In 2017, will you lose 10 pounds? Cut out coffee? Watch less television? It is the time of year when we make New Year’s resolutions that many of us fail to keep. If one of your resolutions is to learn a new role, however, you can enlist the support of an organization called SingThrough Central to make it happen.
SingThrough Central (STC) is a readings series for singers established 12 years ago by Susan Morton, a pianist and vocal coach. Since then, hundreds of singers have participated in these readings as they’ve learned or honed opera roles. CS recently spoke with Morton to find out what prompted her to create the series, how it works, and what she is planning for its future.
What are the origins of STC?
STC was, and still is, an outgrowth of coaching. A client came to me to prepare the role of Zerlina for her first professional gig. Although a hard worker, she expressed a low comfort level with Italian—especially the recitatives. She said to me: “I’ve never sung the recits with anyone but you. What will happen when I sing them with other people?” That prompted me to create a read-through of Don Giovanni with other singers. I was able to put together an incredible cast, and everyone was helpful and complimentary.
In what I call the “afterglow,” the cast members started e-mailing each other about how much fun they’d had. Soon enough, one of the baritones asked: “Hey, I’ve got to sing a Schaunard in a few weeks. Is anyone up for a La bohème reading?” That was a light bulb moment for me, and the impetus for STC.
What happened next?
I started doing some pragmatic planning. Little by little, the program evolved in terms of structure, fees, and objectives. I wanted STC to be a safe place to grow, where people could work at their highest abilities, going beyond the limitations of solo coachings without interested bystanders of any sort.
How would you define the objective of STC?
At the simplest level, it is to bridge the gap between the work you do on your own or with your teacher and what people in the industry refer to as “the first day of school”—the day when a cast gets together with a director, conductor, etc., to do a first reading of the piece. An STC reading can help determine how well the preparatory work you’ve done will hold up on that day, as well as offer a chance to make music that goes beyond the sum of its parts—that “afterglow.”
How do you select the operas?
At first, I was guided by lists of the most frequently performed operas. These are the operas that young singers should be investigating to include in their repertoire, if appropriate. Since we can’t do the same 15–20 operas every season, I keep a chronological record of what’s done year to year so I know when to repeat and when to branch out. I also encourage singers to suggest an opera that interests them. I’m very open to these requests.
How do you select the participants?
I take a layered approach. If a singer is new to me, I ask for materials, MP3s, or an in-person hearing to match a singer’s level with a role he or she requested. I also aim to group singers appropriately. For example, I don’t want a Frasquita to have a bigger voice than a Micaëla. I do enjoy mixing newbies with experienced people, because people learn from one another.
If I haven’t heard a singer in a while or there’s been a Fach change, I will hear them again before casting. I don’t want singers to learn a role that is not appropriate for them.
How do you determine the schedule?
I plan dates for about 8–10 readings in a 4–5 month season. Generally speaking, the fall season goes from September through January, excluding the last two weeks of December—the holiday season. February through May is the spring season. In June, I often organize a special program called Festa Lirica Italiana, which takes place in Ischia, Italy.
Please tell me more about Festa Lirica Italiana.
It is a three-week role-study seminar combined with language immersion and cultural exposure. In many respects, it’s similar to SingThrough Central, but I don’t group singers into opera casts. Participants are free to learn whatever role they wish, and we do fun concerts for the public.
I view Festa Lirica as a worthy alternative to YAPs and other summer programs. It’s also far less expensive than most of these programs. [For more information, please visit www.festalirica.com.]
Let’s return to NYC. How does STC’s pricing work?
It’s based on a package. The fee covers not only the coachings and the accompaniment, but also the organization and administration, which are extremely time consuming! [See website, below, for details.]
STC is renowned for its gourmet snack breaks. Please tell me about these.
This is another enjoyable social aspect of STC—a time to schmooze. Some singers bring food; some bring wine. I’ve found that singers are the biggest foodies in the world. In fact, someone once asked me if I choose singers based on the snacks they bring! This is not the case, of course, but there are many gourmets among us.
What are your future plans for STC?
I want to keep serving singers, because I see there is a need for this program. It helps people up their game. I like seeing people grow, making more informed musical choices, and become stronger artists that way. Singers quickly learn that you can’t skimp on preparation, including performing skills: focus, pacing, better analysis of their vocal limits, and special qualities.
Admittedly, I’m old school and don’t believe in coddling, but I’ll help you bootstrap your prep for the real world, where people will either get tired of fixing things for you or appreciate your depth of preparation and insight.
Lately I’ve noticed a sense of entitlement, especially among younger singers, that will have a negative impact on their career potential. STC can be a short-term wake-up call for these singers—one that will help them refine their attitude and improve their prospects in the long term. It’s the most fun I can imagine: watching singers grow and become better artists on their career paths.
For more information about SingThrough Central, please visit www.singthrough.com.
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What STC Participants Say
“Susan has a vast knowledge of Italian and French repertoire in particular. Her depth of understanding of Bel Canto and verismo styles, combined with her intimate knowledge of the languages and her ability to convey the details of the text, makes her one of the best coaches I’ve worked with. Any piece I’ve worked with her has benefitted immensely from her insight.”
—Alexis Cregger, Alcina/Alcina, Donna Anna/Don Giovanni
“I first learned a role with STC in 2010, singing Ilia in Idomeneo. I remember looking at the score and feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the recitativo. While working through that role and many subsequent roles, Susan has given me the necessary tools that I use now to learn a role from start to finish. She has helped me identify my own weaknesses and strengths, given me tools to learn a role in a way that sticks for future performances, and has given me confidence to work on larger, more challenging roles.”
—Jane Hoffman, Marie/La fille du régiment, Amina/La sonnambula, Morgana/Alcina
“Susan has been invaluable to me. Her coaching of Italian recitative (Le nozze di Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia and, most recently, L’elisir) and for the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff has given me a deeper understanding of the idiomatic sound and inflection of the Italian language.”
—Jan Opalach, Dulcamara/L’elisir d’amore
Post-Reading Correspondence
“What a warm environment to test the waters of the new technique I’m learning, as well as learn some new rep! I really enjoyed gaining your incredible insight on the recits and the Italian language and would love to work again in the near future. This really set me up well to perform a different Mozart opera later next month! All really good stuff.”
—Emily Kate Naydeck, Servilia/La clemenza di Tito
“Thank you so much for offering me the challenge of singing Giovanna for the very first time. What a great experience! Thank you so much for your gentle encouragement and brilliant coaching on all things Italian, recitative, and Bel Canto style.”
—Margaret O’Connell, Giovanna Seymour/Anna Bolena
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! For your time, efforts, knowledge, patience, humor . . . all of it! I have been completely inspired by the experience.”
—Daniel C. Thaler, President of Pocket Opera of New York, Alfredo/La traviata
“The work we did on Norina from our reading of 2–3 years ago has continued to stay with me, so that I even remember specific markings from my old (lost) score to make in my new one! You really know how to help musical and stylistic markings ‘stick’ in the mind of a singer!”
—Michelle Trovato, Norina/Don Pasquale
