Monday, July 21, 2014

Football and Opera: Twins separated at birth


 I was reminded of the topic of opera and football by a recent posting by my friend and colleague Rebecca Hass. Her post included a link to an article about the coaching style of Chuck Noll and drew parallels in terms of habit and practice as well as keeping focused on what is ahead. My son and I have long joked that the 'real' common bond between opera singers and football players is that they all have big heads!  


People have been riffing on the topic of the link between football and opera for years and there are several wonderful examples of amazing people who actually have done both!  Morris Robinson, the wonderful American bass, was a colleague of mine at the Met and a nicer man you will never meet. When he found out that my son was into football, he offered to chat with him a bit about it and give him some tips. He was true to his word: we snuck into List Hall at the Met ( where many a singer has sweated at an audition) and Morris showed Julian some moves. My husband snapped a pic which we proudly title "The Met Bowl" ( see stylized photo above). Morris was an offensive guard at The Citadel before he was lured to the opera stage.

Keith Miller is another Met colleague who played ball, he was a fullback for the University of Colorado  and went on to play a bit in Europe and was scouted by the Denver Broncos. He has done wonderful things in terms of melding the physicality of the athlete to the opera singer. See the link below and his Puissance Training Program. Keith also helped my son on a visit to NYC by suggesting an off season training regime for him.

Thanks again to both of those great guys for their football advice and amazing singing!

The opera/football connection scored a touchdown for me one day in the studio. I was trying to find a more tangible way to explain the concept of spinning the tone in the sound column. I think we can all agree that the desired result is for the tone to be sent forward.  The ( get ready for the 4 letter word)          
B A C K space concept…it seems so, so, so…counter intuitive. EUREKA! It is just like the quarterback. He wants nothing more than to get that ball down the field and yet the first thing he does when he gets the football in his hot little hands is to…back up! Why?

There are a number of reasons but the most important one is to buy time so he can really gain some trajectory with the ball. Are you with me on this? He gains perspective of the field and momentum; not to mention avoiding the defensive hulks who are on their way to sack him. If he stepped forward he would get short term gain but no long term spin and arc in his throw.

The place that the QB steps back into is called the pocket. Imagine that your sound column is the pocket, a secret place where you can observe and let your sound pick up colour and spin so that it really projects. The sound needs to bounce off the pharynx, ricochet off those fantastic cheek bones and sail to the back of the house. Hail Mary!


Rebecca's blog :  https://www.facebook.com/TheResonantLife 

Morris Robinson:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPUr-Lm9dMM

Keith Miller:  http://www.keithmillerbass.com




Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Competitions P.S.



I found the ribbon after a small search. For the record it says: New Brunswick Provincial Livestock Show 19( ahem)71. Grand Champion Team.

Thanks to Gilbert Robinson and his prize winning Jersey cattle from my home town of Harvey Station, NB for the incentive and support all those years ago!

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Competitions



Hot on the heels of the announcement of Toronto's Dora Awards I feel the need to comment on competitions. I've been percolating on the subject for awhile and the topic certainly is an important one for singers. What is the function of competition and whom do they serve... particularly in the arts? With the World Cup of Soccer in full cry at the moment it gives one pause. Are we, in the arts, trying to compete to compete? Is it a basic human need to see who is the fastest, highest, or- heaven forbid- loudest?  Ack!

This brings to the fore the main flaw in arts competitions. Aren't we all trying to create and when we focus our attention on competing for a prize isn't the natural inclination to be distracted by that quest? The Dora Awards , like the Oscars, award the prizes after the season is completed so that when the show is on it is simply an act of creation and not trying to 'win' anything other than the audiences appreciation and attendance. Is that, in and of itself, a competition?

Singing competitions…sigh. We've all been in them, many of us since our tender years in the local music festival. God bless the Kiwanis Club of Canada for perpetuating these and the many other organizations who support music festivals. I, myself, first competed with the allure of winning…a ribbon as big as my head when I was at the tender age of eight. A local farmer , and friend of my parents, heard me sing in church and told me that if I simply entered the music festival that he would give me the largest of his prize heifer ribbons( I hear you sniggering!). I succumbed to the challenge, won the class and won the ribbon that I still have to this day. The beginning for me. I realized that I had an ability that might be perceived, on a particular day, as being exceptional or at the very least ( shudder) somehow superior to those of my peers. I would be lying if I said that this music festival experience in Harvey Station, NB was not formative. I eventually 'graduated' to the Fredericton Festival and onwards. The goal of the spring music festival and the possibility of winning some money and trophies was appealing and certainly kept me motivated toward something tangible.

I returned to adjudicate the Fredericton Festival this year. It was a very interesting experience as my former voice teacher is still teaching voice there. How well I remember her observations of me in festival. She recognized that I had a competitive nature she said when she saw my side long glances when others received praise. She was right though I tried my best to hide it. Perhaps one has to have a competitive urge in order to improve but could it exist in a vacuum, that is without others to spur you on to better them?

I would like to think that with maturity I learned to compete with myself but I can't say that I always resisted the urge to see what and where other sopranos of my ilk were singing. I didn't do particularly well in the few big competitions that I did enter with a couple of exceptions. I didn't take part in the Met competition but then they didn't seem to be at the forefront as they do now. One year, when I was singing at the Met, I attended the finals and wondered how I would have fared in such a high pressure competitive situation. I have heard it said that there are certain personalities that really thrive in the competition atmosphere, I was not one of those people so I avoided most of them. I preferred to do my work and hope that I would be hired based on an audition or better yet, someone seeing and hearing me in performance.

And yet…these big competitions can be a fantastic launch for singers! Several of my students have participated in some big national and international competitions in the past year. When we discussed them afterward, both those that won and those that didn't, seemed to be aware of a certain 'it is out of my hands' kind of circumstance. There are so many factors that go into the decision making. I have a bit of insight into this now that I have been on the COC jury for the COC Ensemble Studio Competition. Several of my Canadian colleagues and former Ensemble members as well as some very recent alumni felt that they would not have fared well in such a spotlight. Indeed!  On stage, at the opera house, with orchestra and not a lot of rehearsal…it takes nerves of steel and a lot of preparation to thrive. This is a typical competition scenario.

I don't think I have any particularly new insight on this topic but I will say that I council my students to focus on their  own artistry and performance knowing that the outcome of the competition is a crap shoot. BUT, these competitions are often a terrific means to be heard by a wide range of people. Many a singer has not won the competition but ended up being offered work as a result of their appearance in this high profile platform.


Sunday, January 5, 2014

Bully for you!

My husband’s favourite line to me of late is 'that's a blog, you should write about it'. Often it stems from me needing to talk through a concern about 
teaching and, despite not being a professional musician, he is an excellent sounding board and support to me.

This morning, on my last morning of the Christmas holidays, we were sitting in our sun-room with the wood stove fire glowing, looking out at the frozen lake while sipping our morning tea (me) and coffee (he). I had been re-reading Julia Cameron’s book 'The Artist’s Way', as well as her two subsequent books (now available in one large and heavy volume). I was reminded of one of the exercises from the first book that had really resonated with me. It was the one where you had to write about three people who had been less than supportive, or perhaps sabotaged you in your artistic growth.

I had no trouble with it at the time. The first person that came to mind was 
someone from when I was a graduate student. He was a bully and while I learned a tremendous amount from him , he definitely undermined my confidence and development. I survived him. I remember he would imitate me and make fun of me. It hurt and did not open me up but rather made me more self conscious.

The exercise in the book involves writing down what was said to you and then writing what you wish you had said at the time, or that you could now say with more maturity and perspective. It seemed like such a simple thing to do but it felt soooooooo good. I also applied it to the second less-than-supportive person that came to mind. Interestingly enough, it involved a personal relationship that I had at the same time. It worked beautifully for that too. 

Since then I have certainly met my share of bullies/saboteurs, many of them on the podium I regret to say. Sometimes bullies need simply to be answered, politely but firmly. I remember singing with the New York Philharmonic and the conductor was blatantly bullying one singer in particular. How I admired her resolve and her professionalism as she did her job with beauty and grace no matter what he did. Often time these bullies are simply mirroring behavior that was used on them to great effect ! The culprit that I dealt with at grad school was a former Marine…

Why not begin the New Year by de-powering those bullies of the past and/or present, looking at the other side and rejoicing in the champions of the present and future?