First, a question about booklists.
Someone (now I've forgotten whom) had a very good
point about the value of a music degree -- that a
university or conservatory will introduce you to
topics of study that a self-taught student wouldn't
necessarily have thought of in the first place. I
think this is an excellent point and would like to
request help making sure I (and other singers outside
the conservatory circle, for the archives) am not
overlooking anything.
What books do you typically have your students read,
or what do you know they study outside of your
classes? I assume the basic curriculum goes something
like: Languages, French-German-Italian. Music
history, early through modern. Theory (sight-singing,
counterpoint, composition, analysis, piano playing).
Diction. Voice lessons and interpretive coachings.
Ensemble singing, scenes workshops, opera productions,
masterclasses, lieder/song classes, yearly recitals.
Also: History, literature, philosophy -- your basic
grounding in the development of civilization.
What books or courses of study do you recommend your
students take, or are you pleased that they are
reading -- do you have a studio favorite you give to
your students (my teacher makes us buy "Complete
Preparation," for example) or handouts that you
prepare for them? Do you encourage them to read
biographies of the great singers, or to spend every
spare hour at the library listening to great music, or
to delve into the original plays/poetry/fiction from
which were adapted operas and songs? I believe it was
Callas who said she had no need to read Le Roi S'Amuse
(or was it the Tosca play), because everthing she
needed to know was written into the music. How do you
advise your students to prepare themselves to be the
most educated, intelligent singers they can be?
Also, Colin wrote:
> What I'd really like to know is what job do you do
> that pays enough for you to do all of this, whilst
> leaving you the time to do it?
I have two part-time jobs, both in computers. One as
a chat typist (no skills other than fast fingers
required) and one as an engineer. I hate math and
science with a passion (my degree is in literature),
but I knew singing was what I wanted to clear my time
for, so I forced myself through computer science
classes in university so I could get a job like this.
The chatting is a few hours a week; the program
building I do from home and it's by job, not by hour.
My teacher has also been teaching me since I was a
teenager, and my grandfathered-in rates are very
reasonable.
Isabelle B.
=====
Isabelle Bracamonte
San Francisco, CA
ibracamonte@y...
ibracamonte@y...
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