Dear Elise and Vocalistmates,
At 01:40 AM 10/19/01 EDT, RossiniSop@a... wrote:
>I have decided to sing with a local Messiah group here, and have some
>questions for those of you with very soloistic voices who have tried this.
I'm a choralist [but occasionally sing solos, have a mid-size voice as opera
goes, and am being trained in operatic technique by my teacher]. Like you,
I used to worry about blending. But I learned [was told by my teachers]
that my job is to sing what I'm given and to let the director worry about
blend. We sing in a variety of configurations ranging from voice sections
to fully mixed, partially mixed, split-choirs, etc. Our director's main
concern is *balance* rather than blend; although he doesn't like wobbly
vibratos as he feels these voices are difficult to blend. When we are in
voice sections configuration, for some songs I am in the very front row [My
voice is fairly bright and "edgy"]. For others, I am in the middle of the
section; and for others, the back row. It depends on the song, and the
sound he wants. Sometimes, I get the "I want more of *you*"-look. Other
times, I get the "give me less" sign. So, my advice would be to just trust
your director, sing what you're given, and let him/her worry about it.
Where you are put may have more to do with balance than blend.
GWendel, dT
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