Edward Norton <belcantist2003@y...> wrote:
>I feel I handled the inquiry proactively. Does anyone else on this list know
any "secret recipes" I've yet to find?
As I'm sure Ed and every other choir director has experienced, there isn't a
volunteer/community choir out there that doesn't have a significant number of
"short sopranos" singing alto. I was once one of them. When I was singing as an
alto, I was valued for my ability to sing that range in tune, with good rhythm
and musicianship and excellent attention to the conductor.
Both my church and community choir directors welcome short sopranos as altos. I
think this works as long as there are a few genuine mezzo voices in the section
to center the section's tone. But I don't think this is any different from your
typical tenor section, which is lucky to have one or two quality tenor voices to
anchor the sound.
So my directors work on section tone as a whole, using the typical vocal
strategies of good vowels, good consonants as needed, good resonance, and good
breath energy. For Altos, in reprertoire that needs it, my community choir
director encourages the section as a whole to produce a robust tone (sometimes
he calls it "earth mother"). While not every individual singer alone could make
the needed tone, individual singers' tone improves, which permits the section's
tone to be acceptable in the context of the choir.
That's not to say that having a choir section filled with 100% professional
quality singers wouldn't make an even more glorious tone - but we're in the real
world here!
Peggy
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
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