I'm normally a lurker on the list, but actually had something to say on this
subject. I make my living solely on singing now, after successfully
quitting my part-time day job earlier this year. I've never sung an opera,
chorus or otherwise, but sing professionally in a number of choirs (how many
depends on the month & scheduling), and get a pretty steady (and tasty!)
diet of solo work doing oratorio, chamber music, weddings, etc. My voice is
probably lighter than some of the people involved in this discussion who may
find it hard to do solo and chorus work together, so my experiences may not
benefit them (I definitely won't be singing Wagner anytime soon).
I find that the more I sing, the better I get, and that singing regularly in
choirs has not in any way, shape, or form harmed my development as a
soloist. While in choirs, especially while singing pianissimo, I *really*
have to concentrate on upholding my technique. As long as I'm in tune with
my body and my breathing and remain focused on support, it's great, it's
healthy, and I'm able to blend more easily (believe me, I've had my share of
glares for sticking out). I also find that placing my voice in a less
resonant position in my head than I would if singing solo (sorry if that
made no sense) and/or knocking down all my dynamic levels (i.e. f becomes
mf) can help with choral blending without sacrificing good technique. I've
had (and will have, surely) my bad moments of course, where I sing
unhealthily in choirs (usually when I'm very tired or physically unhealthy),
but try to learn from them. The better my choir technique gets, the better
all other aspects of my singing get!
Someone else mentioned sightreading skills in the course of this discussion,
and being a good sightreader has certainly opened some doors a little wider
for me. I started out as a flute player, and believe in paying strict
attention to things like rhythm, but this hasn't stopped me from being an
expressive singer :-). If anything, having the musicianship down sets a
solid framework so that a singer *can* be expressive, while remaining true
to the composer's intent. And being able to learn the notes & rhythm of a
piece quickly means that you can get to the juicy parts (emotion! text!
dynamics!) more quickly. It's too bad that some singers who are good
musicians sing like "robots", but that shouldn't discourage anyone from
aspiring to be an all-around fabulous soloist in body, soul, and
musicianship.
One last point: a very high percentage of the solo work I've gotten has
been through conductors that I've sung for professionally as a chorister or
section leader. You can't knock choir work for getting contacts with folks
who put on great choral works that require soloists :-).
Hope someone found this post useful,
Marje Bunday
Washington, DC
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