Barbara Roberts wrote: vtec> Working with others is an essential skill. In many professions, most of those vtec> who do not have good interpersonal skills do not make it as far in their vtec> careers as people who do. If singing in the choir helps develop people skills, vtec> then it is indeed for that reason alone it should be required. Most vtec> professionals need to cultivate relations with local conductors, other vtec> professionals, or other influential people in order to survive.
True! And if you're out working in your field, every minute of your workday you have a chance to network with others in your field. You never know where the next job will come from.
and Ciro wrote: However one does have to learn to defend one's voice against demands vtec> of the literature vtec> just as one MUST have to be a soloist (as a soloist I've often been required vtec> to sing for 8 hours a day and it is possible if you know how to defend vtec> yourself).
I agree, and I believe the only way you can learn to sing for hours at a time is to build up to it by having to do it every day. Back when I had a corporate job, the occasional choir rehearsal at night just wasn't enough to give me any stamina, and I certainly didn't have time to practice daily - I was too tired! Now, on the days I have a time crunch and can only manage a half-hour practice session, at least I know it's likely that I'll have two or three hours of singing somewhere else during the day that will keep up my stamina levels.
Yesterday during my lesson, I could feel me voice start to "go" in the middle of a 12 minute Mozart concert aria (I'd already been singing for over 2 hours at this point, and we were almost done). I just lightened up a little and made it through to the end. I would never have been able to do that a few years ago.
Vicki Bryant, mezzo-soprano Naperville, IL
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