On Sat, 4 Aug 2001 Nicnac63@a... wrote:
> Bob Harris wrote:
>
> "Do other Music departments usually provide accompanists for voice students?
> Or is my school unusual in this regard."
>
and nicnac63@a... wrote:
> I'm lucky enough to study with the head of the department who is very
> responsive to student comments and suggestions, so PLEASE, if anyone knows of
> a better system or has any suggestions I can pass on to the voice faculty, do
> not hesitate to share them.
Dear List,
Interesting topic.
I was lucky enough to study at a school where accompanists were
provided for all students. That is rare. Unfortunately, there were many
problems with our system as well, and it caused a lot of headache for
those who were involved in matching up singer/pianists partnerships.
You're right - most schools don't provide pianists. At the school
I was from, it was done as a courtesy. However, as you all mentioned
there are lots of singers. There are lots of pianists but not all of them
want to be accompanists!!!! Generally when a school does attempt to
provide pianists for the students, the piano collaboration/chamber music
department in that school is fairly strong, as in the place I came
from. ALL piano peformance majors were required to take a couple years of
"collaborative piano studies" which involved playing for a singer or
two. Time consuming for the pianists, yes - I will attest to that because
I have also been a "student accompanist" and every year have played for
more than one singer!!
In my school, the head of the piano collaboration department set
up the pianist/singer partnerships. Problems arose when teachers did not
like said student pianist and complained in a not-too-professional manner,
and problems obviously can arise with any partnership with the students.
However, pianists are not always treated kindly (I'm not
complaining, simply stating the problems I have observed with the
"other" system of providing student pianists). The problem when the
pianists are unpaid is that singers often abuse the system. I would
advise the head of your department if he/she does want to implement a
system of pianists for all singers, that the singers be talked to about
pianists. I and my fellow pianist friends found it common for
singers/teachers to cancel lessons - and for the pianist to never be
informed. Also, most "student" pianists CANNOT sightread anything
(neither can all professionals, for that matter) and need music IN
ADVANCE. There are young singers in first year who dont' know any better
(this is pure ignorance, not nastiness - please note) and think that their
pianist can play whatever is handed to them on lesson day. That is
simply not going to work!! And singers who change jury rep last minute
are going to expect their student pianists to worry somewhat. I dont'
blame young singers for not knowing better - if I wasn't a pianist, I
wouldn't have a clue either. :).
So in a system like this, the student pianist/performance major
has a lot on his/her plate other than accompanying said singer. And
accompanying IS a lot of work, for no money, I must admit... the schools
who manage to supply a pianist for each voice major are to be
commended. It's a lot of work i know - and I feel lucky to have had some
fantastic student pianists over my degree, none of whom I paid for. Yes,
we still pay our pianists occasionally for outside things like
auditions/competitions, but most often the student pianists would play
juries/school recitals and all for free. We also have a couple of staff
pianists and grad students who are more experienced - generally they have
to be paid for. They are often used for recitals/juries/competitions.
Pianists accompany for the experience too - it is helpful to
remember that a student pianist, who is not paid, is doing it either
becaue it is part of his/her degree (and therefore, he/she might or might
not love it!!!!) or is doing it because he/she does love it... eithe way,
the pianist must have room to grow, for experience, to learn. It's a good
thing to keep in mind! It is a problem when a student pianist comes to
every lesson with the singer all year and for whatever reason, isnt' asked
to play the singer's recitals/juries. It's hard on the poor pianist I
think.
The other thing to keep in mind is the general piano/singer
relationship. Some singers just don't work well with certain
pianists! well that is a given - everyone is different. The trick here
is for the singers and pianists to be told how to deal with the
situation. I once asked to change pianist b/c of a personality conflict -
the pianist was technically absolutely amazing, but it was obvious we
would not be able to work well together. Those things must be done with
grace - not hostility or what not. The "no pay" issue makes it easy to
drop one for another, but obviously there is a way to deal with these
things so that people's feelings are not hurt. One must have a healthy
pianist/singer relationship.
Another point that has arisen at my school - most piano majors
would rather be playing piano music - eg. schubert lieder, rather than
piano reductions of a Puccini opera aria. We singers have to respect
that. As a pianist, I understand fully!! There is NOTHING wrong with
opera; it's just not the funniest thing for pianists to play, most of the
time. I try to sing lots of art song (I like art song anyway) with my
favourite pianists. I also try to encourage my pianists to choose rep
WITH me. Over the years I have been known as a "Baroque" music
singer. One of my student pianists LOVES contemporary music - I've done
quite a few things now with him that I probably would have stayed away
from if not for his continuous urging in that direction. I think that's
great and it works for us to pick rep together. The unpaid student
pianist deserves to have a say in the relationship, in my opinion.
I had three different student pianists during my undergrad - well,
mostly two, and a third one who wasn't official but we did stuff
together. All three of them are amongst my best friends, and I still work
with two of them fairly often. For sure, with this system, some great
relationships can develop in the musical world, and I have learned a lot
from all my pianists, and we have sort of helped each other love art song
more especially.
Anyhow, that's just my thoughts on this subject. If I have not
been clear, please do ask me more questions!
Fiona
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