The Royal Conservatory’s 2018 Annual High School Vocal Performance Intensive

I’m thrilled to announce that this July I’ll be a vocal coach for The Royal Conservatory’s Summer Vocal Intensive programs from July 9-14 and 16-29 in Toronto. If you’re a singer 14-18 years old and are interested in experiencing the kind of integrated program that is usually reserved for more advanced performers, you should definitely take a look at The Royal Conservatory’s two summer intensives. Take a look at the full faculty list for the program:

• Rachel Andrist, Coaching & French Diction
• Liza Balkan, Acting and Performance techniques
• Lisa Climans, Yoga and Movement
• Chris Foley, Vocal Coach
• Janet Fothergill, Musicianship and Theory
• Julia Galieva-Szokolay, Musicianship and Theory
• Victoria Holland, Voice Instruction & Italian Diction
• Robert Loewen, Voice Instruction & German Diction
• Anna Theodosakis, Acting

Here’s a quick rundown of the program from the RCM’s Dr. Robert Loewen:

For a number of years I have felt there was a genuine need for a High School Voice Performance Intensive in Canada. I am well aware of a number of very fine High School programs in the United States, some of which have been extant for many years now. A number of High School programs exist that seem to have a focus on the High School singer as a young opera singer. While I am sure the intentions are very good, it has always been my opinion that High School singers would benefit from the intensive environment, focusing on exposure to, and acquisition of, important musicianship and performance skills.

The inspiration for content came from hearing of the experiences students of mine had had in various programs around North America. Some of these programs were focused on high school, some for university-level singers.

Based on those experiences, and my own pedagogical perspectives, the important elements I saw as need in a program were:

• Voice lessons
• Coachings
• Movement
• Musicianship
• Acting
• Diction
• Masterclasses
• Performances

While serving as a mentor examiner in the spring of 2015, I found a very willing, and highly capable colleague interested in precisely this type of program. In the Spring of 2015, Dr Victoria Holland (Chicago) and I began to plan; our visionary quickly turned to the concrete planning needed to kick off this great idea.

July 2016 marked our first year of the Royal Conservatory High School Voice Performance Intensive. While talking to teachers and singers across the country, we both felt nervous about whether the vision and singer numbers would actually come together to give us year one. Our required numbers were modest, and we remained optimistic. As an unofficial deadline loomed we actually had 12 registrants, one from Chicago, and the rest from within Ontario.

Victoria and I felt so inspired by the success of year one; we immediately began planning, of course bigger, for Year Two. We mapped out two sessions: a one-week program, and a two-week program. Both programs were full, with singers from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland.

As in 2017, the 2018 Royal Conservatory Voice Performance Intensive will run as two programs, including movement classes, musicianship classes, daily lessons, daily coachings, acting/performance classes, and masterclasses. As well, participants will attend master classes in the Art of Song portion of the Toronto Summer Music Festival.

One Week Vocal Performance Intensive – July 9 – 14

• Movement
• Musicianship
• Lessons
• Coachings
• Acting
• Masterclasses
• Performances

Two Week Vocal Performance Intensive – July 16 – 28

• Movement
• Musicianship
• Lessons
• Coachings
• Acting
• Masterclasses
• Performances
• Scenes

We Are Rhythmic Beings

Photo by Ahmad Odeh on Unsplash

Christin Coffee Rondeau writing in the Full Voice blog about why singers need to move:

1) Because music and movement are inextricably linked.  We’re all used to hearing the term “music and movement” applied to children’s music classes, so on some level, we acknowledge that movement is an important aspect of music education. Perhaps, on an intellectual level, we even think of ourselves as rhythmic beings. However, as we grow in age, we also grow in inhibitions, meaning that creative, expressive movement eventually takes a backseat to what we perceive as more sophisticated musical pursuits. In so doing, we miss the fact that movement cannot be removed from music--even sophisticated, nuanced music.

Christin's points are highly valid, and not just for singers. It's important for all musicians to realize that rhythm, more than being an intellectual concept, is something physical and tangible, and the feeling of rhythm in the body is something that unites the every genre and style of today's music in a direct line of descent to the very first music-making impulses of our early human ancestors. 

-----

A quick tangent and shameless plug for my friends: Take a look around the Full Voice website after the link above. Hamilton-based Nikki Loney and Mim Adams are quickly growing their Full Voice series into one of the major voice methods, with a strongly growing international distribution. They also have a blog and podcast that I highly recommend. 

Read Classical Singer Magazine Free For This Week Only

Classical Singer is one of the most important magazines and largest communities for emerging singers looking to find information about schools, programs, and auditions. A yearly subscription for the service ranges from $45-58 per year and includes a wealth of print and online resources.

For this week only, Classical Singer is offering the January 2014 online edition of the magazine for free. They also have a promotion for the web combo edition of Classical Singer for only $18/year.

Aspiring pianists might also want to take advantage of the Coach and Accompanist Directory so you can put the word out to singers in the CS community that you're available for work.

How Can Opera Singers Be Heard Above the Orchestra?

One of the most important abilities for a singer is to be heard singing above an orchestra. Wise voice teachers over the years have taught that the key to achieving this feat is not by singing louder, but with greater vocal resonance, meaning a more diverse signature of higher frequencies. This is the type of sound a singer makes that causes your ears to ring even though the singer is not necessarily singing loudly.

In a recent Scientific American, a reader asks the question "Why can an opera singer be heard above the much louder orchestra?". SA's answer provides a scientific basis for this vocal wisdom:

Usually, the fundamental frequency has the greatest acoustic power, but the very high harmonics, although less powerful, have the advantage of residing in a range above about 3,000 Hz, where the orchestral accompaniment provides less competition. Sopranos have an advantage over lower voices, such as the bass and tenor: Due to their higher range, the auditory frequency at which they sing, as represented by their f_o, lies in the neighborhood of frequencies to which the ear is most sensitive. In contrast, the lower fundamental frequencies of male voices cannot compete as easily with the power of an orchestra; male singers, therefore, must often rely on their higher harmonics in order to be heard.

Learning this concept requires more than simple understanding. Voice teachers have a host of exercises and concepts to teach the actual physicality of developing a sound with a wide resonance signature since the singer's voice must be actually built step-by-step (via correct daily practice) inside their body.

The parting words from the column give an evolutionary hint as to why we respond so viscerally to singing (italics are mine):

Furthermore, it is quite likely that there has been considerable selection pressure to pay attention to very loud sounds produced by people in any context, as such sounds can be a warning of impending danger.

If you're interested in reading more about the technical foundations of singing, I recommend Richard Miller's The Structure of Singing: System and Art of Vocal Technique.