If you are among the many young singers all over the country who will step into an undergraduate or graduate audition this year, the little voice in your head will probably have a lot to say. Palate high and breath low. Feet firm and hands relaxed. Roll those r’s and double those consonants.
But where on your list of priorities do you put your focus on the meaning of the songs you are singing? While it is easy to consider the demands of singing in a foreign language as simply one more technical thing to keep in mind, a strong connection with the words of a song can greatly improve your technique and transform your performance.
To find out how prospective students can leverage their language skills to stand out from the crowd of applicants, I spoke with faculty at six prestigious voice programs.
“Language is technique. Every note is a word and an idea that needs to be expressed,” says Freda Herseth, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and associate professor of voice at the University of Michigan School of Music.
Many audition panelists express disappointment when performers appear to demonstrate little understanding of what they are singing about. Mark Crayton, head of the voice department at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, listens to 400 singers annually who apply for the 25 available spaces in the program.
When listening to some young singers, he wonders, “If this is what you were saying in real life, is this how you would be saying it?” Facial expressions do not reflect the mood or meaning of the text, phrasing does not suggest important musical or emotional moments, and singers demonstrate little differences in style when performing repertoire from different periods.
“Determining whether a singer understands the actual words he or she is singing is not as easy as merely regarding facial expressions and gestures,” adds Cynthia Munzer, associate professor of vocal arts and opera, USC Thornton School of Music. “Inner reactions to words resulting in energized singing with emphasis on important words are a better indicator. What is most impressive is that singer who—through eye focus, natural expression, and specific word emphasis—allows us to feel and hear the inner meaning of the words.”
More than those with just good diction skills, faculty seek students who demonstrate the need to express themselves through the poetry and music of their songs.
“I want to be told a story,” says Robert Swensen, associate professor of voice at Eastman School of Music.
“We would like to know that a student possesses effective communication skills,” agrees Munzer, “that is, the desire to reach across the foot lights and connect with listeners.”
“It’s amazing how fast you can tell who is prepared and who is not,” says Crayton. A singer who takes the stage with physical confidence and is dressed in a neat and non-distracting way makes a strong first impression on panelists.
After that, “we listen for the instrument. Does the singer sing with correct rhythm? Pronunciation? How is their musicality? How do they turn a phrase or use facial expression?” adds Swensen. “No one is expecting a finished product,” he explains, but when a student is able to express the meaning of a song on a personal level, “it’s a phenomenal moment for us.”
What can applicants do to fully express themselves at an audition? Prepare, prepare, prepare. Herseth advises to “taste the language slowly and clearly before diving into deeper expression. Love the feeling of the language; love the feeling of it in you.” She encourages students to “take the time to treat the language with great respect, as you would rhythm or pitches.”
Students should translate the song themselves, allowing them to best understand the nuances of the language, and write the words into the part. “Teachers should make it a routine and a ritual and part of learning a new piece,” advises Michelle Alexander, vocal coach and song literature instructor at Boston University, who accompanies many auditions.
“Teachers should look for jaw and tongue tension and breath problems when a student is speaking the text,” adds Herseth. “If you’re speaking it so that the resonance is up and out and the breath is free,” you will hear that in your singing as well.
Faculty encourage foreign language immersion courses, study abroad experiences, or language tapes, such as Pimsleur. Crayton recommends the many online language resources available, especially for Baroque music, where the meaning of the text is paramount and words have different meanings than in more modern music. Herseth suggests the book Singing and Imagination by Thomas Hemsley as an especially useful resource to help students tap into their expressive abilities.
For singers with fast approaching auditions, Munzer advises them to “know what every word means [and] what the verb tenses are, and to pick the most important word of each phrase and emphasize it. Questions should sound like questions; commands must be declared. Speak through your text making these adjustments. Repeat until you feel you are the author of these words. Then sing them with the same clarity of thought and emotion.”
Although faculty members are most distracted by performances that do not express the deeper meaning of poems, a number of common diction problems also alert panelists to students who have not paid close attention to language.
“Diction should be tied into expression,” says Frank Nemhauser, coordinator of vocal studies at Mannes College of Music in New York City. Sometimes singers roll r’s where they should flip them, or reverse single and double consonants in Italian and German.
“French and German diction pose a particular challenge, because of mixed vowel and consonant sounds which are idiomatic to these languages and not applicable to English diction,” explains Munzer.
Careful attention to the language usually supports other components of a winning audition, panelists say, and indicates which students will be most successful in a degree program.
“If they’ve studied languages, they’re pretty much on the ball,” observes Crayton, who also points out that “good preparation is a source of confidence.” Studying the language of a song is a gateway to better understanding the poetic and musical style of the piece, discovering the context it was originally intended for, and creating a subtext that helps the singer personally relate to it.
While panelists are always eager to find a singer who truly expresses the ability to communicate, there are different expectations for undergraduate and graduate applicants. For incoming freshmen, panelists expect a basic facility with languages and the study of at least one foreign language. But, as Swensen points out, “the one thing prospective freshmen can do to set themselves apart is to immerse themselves in as much foreign language study as possible. While the physical instrument is still developing, a focus on language is possible.”
Schools generally require two languages at undergraduate auditions, usually English and Italian. Diction and pronunciation are important, but a singer who is able to convince the panel that they personally relate to the song will make a stronger impression over a singer who only presents good technical skills. Nonetheless, Munzer notes that while “there is not a specific written requirement for prior [language] training, the competition is so great that a student with extra language training and an excellent ear for diction will certainly have the edge.”
Expectations for graduate candidates are “a whole different story,” emphasizes Alexander. Most schools require three or four languages at graduate auditions, with semesters of study in French, German, and Italian. Graduate applicants are not only expected to show advanced proficiency in diction, pronunciation, and style, but also should perform on a more deeply expressive level.
“Usually if they make music, they do it with the language,” says Alexander. While an incoming undergraduate with moving expressive abilities but poor diction might still be accepted, an incoming graduate student will likely not be.
Audition repertoire should also be carefully considered. Crayton describes undergraduate applicants singing “Vissi d’arte” and “Stride la vampa” at their auditions, material that is not only inappropriate for a developing technique but also impossible for young students to relate to on a personal level.
“Applicants often choose material that is too tough for them,” laments Nemhauser, and he advises teachers to discourage their students from choosing demanding opera arias that they think will impress the panel. He suggests that selections from Schirmer’s Twenty-Four Italian Songs and Arias are “perfectly good repertoire for high school students.”
“Don’t show us what you can’t do,” agrees Swensen.
In short, singers should use language as a means to express their joy for singing and their personal connection with the emotions in their audition pieces, which, after all, are universal emotions that move every person in the world—including auditions panelists. As Herseth advises, “Believe what you’re saying, love what you’re saying, and show that excitement and love for what you’re saying as if it’s the first time it’s ever been expressed.”
