At 02:59 AM 5/17/02 -0500, Christine Thomas wrote:
>I have a problem with voice teachers who can't (and I know a few). I
>certainly wouldn't want to take lessons from someone who can't perform.
>Perhaps if I took voice lessons just for the intellectual exercise and have
>no interest in performing (and I have a couple of students who do), it would
>be different.
I guess this could fall into the category of "individual preference". My
teacher, now 82 years old, suddenly lost his voice after a bout of
influenza. He has taught voice for over 50 years, has 3 Met Regional
winners in his flock, along with more than a few professional opera (both
local and regional) singers. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that
without the "gift", he has come to understand the mechanics of voice more
deeply; and in a way that he can express in words and gestures to us, his
students.
>The students who interest me the most are the ones who want to perform and I
>think I have something to give them on a technical level and as future
>performers.
Being an older student, and not an opera star, I sometimes sense this, even
from my teacher whom I respect greatly. Another handful of his students,
including me, are in semi-professional choruses. He helps us improve our
voices using the scores we are currently studying. He always tries to come
to our performances, and critiques us afterwards. Despite this, it's easy
to sense, and also to understand, that he might have more interest in his
students from LA or SF Operas. The rest of us occasionally get "pre-empted"
when these folks come to town for mini-marathon sessions.
GWendel, dT
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