoff is healing up from a broken collar bone. We'll make it through.
The new record includes many "bangers", so get ready for a good time. We sure are.
Sending love, Emily (and Geoff)

05/18/2026

More Moxie moments from Paris -
A) Working hard .coffeeshop
B) FOMO in Montmartre
C) Star Wars casting 😘
🖤🐾☕️🛫🌌

04/23/2026

Marseille! My honey took me on an adventure. First a bike 🏍️ (comme toujours) and then a hike to a waterside restaurant hidden in the Calanques for bouillabaisse. (Restaurant La Baie des Singes) Were heavily shushed 🤫 in the Basilica, had a walk around the old city (Le Panier) to take in some of the street art and found beautiful Abbey Vielle Charity which has a lovely terrace for lunch and an incredible collection of Egyptian artifacts including painted wooden sarcophagi. Our last night included a visit to .marseille for vinyl thru vintage speakers - great concept, great music, sexy vibes 🍑🐯. Had some choice beach time for fleeting moments. Loved this edgy city in the sun. 👻☀️

04/18/2026

Scenes from France thusfar - including visits to the beautiful with friends and to to see Satyagraha by Phillip Glass. The opera’s message of non-violence and spiritual endurance really spoke to me. Meanwhile
Moxie is transitioning to France as if she’s always lived here.

04/12/2026

Made it to France 🇫🇷 🐾 it’s Moxie’s first trip here and she’s already making friends at beautiful with our gracious hosts. She’s already had French dog food and there’s no going back 😋🤤
We head to Paris tomorrow 🥐❤️💙🤍

04/09/2026

One of the silver linings of chemo was having more time to play the piano. This piece is a Lizst transcription of a Schubert piece for voice and piano combined into one. It’s taken me a while just to get the right hand as it’s got a lot of 2 against 3. (Eight notes and triplets played together) I’m going to post progress on this piece as I add the left hand and learn more of the piece. It’s one of Juan’s favorites and we heard it in a gorgeous French film called Lost Illusions (Illusions Perdues), a period piece based on the Balzac Novel. Good thing we don’t get tired of it cause I’ve played it hundreds of times now, soon to be thousands I’m sure …

Have you heard this piece before?

04/07/2026

While I was sick I didn’t make an official announcement. Now that I seem to be out of the woods with cancer I want to share that I am engaged! Juan Carlos has stood by me through my health struggles since last January. Quite a first year of an engagement. We made it, we’re here, and I’m going back to his home in Paris after not being able to travel for more than a year. Haven’t looked forward to a trip like this since I can remember. Moxie is also coming with. Life is good ❤️🐾

05/09/2025

My student and colleague Cynthia Lin and I recorded her learning mixed belt technique on the song “Defying Gravity”. We worked on the magic key 🔑 to belting - the baby cry sound 👶 as well as other tips.

Warning ‼️ annoying baby noises in the video ‼️🤣😂

Cindy is a ukulele virtuoso and YouTube star and is exploring how she can incorporate the mixed belt technique into her singing to expand her repertoire. Cindy learns quickly and had good success making belting work for her. She wondered if it would upset her jazz technique, but it has just strengthened her voice and given her more options.

We did this lesson online from Honolulu and New York. Virtual voice lessons work!

To watch the full lesson, visit my YouTube.com/ and try the technique for yourself. Or follow the link below. Remember to like and subscribe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYEH-Q6qtkc&t=59s
Cynthia Lin

Hello all! My friend and colleague Cynthia Lin wanted to learn mixed belt technique, so we focused on the "Defying Gravity" from Wicked to apply the techniqu...

05/02/2025

SAVE THE DATE!
On Sunday, June 1st at 2pm I'll be performing at Old Swedes Church, Philadelphia in honor of their 325th year dedications. Tickets are available here: https://preserveoldswedes.org/event/iva/

SWEETEATERS EP
Last week we finished tracking our Sweeteaters EP. Now we go into the mixing phase. Thanks again to all who donated. We can't wait to share the record with you.

VOICE STUDENTS RECORDINGS
I've also been busy with my fabulous voice students. Three of them have released music this past month:
YouTube Star and Ukulele Virtuoso https://www.youtube.com/cynthialinmusic released "Microscope" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l87As43umf4

Shelli Vogt of Shelli and the Husbands released the "Haunted Heart" EP and this single "Let Me Go" https://soundcloud.com/shelliandthehusbands/f94631c0-9a66-4052-ae41-510f905a9d5f?in=shelliandthehusbands/sets/haunted-heart-1&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing.

Ayaka Matsui released the instrumental track "Reverie" https://open.spotify.com/track/6PX0gxDD6sNMzMB59KJIb9?si=95cff142f8014bb1&nd=1&dlsi=4cf9293186ec495d.
She and I have been working on her voice so she can incorporate vocals into her future performances.

If you or someone you know is interested in voice lessons, either in person in New York or Delaware or virtually from anywhere, please visit http://www.ivavoicestudio.com or write to [email protected] for more information.

Spring is here! I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather.
Emily/Emsy/IVA