06 Wednesday Jan 2016
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Handel has always been my all time favourite composer. To sing his music is an absolute joy. I performed my first Handel aria at the age of 13. La speranza from Ottone. I performed it at Burnley Music Festival winning first prize with Vivian Pike adjudicating. It felt so comfortable to sing and ever since then Handel’s repertoire has been on my programme.
Now I have the pleasure of singing at Handel House on Brook Street. The 13 year old me would be thrilled!
03 Friday Aug 2012
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audiences Renee Fleming, diction, English, libretto, music, opera, performing, recitals, Singing, teaching
It’s half an hour into a performance and you find your self sitting in the audience wondering what on earth they are singing about and if it’s even in English! We’ve all been there. Of course nobody likes to admit this to the person they’re sitting next to. They just cobble together a plot like Sherlock Holmes by piecing together the manic arm waving, heaving sobs and lusty embraces. Unrequited love. That’ll be it. It always is.
But as a paying customer shouldn’t we expect at the very least to understand the text? Is it too much to ask to involve the audience in the scene that is evolving in front of them? Or is it a given that they have come simply to hear shimmering tones, stratospheric coloratura and messa di voce to die for?
Opera is an art form that pushes human ability to the extreme. It takes strength and stamina to fulfil the demands made by the composer. The hours of practise and painstaking attention to detail culminate into a thrilling and mesmeric sound that can move audiences world wide. But what of the text? Sometimes I think that librettists must despair at the unrecognisable sounds that the audience are presented with. Especially having spent hours agonising over the subtle use of language.
Is it possible to have both impressive vocal acrobatics and a decipherable text? For sopranos this is particularly challenging as the singing lies much higher than the natural speaking voice therefore requiring a lot of space. Renee Fleming once said that it is ‘like trying to hold an intelligible conversation while yawning’. I’d have to agree, however this is no excuse for unclear diction when singing on or below the stave.
Clear diction is something that can be instilled into singers at a very early age. After a while, it seeps into a singers muscle memory and becomes a natural part of their singing. It does takes hard work at first and can be very frustrating when you are stopped at every other word in order to put it right but it is worth it. It really is. Audiences will switch off if they don’t understand the words easily enough.
However, it is a balancing act between tone production and clarity of text that will always be there. Composers don’t always take this into consideration so we have to do our best to bring words to the paying public.
28 Saturday Apr 2012
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Deciding to have singing lessons can be a big decision. It takes courage, confidence and commitment. Exposing your voice to a total stranger can be very scary. Voices are personnel things which give away so much about ourselves. If you are willing to be open to criticism, analysis and personal scrutiny then you want to be sure that you have the right teacher for you.
Finding a teacher can be daunting. Knowing where to look can be the first stumbling block. If you Google ‘Singing Teachers’ you get page after page of websites offering different types of singing lessons. This can be confusing and can end up being a wild stab in the dark. Sometimes there is so much choice that you need to be sure of what you are looking for. For instance, what kind of singing am I interested in? What kind of repertoire would I ideally like to sing?
Undoubtedly the best way of finding a teacher is through recommendation. If you know the person and trust their judgement then you are half way to finding a good a teacher. However, one singing teacher does not necessarily suit everyone. Everybody has a different approach to learning and one teaching technique does not work with everybody. Some singers respond well to the use of imagery in their instruction and others find detailed physiological facts are the easiest way of getting results. A good teacher should be able to quickly find out what kind of learner the pupil is and adjust their teaching techniques accordingly. This does take skill and experience especially if a teacher can naturally produce a sound without actually knowing how they are doing it.
A trial lesson is the best way to see if the teacher is the right one for you. It is a chance to get a flavour of their teaching techniques and also to see if you can connect on a one to one level. There should be an element of a rapport between student and teacher so that the student feels comfortable and able to ask questions. Singers only produce their best when they are at ease so being frightened to death of the teacher is no good. Teachers are used to giving trial lessons so don’t be embarrassed to decline lessons after the initial meeting.
Take your time in finding a teacher as the voice can be a delicate instrument, especially in the young. It can take a long time to undo a bad technique so you need to be 100% sure in your choice. Once you think you have found the teacher for you, you can enjoy the fruits of their knowledge and make a start on your journey of singing. Good luck!
26 Thursday Apr 2012
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Folk music. It means so many different things to so many people. From open toed sandal wearing men with long ginger beards, to the angst ridden teenage folk rockers. The Oxford dictionary defines folk music as ‘music that originates in traditional popular culture or that is written in such a style. Folk music is typically of unknown authorship and is transmitted orally from generation to generation.’
With such massive scope, this could be anything. To my teenage self, folk music was unaccompanied strophic songs telling tales of unrequited love, tragedy, weird pie fillings and reason upon reason as to why women shouldn’t trust men. They meant learing verse after verse of ridiculous text involving a lot of ‘fah la la’, ‘diddle o’ the day’ and ‘whipsy diddley dandy die’. It didn’t thrill me but I must admit that I did enjoy the freedom of folk songs. Singers can really show their personalities (or lack of!) and can really play with the audience. It’s perfect for show offs and I often find that in a recital the audience always remembers the folk songs rather than the thrills of the gymnastic arias. People can connect with the text. They sympathise with the characters and laugh along with the nonsensical comedy. The trials and tribulations of life still involve love, money and death. This is why they stand the test of time. The melodies are not always simple but they certainly stick with the listener.
I now know that there is more to folk music than ‘foldie rol the days’ and I have been involved in many projects which show folk in all it’s forms. After all, people make music and we, the folk, continue to compose, sing, play and listen.
27 Monday Feb 2012
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acting, adjudicators, competitions, dancing, festivals, music, Singing
One of the great things about this country is the thriving amateur music scene. We have a plethora of choirs, orchestras and dramatic groups that have been founded base upon the rich pickings of talented people who want to perform for fun. They are also a great training ground for professional musicians and bring great joy to young and old alike.
The British and International Federation of Festivals are an umbrella body for competitive festivals of performing arts across the UK and further afield. Singers, instrumentalists, actors and dancers come together to compete locally and nationally in their chosen field. The standard varies from the complete novice to the emerging professionals. In the UK alone there are almost 300 festivals open to everyone from the very young to the more mature performer. They are a concert platform where you can have the chance to get feedback by an adjudicator and to hear the work of others at a similar level.
The festivals played a massive part in my musical education. From the age of 8, I competed in dance, singing and drama. They were great for building confidence, performing as a soloist, testing exam pieces and meeting like minded people. It was obvious that singing was my forte but the dance and drama almost certainly have added to my singing career. My first festival was Fleetwood where I did the 9 years and under singing and I did a song called ‘Rat a tat tat’. I won that class and from that moment on I never stopped singing. I competed right up until I went to music college and it was the best training ground that I could have hoped for.
Just recently I went to Richmond upon Thames Festival and I was astounded at the level of singing. The children were confident, well prepared and obviously really enjoying what can be a nerve wrecking experience. So if you have a child who is thinking of a performing career or just loves to perform for fun then this is the perfect opportunity for them. I recommend them to teachers who are looking for performance platforms for their pupils or adults who want to fulfil a lifetime ambition of performing in front of an audience.
Long may they continue.
