Vocalist.org archive


From:  Mike & Vicki Bryant <mbryant@f...>
Date:  Sat Sep 23, 2000  6:18 pm
Subject:  Re: making money - chorus vs non-singing jobs


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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