NATS Conference
I'm back from the NATS Conference (The National Association of Teachers of Singing) and had a wonderful time.
The conference was held in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, in Nashville, which is a quite a place, with glass domes covering tropical gardens with waterfalls and meandering paths. Having just seen lots of tropical plants at the Botanical Gardens in Hawaii, I recognized many of the trees and flowers. It felt surreal seeing them again growing in a hotel.
The highlight of the conference for me was a recital by soprano Dawn Upshaw, who has been one of my favorite singers for many years. She's an excellent interpreter of multiple styles of music with flawless diction and a naturally bright voice that she doesn't try to disguise or cover. She also gave a master class and worked with some singers on interpreting the text.
The conference included a "wired" master class, in which students worked with voice teachers Shirlee Emmons and Robert Edwin, while connected to acoustic and biofeedback instruments so we could watch the little squiggles produced by their sound. This was all interpreted by Donald Miller and Scott McCoy, who were able to confirm things such as whether a student was really using chest voice and which overtones are dominant in a pleasant sound as opposed to a shrill one. I found this very interesting and potentially useful.
Other events included a master class with baritone Sherill Milnes, sessions on yoga for singers, performance practice, perfect phonation, the countertenor voice, preparation for a career in opera or in commercial music, and a talk on vocal health by Dr. Robert Sataloff, an M.D. who has been the biggest name in studying vocal problems for as long as I can remember.
The major publishers of vocal music (Hal Leonard, Schirmer, and Boosey & Hawkes, all of which are now distributed by Hal Leonard) attended and brought singers to give short recitals of some of the recent publications, including two never before published songs by Samuel Barber as well as other goodies. I got 4 free books and bought many more.
The conference ended with the "Golden Jubilee Celebration" including a banquet and dancing with a very good band doing jazz and standards. Just about everyone from the oldest to the youngest ended up on the dance floor, with or without a partner, as there were many more women than men. The singer, knowing we were all singers, would sometimes hold out the mic or come down and put it in front of different people to chime in. For instance, when he did "Mustang Sally," he'd hold the mic out and we'd sing "ride, Sally ride" in multi-part harmony and many ranges. Nothing like having about 50 back-up singers with trained voices!
I got to talk to lots of other voice teachers including someone I went to grad school with and hadn't seen since. I'm really glad I went and am already putting into practice with my own students some of the things I learned.
Stephan came down for part of the time since it was an easy drive and the room was already paid for. He got to hear Dawn Upshaw and we enjoyed some nice dinners in the many restaurants of the hotel. While I was in the conference, he toured Nashville attractions like Belle Meade Plantation, the replica of the Parthenon, and the Hermitage.
Now, I've got to catch up on my critiques for TNEO. Ayeee!
The conference was held in the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, in Nashville, which is a quite a place, with glass domes covering tropical gardens with waterfalls and meandering paths. Having just seen lots of tropical plants at the Botanical Gardens in Hawaii, I recognized many of the trees and flowers. It felt surreal seeing them again growing in a hotel.
The highlight of the conference for me was a recital by soprano Dawn Upshaw, who has been one of my favorite singers for many years. She's an excellent interpreter of multiple styles of music with flawless diction and a naturally bright voice that she doesn't try to disguise or cover. She also gave a master class and worked with some singers on interpreting the text.
The conference included a "wired" master class, in which students worked with voice teachers Shirlee Emmons and Robert Edwin, while connected to acoustic and biofeedback instruments so we could watch the little squiggles produced by their sound. This was all interpreted by Donald Miller and Scott McCoy, who were able to confirm things such as whether a student was really using chest voice and which overtones are dominant in a pleasant sound as opposed to a shrill one. I found this very interesting and potentially useful.
Other events included a master class with baritone Sherill Milnes, sessions on yoga for singers, performance practice, perfect phonation, the countertenor voice, preparation for a career in opera or in commercial music, and a talk on vocal health by Dr. Robert Sataloff, an M.D. who has been the biggest name in studying vocal problems for as long as I can remember.
The major publishers of vocal music (Hal Leonard, Schirmer, and Boosey & Hawkes, all of which are now distributed by Hal Leonard) attended and brought singers to give short recitals of some of the recent publications, including two never before published songs by Samuel Barber as well as other goodies. I got 4 free books and bought many more.
The conference ended with the "Golden Jubilee Celebration" including a banquet and dancing with a very good band doing jazz and standards. Just about everyone from the oldest to the youngest ended up on the dance floor, with or without a partner, as there were many more women than men. The singer, knowing we were all singers, would sometimes hold out the mic or come down and put it in front of different people to chime in. For instance, when he did "Mustang Sally," he'd hold the mic out and we'd sing "ride, Sally ride" in multi-part harmony and many ranges. Nothing like having about 50 back-up singers with trained voices!
I got to talk to lots of other voice teachers including someone I went to grad school with and hadn't seen since. I'm really glad I went and am already putting into practice with my own students some of the things I learned.
Stephan came down for part of the time since it was an easy drive and the room was already paid for. He got to hear Dawn Upshaw and we enjoyed some nice dinners in the many restaurants of the hotel. While I was in the conference, he toured Nashville attractions like Belle Meade Plantation, the replica of the Parthenon, and the Hermitage.
Now, I've got to catch up on my critiques for TNEO. Ayeee!