Italy Inspired Vocal Musings

Being in Italy is a wonderful experience and I count myself fortunate to once again be part of the faculty at the COSI program headed by Darryl Edwards. It is a terrific Canadian program which is held in the beautiful little town of Sulmona in the Abruzzo region.

I was speaking with one of the tenors here regarding the singers that inspire him . Of course, Pavarotti's name came up. He really is the gold standard of great singing. There are many interesting clips of him on youtube not the least of which is him discussing with Marilyn Horne, Joan Sutherland ( speaking of gold standard!) and Richard Bonynge about bel canto - beautiful singing.

I will never forget the first time I heard Pavarotti live. I was on tour with the Metropolitan Opera in Japan and I was attending a dress rehearsal for the Verdi Requiem. We were all still jet lagged but many of us in the company wanted to hear the rehearsal as we would not be able to attend the performance. Pavarotti had just arrived and was marking the rehearsal. Despite this I was able to hear him so clearly in the vast auditorium in Tokyo. It was as though he was sitting beside me whispering in my ear, such was the acoustic effect of that incredibly produced voice.

I often say to singers that what we are trying to do in improving our technique is to carry around our own acoustic with us. We must have a sense of producing our voice so that no matter where we are singing we can feel- not hear- that we are singing well. Allowing the sound to spin in the sound column and reflect off of the resonators creates an acoustic that is similar to an orchestra playing in front of a band shell when they play outdoor concerts.

This kind of singing creates in its listener a sense of intimacy and directness that cannot be matched. Funny, isn't it, that by ostensibly singing 'more' ( ie. with more spin and with greater freedom) we create a response in our listeners that is a palpable physical and emotional experience. When I am teaching, and a singer achieves this, it is as though they are talking to me. Clearly they are singing, but with such freedom that there is nothing interrupting their thoughts being transmitted on sound waves to my ears. The ultimate goal! The most interesting thing to me in all of this is that people get it. From the the unsophisticated listener to the opera fanatic.

Back in Tokyo, Pav finally lets one fly and the whole theater breathed and released the built up yearning we had for him (to let us have just one glorious note). We are like a bunch of addicts waiting for our next fix!

My name is Wendy Nielsen and I am a voice addict.

Working toward that oft elusive goal of ultimate vocal freedom is something that I have done for most of my adult life. I continue to strive for this both with my own singing and for those singers who work with me. It is not unlike my husband's addiction to windsurfing. Every day he hopes for some wind, the conditions are rarely perfect but it sure is fun to get out there and make the best with what you have (always hoping for that perfect day).

The Golden Ticket

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I am near the end of one of my favourite times of the year. Not Christmas, not Mother's Day but the month of teaching that I do at my home in Cambridge-Narrows. We rent the cottage next door and two or three singers at a time come and work intensively with me. It is a great way to work for all, I think. I get to be at home with my family and singers get to enjoy the beauty of this place and focus on their singing. The joke is that there is little else to do in this village of 640 souls!

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We work for a couple of hours a day; one on one. There is play time in the kayaks or hanging out in the hammock with a good book. It seems to help accelerate absorption of concepts. There appears to be a recurring theme that has come up in my teaching of late that I think is worthy of discussion. One singer in particular expressed frustration at not being able to find a teacher in Toronto who could work with her consistently. The implication: this is what was standing between her and greater success. While I appreciate the need and importance of working with a teacher who can give you good, sound vocal guidance, I suggested to her that she shouldn't be looking for THE GOLDEN TICKET.

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We are all an amalgam many things including our upbringing; the teachers with whom we have worked, the experiences we have had, etc. I think one gets into dangerous territory when a teacher, or any person for that matter, begins to exert ownership over another individual. Think about personal relationships; if someone is telling you how to dress or how to behave, they are trying to create you in the image they have of you. This is not to diminish the impact of the show What Not To Wear - one of my favs! In all seriousness, the goal of a singer is to be the most full version of themselves in order to take to the stage and move people with music. That great quote by Marianne Williamson says this so eloquently:

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Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure...We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be.

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The job of being a singer is not the performing. The job is the day in/day out work of going into a practice room and working on the craft of singing. If this is something that appeals to you then go for it! You are your own creation and your uniqueness is something to be celebrated and upheld. Take all the information and advice that is given because there is value of some kind in all of it. Sort through the pile and keep what is true for you and edit the rest. It's no easy task.
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The paycheque is not the paycheque. The paycheque is the performance. If someone hands you a cheque afterwards, smile and know that you've been twice rewarded.

School Tours or Encountering Greatness in Mississauga

I experienced some major flashback moments last week when I was working with Calgary Opera's Emerging Artists Program. In addition to giving voice lessons to the singers I was able to head out on the road with them and enjoy their wonderful production of Cinderella. This is a show that was originally conceived for Opera Lyra Ottawa by the only brilliant Rob Herriot. It is a terrific knitting together of excerpts from Massenet's Cendrillon and Rossini's Cenerentola in English translation with succinct and witty dialogue carrying the plot to the ears of the listeners.

How well I remember my school tour days at the Canadian Opera Company! We were divided into two quartets; one group travelled to Mississauga and the other went to Scarborough. Our show, as I recall, was more deliberately instructive in nature. 'This is a soprano', ' Madama Butterfly tells the story of...' etc. We sang numerous operatic excerpts at crazy hours of the morning in school gymnasiums there were lots of ear covering moments and bizarre questions...

For our very first show we were well rehearsed and briefed on what to expect during the highly anticipated question and answer period. We were told that the children wanted to know the nitty gritty: were we married to one another, how much money we make, etc. I was elected to field the questions on that fateful first day. I invited the audience to ask questions, a hand went up and I indicated to a little girl that she could ask her question :

" I don't have a question but I just wanted to tell you that my great grandfather wrote the libretto for Aida."

Rendered speechless, the remainder of the question period was a blur. I do remember seeing a drawing done by the precocious Angelina Ghislanzoni proudly displayed in the hallway as we left.
Doing school tours is a right of passage for most opera singers these days. They are a staple of young artist programs and do the 'in the trenches' work of audience building for the future. For the performer the experience is both exhausting and enriching. For the fortunate Calgary Emerging Artists they are singing real repertoire. Across Canada other programs have featured the work of Canadian composer Dean Burry who has written many wonderful children's operas that both entertain and educate audience and singer alike.

There is simply no audience like an audience of kids. They are honest; when they love it... they love it! When they are bored... heaven help you! The student matinee that many opera houses feature is a fantastic experience. They boo the villain and scream, with the fervour typically assigned to a rock star, when they like a character.

There is a lot of artistic and personal development to be gleaned from a school tour. There is, primarily, the opportunity to sing repertoire many times even if it is at 9:30 am! It is a gift to have a situation where you can risk a bit, i.e. try to incorporate new technical ideas and see how they work without worrying that the reviewer from Opera Canada is in the house. Learning to appreciate how a show is put together from the ground up is another benefit; the singers in Calgary help to assemble and take down the set. We need to keep in the forefront of our minds that the crew - stage hands, wardrobe people, stage managers - all work really hard to make us look good. When I was a student at UBC we had to help build the sets. I made a set of stairs and, boy, was I proud! Taking a practical course in costume or lighting design was a requirement for my Masters degree. I opted for the lighting as I had way too many bad memories from sewing machine hell in Home Ec. In the end I came to understand on a deeper level the magic of the lighting designer.

Back in Calgary they're probably on show number twenty of thirty-two; laughing in the van while being ferried about, dining on fast food lunches, and coining terms like Cougarella. I encouraged them to keep a diary of the crazy and wonderful things that happened... from the wardrobe malfunctions for the 6' 3" mouse in a grey unitard to playing frisbee in the school gym as a 'warm up'.

It was great for me as a voice teacher to see the singers in action. I was able to witness which technical concepts were sticking, and which were not. It was also a particular pleasure to watch the children and teachers responding to the show. You just never know what kind of an influence you might have. I remember the first time I ever heard an opera singer; it was in my grade three music class. I was completely overwhelmed by the sound of the tenor's voice singing Vesti la giubba...all this from a vinyl disk.

Last week I sat in that Calgary school gym and was reminded that the power of the freely produced human voice will always move people...of all ages.

Good intentions. That is what I had when I posted my first two blogs...last year! I must ,and can only, improve.

Last week I spent a wonderful week at the University of Toronto as a guest teacher. It was a particularly meaningful experience as I was turned down by that institution many years ago. I bring this personal story up frequently with young singers because one needs to keep perspective with regards to being rejected OR accepted by programs. I auditioned for the opera school at U of T hot on the heels of finishing my Masters at UBC. Literally, on my way home from Vancouver! Perhaps I did a poor audition, perhaps they already had many sopranos( note that I didn't use the phrase 'too many sopranos' as we all know that that situation could never exist!) who knows what could have come into play. I was too devastated to ask for feedback from the 'no' so I will never know.

Ten months after this I screwed up my courage and auditioned for the COC chorus. I felt that it went well but there seemed to be a lot of whispering during my audition and after the U of T turn down I wasn't exactly feeling optimistic! The phone rang the next day and the person at the other end asked if I could come and sing for Mr. Mansouri ,the general director, the following day. I agreed and in a haze returned ,sang the same arias and was told although they had already selected singers for the Ensemble for the coming season they could offer me the training experience( no pay) and a full chorus contract! My life changed in that brief moment and while ,as the saying goes, the rest is history - the rest has been a life filled with the pleasure and hard work of being a singer.

We are constantly being assessed for various reasons: suitability for a role, for a program, for a positive review and so on. It is not easy but if you can keep your own counsel and surround yourself with knowledgable people who can give you honest and supportive feedback the path becomes clearer. I remember well an early experience with a critic. Pianist Michael McMahon and I were giving several recitals in California and one was with an important series in Pasadena. I was coming off of a cold and was rather intimidated by the pressure of this particular event,honestly I felt that I had just barely covered the bases during the performance. My manager called the next day and asked if I had seen the LA Times. I braced myself for her to tell me that they were dumping me or some such other outrageous imagined horror. She told me the review was great! I went out and got a copy of the paper- it was as though my mother had written the review! I realized in that moment that if I believed it and gave it credence then I would be lying to myself and would therefore have to believe every forth coming review-good, bad, or indifferent. Thank goodness Michael was there and was able to help with the truth of what took place, a more balanced view between my 'it was a disaster' and the media's 'she is the greatest thing since chocolate'. He is on my team and is one of those people on whom I have been able to rely for the truth for many years now and I am so grateful.

Meanwhile, back at U of T. I had a wonderful week listening and responding to the excellent singers there. Happy to be in the position of helpful experienced singer reflecting back to others beginning the journey.