We received a flood of essays from singers eager to tell us about their teachers—and it has been so wonderful to read them. After doing the issue on teacher abuse months ago, this issue was a joy! So many of the voice teachers out there are caring, supportive and unselfish! We hope all singers will read this and see what they can be as teachers—and what kind of relationship they should seek out as singer-consumers. Not every teacher can be as accomplished as our Teacher of the Year, but they should be as nurturing.
We read many inspiring stories about teachers who go above and beyond the call. One teacher, for example, helped her student shop for audition outfits, took her to the teacher’s own stylist for a better cut, and helped her redo her resume. Other teachers (many!) take singers into their own homes, or don’t charge when their students are going through tough times. Students praised teachers who know exactly how to fix technical difficulties—and many of you mentioned that your teacher’s studio, and your relationship with the other students, feels like a family to you; you are that supportive of each other.
Most amazing of all? The amount of work teachers out there go through for the sake of their students. It isn’t uncommon for teachers to be putting together amazing performing experiences for their singers. And that, finally, was the reason we put several teachers on our semifinalist list. Teachers who are helping singers get out there and perform have to come in No. 1! We asked for recordings of their students, and from there, we made the final selection.
Betti McDonald, with studios in Florida and New York, has been chosen as Classical Singer’s Teacher of the Year for 2004. One of her students accepted the award for her May 30 at the Classical Singer Convention in Hartford, Conn. reading a speech Ms. McDonald had written.
I listened to a recording of several of her students of varied levels of accomplishment, and heard excellent singers. I received essays from several of them, which I’ll quote below, as well as a brochure from the performing arm of her studio: The IMA Singers. This group of professional singers from Ms. McDonald’s studio has performed all across the United States, Europe, South America and Asia, and on world-class stages such as Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and New York City Opera.
It may seem incongruous, but as CS is always preaching, singers need to keep singing, even when they don’t have a big contract. This studio gets the picture! The group does concerts at senior centers, retirement and assisted living homes, centers for children, public schools, libraries and churches. But not all their work is on this level. They recently recorded David Kram’s The Inca’s Chosen Bride with an orchestra in Bulgaria, and they have several other recordings out.
IMA brings in other top professionals (such as Willie Waters from Connecticut Opera) to help the singers improve their skills in movement and acting. They teach and videotape to hone audition skills. Master classes are held with singers such as James Morris and Carol Neblett.
Ms. McDonald keeps her singers focused on all the good they can do with their voices by organizing fund-raisers for many good causes. For example, her singers raised more than $1 million for AIDS research in the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, and have held benefit concerts for victims of Hurricane Bonnie, the Oklahoma City bombing, and many more.
Betti McDonald is an amazing woman with a very long biography! In addition to being a professional singer with extensive credits, she has taught at the Curtis Institute, where her students took leads in the school operas. She was the founder and General Manager of the Waterbury Opera Theatre, with a budget of $1.5 million. Her reputation grew so much that the government of China brought her over to teach pedagogy to a group of their teachers, after which the Bastille Opera in Paris asked her to head their Young Artist Program.
When you read about a teacher like this, you wonder how you can find a great teacher of your own. One of the best ways to tell a great teacher—see if the teacher has singers who are getting work and placing in competitions. You’ve seen where the IMA singers are working, but the students have been grand prize winners and finalists at the following competitions: Metropolitan National Council Auditions, Houston Grand Opera, Baltimore Opera, Juilliard Opera Center, Palm Beach Opera, Fulbright Scholarships, Nicholas Green Scholarship Fund, George London Foundation, Pavarotti Competition, McAllister Awards, Matheus Sullivan Foundation, National Institute for Music Theatre Awards at the Kennedy Center, and many more.
We heard beautiful testimonials from those who wrote in about their teachers. Here’s what Ms. McDonald’s students said about her. (For those of you in bad teacher relationships, this is what it is supposed to be like! If you don’t have a relationship like this, go find one!)
“As she predicted, within the first six months, I evolved from an ‘underdeveloped student’ to an ‘emerging professional’ with a greater understanding of my instrument, and no laryngeal discomfort. I began to be hired by companies, and accepted into programs that had previously rejected me.” —Alea Vorillas
“One of the best parts of being with my teacher is that I truly like her and respect her as a person. I feel heard in her presence. When I get a gig, she is exuberant, when I don’t get a gig but sing in balance, she loves it even more, and lets me know that there is someone there who still believes in me, no matter what.” —Jacqueline Buffone
“With laser-like listening, Betti immediately identifies the source of imbalance in the voice and within seconds provides the specific adjustment to achieve the desired balance. Through IMA, Ms. McDonald has created a supportive network of singers that care deeply for one another. These singers become the cheerleaders for each others’ careers.” —Elly Erickson
“Twice a month, I would drive four-and-a-half hours from Washington to New York, had a lesson and then would drive back. I did this for the next eight years. For this teacher, I would travel anywhere.” —Kristen Halliday
“The greatness of Ms. McDonald’s teaching does not lie in her great knowledge of technique, nor in her experience upon world-class stages (both attributes which first attracted me to the studio), but rather that she partners her students to discover and be who they are – to discover and use their voice. She does not direct so much as she inspires, she does not instruct as much as she guides. And most importantly, she does not pass judgment, but rather, she inspires greatness.” —Janette M. Lallier
“She has never been averse to incorporating new information into her knowledge base. Visual arts, body alignment, yoga and meditation have all become part of her teacher’s tool box, providing a wonderful range of learning experiences that somehow always focus on the artist’s voice at their core.” —Joyce A. Baldwin
Betti McDonald is clearly worthy of being named Teacher of the Year for 2004. She’s an excellent role model for us all to follow.
Betti McDonald can be reached at lanai2113@earthlink.net or
407-880-8381 Institute for Musical Art.
