--- In vocalist-temporary@egroups.com, "Cynthia Donnell"
<csdonnell@m...> wrote:
> Dear David,
>
> My advice to you regarding competitions is to use the KISS
technique. That's an acronym for "keep it simple stupid." >
> I don't mean to seem preachy, it's just that in our NATS district
and in the MTNA we are seeing teachers pushing big arias and heavy
art songs and too many languages on very naive singers. >
> Cindy Donnell
>
Cindy -
I read your comments both subjects, and you confirmed what I was
going to write, from a student's perspective: that in NATS and
similar competitions, conservative is the way to go. Overreaching
and pushing things for older, more experienced singers does not sit
well with NATS judges, on the whole. My ex-husband, who had a big
tenor voice, never did well at NATS. It did seem that there was a
bit of a prejudice against singers with big and/or mature voices.
But you are right, any size of voice, should be able to negotiate a
Folk Song or "24 Italian Songs and Arias" selection. And if they
can't, if the voice is too unwieldly to bring down to that level,
then that means that their technique is not secure enough. Yelling
your way through a big aria only shows the size of the voice, not how
well the singer actually sings. At competitions like the Met
Auditions, I have heard singers with rather bad technique win or
place, seemingly because of sheer, raw voice or vocal power.
Sarah
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