tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218245155700209375.post6861267442579878603..comments2023-06-28T12:04:47.725-04:00Comments on Avocational Singer: Afterglow: Westminster Choir FestivalAvocational Singerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15322495001387001602noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218245155700209375.post-37816452014706478402010-08-07T21:23:22.544-04:002010-08-07T21:23:22.544-04:00Yes, BY, I am fired up about this new kind of chor...Yes, BY, I am fired up about this new kind of choral experience. In fact, it's made me look at choral singing in a completely new way and I hope to be writing some posts about that soon.Avocational Singerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15322495001387001602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218245155700209375.post-25951728875185804372010-08-07T21:07:23.235-04:002010-08-07T21:07:23.235-04:00I'm so excited that this choral festival has f...I'm so excited that this choral festival has fired up your enthusiasm! It's a rather uncommon gift to work with a choral director who welcomes bigger/operatically-trained voices and knows how to work with them. That's definitely something to look for when you consider future choral endeavors.Blue Yonderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16408107759035102944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218245155700209375.post-43055336275115086872010-07-27T13:39:26.123-04:002010-07-27T13:39:26.123-04:00I actually don't want to be at the bottom of t...I actually <i>don't</i> want to be at the bottom of the alto section because I need the vocal workout for my head voice and I don't want my voice to get bottom-heavy. My favorite part is second soprano (if the whole piece is in 8 parts) because it usually has a few Fs or even a G but never higher and it rarely goes below the staff. (Most second soprano parts are "Habanera-ish" or "Siebel's Flower Song-ish" in range.)<br /><br />As for the pianissimo High A, I did it by keeping my mouth closed all the way up the scale (the A was part of an ascending scale - I <i>never</i> would have been able to do it if it involved a jump)and opening it a tiny bit as I got to the note before. I also looked in a mirror the whole time we were rehearsing. I must have rehearsed that piece so many times I had it memorized.babydramatichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11781154122291850473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218245155700209375.post-11156253065127440002010-07-27T13:21:27.905-04:002010-07-27T13:21:27.905-04:00babyD, it sounds like you understand the issue exa...babyD, it sounds like you understand the issue exactly!! Only you sound a little more advanced than I. I would never be able to manage a <i>pp</i> high A. I struggle with anything on the delicate side once I get above C third-space-on-the-staff (as evidenced in Frescamari's Practice Room). That's why I put myself down in the alto section.<br /><br /><i>Although</i>, Dr. Joe Miller was extremely helpful in aiding me (us alti) in singing more delicately in the "voca me" section of the "Confutatis" in the Requiem. In fact, I can't believe how helpful he was to me as an individual singer in that regard without giving me specifically individual instruction.<br /><br />I heard at one point during the festival, which made me laugh out loud, that dramatic sopranoes are "happy as clams" to be seated at bottom of the alto section and singing there all day.Avocational Singerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15322495001387001602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3218245155700209375.post-77478559395485610472010-07-27T12:49:59.590-04:002010-07-27T12:49:59.590-04:00This is a great post! I'm glad you had such a...This is a great post! I'm glad you had such a special time. Also I know <i>exactly</i> what you mean about <br /><br /><i>find ways to master my voice so that I could sing in that little box in a healthy way, and it has not been without value to try to do so</i><br /><br />Since for good or ill most of my singing will be in a choir (or as one of their featured soloists) I have needed to do this and I have largely been successful.<br /><br />It's particularly hard for me as a (yes, I'll own it!) big voiced dramatic mezzo singing second soprano in a choir of about 16-20 people. When it breaks down to SATB for me it's a toss up. I generally sing whichever part is closest to middle register - either soprano or alto. (My voice is very loud above the staff and not particularly so below.)<br /><br />I sing soprano less now because we have a real, operatically trained coloratura soprano in the choir. Previously the soprano section was me and some untrained singers with small light voices above the staff.<br /><br />Probably the hardest thing I <i>ever</i> had to sing (and this includes the Judgment Scene from <i>Aida</i>!!) was the pianissimo High A in the middle of Randall Thompson's "The Last Words". Actually it was marked MF, I think, but for me it was "pianissimo or die!"babydramatichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11781154122291850473noreply@blogger.com