Randy wrote:
I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that young singers, who are
> interested in developing their own voices, should not sing in choirs if
the
> director is one who tries to "dumb down" vibrant voices. Many times,
these
> directors ask for straight, breathy sounds that make girls especially
sound
> like castrated British school boys.
Bravo, Randy! I've felt this since college when the director there asked
for just such a sound and I left every 2 1/2 hour rehearsal vocally
exhausted. I refused to sing in choruses since then, as I was coming up,
though many choral directors don't understand at all why. They have no idea
what they do to these young voices.
I have also found that singing in choruses is wearing, for me, anyway,
regardless of whether the director is asking for a specific sound, because
(1) I can't hear myself the same way as I do singing alone; (2) I'm singing
in a much more limited vocal range; (3) In my effort to be a good musiciain
and not stick out (while unable to hear myself well) all kinds of tensions
are creeping in; (4) Sight singing full voice is killer since the music
isn't worked into the voice yet. I never learned as a young singer how to
handle all this, and I can't now. Any words of advice to young singers how
to do this? How to mark correctly in a chorus? How to depend on sensation
rather than aural feedback?
Susan Schneider
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