Dear Editor: Thank you so much for [Cindy Sadler’s] article “Three Months to a Better Singing Career” [May, June, and July 2008]. Many of [Sadler’s] articles are insightful, but [her] article on the DIY summer program is particularly helpful to me, as someone who is starting out and had been frustrated with the unavailability for some time [of] a very good teacher. What stuck out for me is the proactive approach to our own career. It makes perfect sense to me to create my own opportunities instead of waiting for someone to give me a stamp of approval . . . which is what I’ve been doing for the past year and a half since studying voice seriously.
Thank you for the encouragement to. . . focus on what is most important to me, which is to perform in front of an audience. Additionally, the advice on seeing a different teacher with more availability if our regular one isn’t available is sound advice, which I am currently taking. Right now, I’m aggressively preparing a summer concert at a few senior citizen centers. I’m in the process of learning the pieces from Frauenliebe und leben and will be stepping up the coaching sessions and voice lessons in June so that I’ll put on a good show this summer in addition to the other steps outlined in the article (gathering information, materials, etc.). I’m excited and inspired to stay in the game as this is the one fulfilling thing in my life that gives it meaning.
Thank you for the encouragement and inspiration to make the most of my passion.
—Doing It Myself
Dear Editor: Thank you for Lisa Houston’s article about keeping a practice singing log [“In Favor of Practicing,” November 2007]. Keeping a written account of observations during my practice sessions has helped me tremendously. Both my vocal coach and teacher are surprised by how much my voice is changing every time I see them. . . . My voice teacher says I’m progressing [more] rapidly than her other students, especially because I am able to detect what my weaknesses are and come into our lesson with specific questions, while most people don’t know what’s going on with their voice/development. . . .
I can’t thank you enough for the article . . . I feel like I’m really focused [now] in my practice sessions; I’m not just flying by aimlessly. A band teacher back in middle school said once to us, “Practice does not make perfect, but perfect practice does.” Although perfection is such a loaded and subjective term, I’ve always interpreted that to mean that practice with a purpose, focus, and precision goes [further] than just aimlessly going through the motions without a clear idea of what is going on.
—Vanessa, New York, N.Y.
Dear Editor: A singer friend of mine just introduced me to Classical Singer. I read your editorial [in the May issue] and got no further—I need to respond to you.
Since I retired I have become a substitute teacher in the Bushkill Elementary School in Bushkill, Penn. I teach all subjects from K-6, including music. Now, to be honest, I am not qualified to teach music. I am not certified in music, but I sang opera for over 40 years in NYC. My undergraduate degree is a B.S. in Voice and Opera from the Mannes College of Music. At age 68 I still sing, and love to sing for my kids. Last year the head of the department, Dr. Nadia Worobij (a soprano and the subscriber who gave me the May edition of CS) and I sang the first-act love duet from Tosca in the spring concert. The kids still remember my Mario Cavaradossi. I continue to get comments from these students, generally in this wise, “Oh, Mr. Mitchell, you were so-o-o good. But you sing so loud!”
When my wife and I (both singers and pastors) were serving a church in upstate New York, I got similar reactions from the youth in the congregation. “You sing so loud!” Well, I am actually a lyric-spinto tenor, certainly not a true dramatic (even though I sang Radames and Canio and other such roles). I like to think of my voice as “powerful,” as the word “loud” has a bad connotation to most folks. Yet I do not think the young people intended any disrespect. Rather, they expressed amazement.
As I thought about it I realized that to young people singing requires a microphone. They are blown away—especially in the classroom—by my voice. It’s inconceivable to them that a human can make such a sound sans mike. I believe this ties in very well with your comments summed up in, “No one sings like ‘that’!” [Editor’s Note, May 2008] I offer this as a different take on your piece.
—(Rev.) Bob Mitchell, Bushkill, Pa.
Dear Editor: I wanted to thank you for a great Convention. I really was impressed not only with the level of useful information in the classes but the openness and willingness to help every singer who had a question. If you had any question every representative, be it either a singer, manager, director, or consultant, would stop and listen and take the time to answer. Just doing that was an opportunity of a lifetime. I look forward to future conventions.
—Wendy Zaros
