Here’s today’s audio-only lesson:
Transcript below:
Good afternoon, my wonderful participants of Alessandra’s Find Your Voice Master Class, I hope you’re having a fantastic day. Today I wanted to discuss about the topic that I find very dear to my heart: singing along with others, and how to be a good colleague and collaborator.
So as we know, music is such a powerful instrument and tool to really bring people together, how wonderful how blessed we are, that we have that opportunity to use our voices in so many different ways that can uplift and inspire and bring people together. So sometimes even as a soloist, you are singing with a piano player, or if you are singing with a guitar player, if you’re a rock singer, maybe you’re singing with a band, if you are, a jazz singer, you’re singing with a trio. And so, so forth, and so on, you get the idea. Well, it’s really important when you are performing with your other musicians, or if you’re speaking in front of an audience, and there are other speakers there. And it’s really important to come prepared for yourself, and come prepared. Everyone else is doing their own job as well, everyone has a role in the performance in the production, and everyone must learn their part. So it’s really important to come prepared to a rehearsal when you’re working with others, or when you’re singing with others. So that’s one thing, there’s so many different directions we could take this topic, but let’s see what shows up.
So as you know, when you’re preparing for something, there’s a lot of times when you are working on your own, and then all of a sudden, you have maybe just a few rehearsals for performance. I did a show once where I had only two rehearsals, with the other singers that I was performing with, or maybe one rehearsal, I don’t remember now. But so it was my job. And that’s very normal. As an opera singer, it’s your job to know your role and to also have an idea of the other people’s, the other singer’s roles. So you know, how to play with them, how to sing with them, what your part is, what their part is, when not to sing, when to sing, when to give them the stick, when to give, all those different dynamics in a performance. So I only had one or two rehearsals with them before a big performance in front of I guess, 5000 people. And it was it was exciting and a little scary. What we did in that moment was, one of the girls was very gracious, and she actually invited me to a rehearsal with her coach, because we had a duet together. And she wanted to rehearse it with her coach so that he could give us feedback for both of us, which I thought was so gracious of her to invite me to give us the experience outside of what we didn’t have: we weren’t given a normal rehearsal schedule for this big performance. But she took the initiative and asked me to come. And we worked on this, we sang the Cat Duet by Rossini. And it was very fun. It was something I hadn’t done before. And I think she neither had she. So we had to choose which parts she would sing, and which part I would sing. And we had a coach who helped us to make sure that we were singing it properly. So by the time we did have the rehearsal, we were already rehearsed by a coach. And we already both individually knew our parts. And so then on stage, and when we had the orchestra and the conductor, we already knew that at least one part of the performance was nailed, because we knew her part and I knew my part and what I was going to be singing, what she was going to be singing. And so then we got on stage to rehearse. We can incorporate the acting parts as well. It’s a very funny song. You all should should look up the duet that was the Cat Duet, and it’s basically these two sopranos dueling after each other, it’s it’s very funny. And it’s a nice comic relief piece for classical singers within the context of a big fancy recital. So anyway, that was really fun.
And it’s always really important to give your colleagues the recognition, and the appreciation that you would want to receive for yourself. So if you’re going into a rehearsal, and you aren’t prepared, that’s just a no-no: you don’t want to go into a rehearsal unprepared, because everyone has their own time, invested into this experience. So you always want to come very well-prepared, doing your best, and letting all of you show up the way you do, and seeing how you interact with each other. And remember that you’re all working together. I think it’s so important when you’re, learning how to sing with others, whether it’s in a choir, or other instrumentalists, it’s just really important to know your part individually before you get to collaborate with them. But then when you’re with them, to really take the time to listen to what they’re doing, to acknowledge them, and let them acknowledge you. It’s a conversation, just like we’re having now; it’s a conversation and it’s a dance. And you both get to play your parts, and you get to see how you play your parts. You can let you can do all the work by planning things out. Meaning being well-prepared with your music, knowing your your words, knowing your character, all these different things.
Even more than that, there’s so much there’s so much work you can do at home, or shall we say, play you can do at home, that can really empower you to know who your character is when you’re singing, when you come to meet. And you’re singing with your colleagues or for the conductor or whatnot. But then when you are there, I would just encourage you just to be present. And just to see what shows up. The wonderful thing about live performance and collaboration with others is, you might have an idea of what’s gonna happen. But then there are these other people that bring a whole new element to the situation. And that’s a wonderful gift. And so to allow the exploration together and the growth together and to remember, even in a performance, there can be these amazing moments where you’re growing. It’s almost like even for performance, you’re not done. You’re constantly creating and experiencing something in the moment within the context of being well prepared and executing your your best.
So, that’s it for today. Have a wonderful day and as always, I’m here to support you.