The familiar “ding, ding, ding” had just sounded, indicating our initial descent into the John F. Kennedy International airport. I leaned in close to the airplane window and peered out over the Atlantic Ocean, watching the dawn come up over the horizon. As the plane descended closer and closer to Mother Earth, the tiny specks on the water grew bigger and bigger. My eyes focused in on fishing boats, both large and small, dotting the water’s surface.
In those early morning hours, I wondered what it would be like to be a fisherman out on the waters. To have the rocking of the ocean waves as a familiar, every day sensation. To know and understand the sea and its creatures in an intimate way. To have the smell of salt forever in your nostrils. To have calloused hands, worn from days of throwing out and pulling up nets.
How did the people that I could imagine but not see on those boats end up there? Did they make a conscious decision to spend life on the sea, feeling a pull to the ocean and choosing to leave behind other career possibilities? Or was a fisherman’s life what their fathers and grandfathers had done before them, and they never imagined doing anything else? Did that father or grandfather teach them their trade, or did they glean that knowledge from some other mentor? Why did they choose to continue as fishermen, in the face of what must be a very challenging career?
I asked similar questions recently of the many voice teachers who are readers of Classical Singer. In an overwhelming response they shared answers to the questions of why they chose to become teachers, the joys and successes they’ve had, as well as the struggles and frustrations. I only wish there were space in these pages to include all of their comments, but you can read many of them in the article “Why I Teach,” and find others sprinkled throughout these pages.
We also highlight many other fine teachers in this issue. Sylvia McNair, featured on this month’s cover, talks about her recent success in her new role as vocal instructor at Indiana University. Classical Singer’s Teacher of the Year, William “Bill” Neill discusses his philosophies on the voice, gleaned from 40-plus years in the studio and on the stage. Six established and expert teachers tackle the controversial topic of the passaggio in a new series on vocal pedagogy.
Just as the fisherman knows the joys and hardships of the sea, committed teachers of singing know the challenges and rewards of their profession. In this issue, discover the tools in many of these teachers’ tackle boxes to help your teaching, your singing, or both.
