Cluster „Fit for Stage – Acting for Singers“ – Helga Meyer Wagner und Wolfgang Dosch

MEYER-WAGNER Helga

Born in Vienna into a large music loving family Helga Wagner was active since early childhood in religious services in both chorus and as a soloist.

During her education at the Wiener Musikakademie (currently the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) and the main University of Vienna, she was member of the Vienna Academy Chamber Choir which toured worldwide. Diplomas include Masters of Philosophy mit Teacher’s Certificate in Music Education and History. Further diplomas in Opera, Lied and Oratorio. Her international career as singer in both opera and concert started in Austria, where already during her studies was engaged in oratorios and modern works. In1966 her opera career began as an alto at the Vienna Volksoper. In 1969 she changed to the Landestheater Linz as mezzosoprano. It was there that her repertoire changed again to dramatic roles such as Fidelio and Lady Macbeth. She was vividly sought after as one able to jump in last minute into productions such as in the Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Music Festival, Prague State Opera, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Würzburg, Amsterdam, Zurich, Geneva and several others important international opera houses. She performed 100plus opera roles in three different voice categories; Ulrica and Amelia in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, Oktavian and Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, also Elektra and Klytämnestra by Richard Strauss. Added this she was successful in several modern operas, such as Erwartung by Schönberg, Ursula in Mathis der Maler by Hindemith, Melusine by Reimann and others. Her career as a singer lasted until 1996.

In 1992 Helga Meyer-Wagner began her successful teaching career at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna (currently Private University of Music and Arts). In 1994 she began also to teach at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Her self-founded project „Ensemble Practice“– which were shortened versions of operas with piano and suggested scenery, was not only for the edification of the students, but also reached many school children and youth as these operas were performed in many schools in Vienna and the suburbs.

From 2015 - 2021 she taught at the Vienna State Opera Opera School for Children, aimed at training young talented singers in preparation for university studies.

Prof. Mag. Helga Meyer-Wagner is a founding member and currently president of the European Voice Teachers Austria as well as involved in the publication of the professional journal magazine VOX HUMANA This is a cooperation among German, Austrian and Swiss voice teachers associations.

For her multiple contributions and efforts to further the music culture of Austria, she was granted in 2014 the Austrian Cross of Honors for Science and Culture.

DOSCH WOLFGANG

A native of Vienna Austria, Wolfgang Dosch studied trumpet, voice, acting, opera directing, theatre studies, musicology, and cultural management. While still a student he worked as assistant director in the Wiener Kammeroper and sang in the Austrian Radio Choir (ORF Chor).

After completing his studies, Wolfgang Dosch made his solo debut as a singer in the Raimund Theatre (Vienna, Austria). Specializing in comic and later character roles (e.g. the king in „The King and I“), he has performed more than 60 roles in more than 2,000 shows with repertoire ranging from the Middle Ages to modern day and spanning the stages of opera, operetta, musical and drama. He debuted the leading role in the world premiere of „NOVENCENTO - The Legend of the Ocean Pianist “(based on the book by A. Baricco), a musical written for him by composer Charles Kalman. During the Vienna Festival of 1982, he also starred in the world premiere of Friedrich Cerha’s „Netzwerk“ at the Theater an der Wien.

Wolfgang Dosch has also directed more than 70 operas, operettas and musicals in significant theatres in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. From 1991 to 2003 he worked both as singer and dramaturg in the Staatsoperette Dresden.

Wolfgang Dosch has also directed in such prominent festivals such as the Vienna Festival, Salzburg Festival, Operetta Festival Mörbisch, Lehár Festival Bad Ischl, Dresden Music Festival, Warsaw Autumn and Athene Festival. He has toured throughout Europe and Japan, performing in television, radio and the making of CD productions.

He has conducted musicological research for the Wiener Volksoper, Jewish Museum Vienna, Johann Strauß Gesellschaft Deutschland, Internationale Franz Lehár Gesellschaft and various international publications.

He is one of the most acknowledged directors and specialists for operetta of our times.

Wolfgang Dosch is professor in both programs of the Academic Classical Operetta and Masters Opera and Drama at the Music And Arts University of the City of Vienna. Additionally, he has been active as juror in numerous international competitions.

Operetta Presentation with Prof. Dosch’s students of MUK Private University Vienna

WORKSHOP OPERETTA – The Difficulty to Come Across as Easy - WOLFGANG DOSCH (singer, stage director; professor MUK); LÁSZLÓ GYÜKÉR (conductor; lecturer MUK)

In contrast to opera, the operetta uses exclusively dance music rhythms.To perform as a singer-actor with charisma on the operetta stage requires technically, stylistically and musically appropriate informed interpretations of the art form with its various manifestations - with special regard to its genre-specific requirements - the art of nuances, of rubato and the transitions from thought to vocal tone - from dialogue to speech-singing then to song - from pathos to punch line – from a strong entrance to a strong exit – from liberties and their respective rules -from the unbridled joy for life to ist communication. The difficulty to come across as

easy- with heart, brain and humor!

VIENNA OPERETTA - OPERETTA IN VIENNA -lecture concert

The Viennese operetta, part of the Central European culture, is a highly stylized musical-theatrical Gesamtkunstwerk whose theme is possibly “The Lightness of Being” with its motto "Healing through laughter". Emperor Joseph II coined its preceding form “Deutsches Singspieltheater” in Vienna in 1777 and in suburban theaters countless plays, farces, allegories etc. sprang up which document the development of the former Viennese Singspiel into the Viennese

operetta. As early as 1788, long before Offenbach’s appearance in Vienna and Franz von Suppè, (often referred to as the “Father of the Viennese operetta”),

Ditters von Dittersdorf for the first time named his "DAS ROTE KÄPPCHEN" an operetta.

In the 19th century, the art form developed into the most representative form of musical entertainment theater in the capital and residence city of Austria-Hungary. Bohemian polka, Italian tarantella, Hungarian csardas, Polish mazurka and, of course, the Viennese waltz combine to create a surreal, joyful frenzy as a multicultural finale.

And at the beginning of the 20th century, with its insatiable longing for happiness, youth, beauty, combined with its dance on the narrow line between dream and reality, the operetta became the typical form of the music theatre of the Viennese Art Nouveau and a worldwide export success. Vienna operetta - a cultural memory worth remembering.

CHANDLER Chuck

Chuck Chandler is Assistant Professor of Voice at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. He is an award-winning teacher and established authority in fitness training and the singing voice, as well as a sought after presenter, master clinician, and consultant. His students have performance credits at the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Atlanta Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Santa Fe Opera among others. He has presented sessions at conferences in the United States and abroad, including The Pedagogy of Pedagogy and Fitness Training and the Singing Voice at the 2017 ICVT in Stockholm, Sweden. His article “Modern Opera and Film” and another on fitness training and the singing voice have been published in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Journal of Singing. Chandler has given pedagogical workshops and presentations on topics including the use of Voce Vista in the studio, teaching male voices, the use of progressive vocalise, and many others. Further, his presence as an adjudicator for competitions and as an in-demand master clinician in the United States. is notable.

Chandler has sung world premieres of operatic roles and art song cycles, and garnered acclaim as a tenor soloist in performing as Uriel in Haydn’s The Creation, Obadiah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, the tenor soloist in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Bach Cantata # 61, John Stainer’s Crucifixion, and the Saint-Saëns Christmas Oratorio to name a few. His operatic roles have included Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Emperor Altoum in Turandot, King Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and many others. He is a frequent recitalist throughout the United States and has appeared at venues such as the Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Chandler makes regular appearances at the Festival of Music by Women Composers, the National Association of Teachers of Singing national conferences, and continues serving on the faculty of Red River Lyric Opera’s young artist program since 2016. Additionally, Chandler has taught at the Orvieto Musica Festival as guest artist faculty. He holds a doctorate in vocal performance from University of Kentucky.

They were words before they were songs. Strategies for Text Analysis

THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE OF WORDS IN SINGING CAN BE EASY FOR STUDENTS TO OVERLOOK. AFTER ALL, MAKING A BEAUTIFUL AND SUPPORTED TONE, SINGING WITH MUSICAL ACCURACY, HAVING THE TECHNIQUE TO MAKE HIGH NOTES SOUND EASY AND EVEN, AND THE MANY OTHER MUSICAL AND TECHNICAL THOUGHTS NECESSARY FOR PERFORMANCE OFTEN LEAVE LITTLE MENTAL SPACE FOR TEXTS TO BE PRIMARY. BECAUSE TEXTS EXISTED AS SUCH PRIOR TO THE MUSIC COMPOSERS WROTE, THIS SESSION WILL PRESENT TEXT ANALYSIS STRATEGIES FOR SINGERS, OFFERING QUESTIONS PERFORMERS MUST ANSWER PRIOR TO LEARNING MUSIC TO AID IN RESTORING WORDS TO THEIR PRIMARY ROLE. IT IS PERHAPS WORDS ABOVE ALL THAT SEPARATE VOCAL MUSIC FROM INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC, AND THAT SHAPE THE VERY PHRASES WE SING.

THIS SESSION WILL PROCEDURALIZE PUTTING TEXT ANALYSIS FIRST IN THE LEARNING PROCESS. IT WILL FURTHER EXAMINE THE LINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF TEXTS AS WELL AS INTELLECTUAL ANALYSIS, SETTING THE TWO (SOUNDS AND MEANING) AS EQUAL PARTNERS. STRATEGIES TO CONTEXTUALIZE A TEXT WILL BE OFFERED HISTORICALLY AND BIOGRAPHICALLY, AND LITERARY CRITICISM/HISTORY WILL BE LINKED TO THE PROCESS OF TEXT ANALYSIS. ESTABLISHING THIS PRIORITY IN PRACTICE CREATES MORE MENTAL RESOURCES IN SINGERS’ ATTENTION FILTERS TO FOCUS ON THE COMMUNICATION OF MEANING. IT EMBEDS THE TEXT INTO OUR COGNITIVE PROCESS PRIOR TO THE MECHANICS OF SINGING THE ANALYZED TEXT WHICH CAN LEAD SINGERS TO A RICHER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SONG AS A WHOLE – WHY A MELODY SOARS HERE AND IS SOFT THERE.

BY EXTENSION, THE ATTENTION FILTER FUNCTION OF SINGERS’ MENTAL PROCESS CAN BE MORE DEDICATED TO THE PHYSICAL ACT OF SINGING ONCE A TEXT HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY ANALYZED AND MEMORIZED. THIS TEXT ANALYSIS STRATEGY HAS HELPED STUDENTS COME TO UNDERSTAND THE WEDDING OF WORDS AND MUSIC, LEADING TO BETTER TECHNICAL PERFORMANCES WITH MORE ARTISTIC EXPRESSION. PRIORITIZING INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TEXT GIVES SINGERS A RICHER UNDERSTANDING OF ART, AND WHAT MAKES SINGING SUBLIME WHEN ALL THE ELEMENTS FUSE IN PERFORMANCE. THEY WERE WORDS BEFORE THEY WERE SONGS, BUT THEIR WEDDING CAN AMPLIFY BOTH.

CUNYI Jacqui

Jacqui Cuny is a researcher, Musical Theatre (MT) performer and pedagogue with over 40 years of professional experience. She is currently completing her PhD studies at the Queensland Conservatorium, at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Trained in both acting and singing, Jacqui graduated in 1980 from the Queensland Conservatorium and the University of Qld and made her professional singing and acting debut in 1981. She toured Australia with major commercial musicals in the 1980’s before moving to England to further her career where she performed in productions in Manchester, Birmingham and London’s West End before returning to Australia in 1989.

Since that time, Jacqui has continued performing and teaching while expanding her pedagogical understanding of both singing and acting by completing her Master of Music Studies (Voice Pedagogy - with Distinction), and transitioning to her current Doctoral studies — an exploration of the elements, constructs and praxis of MT performance synergy from a theoretical and a practical standpoint. She continues to build a pedagogical framework for a workable, dynamic model to engender and release performance synergy in MT actors. Jacqui is passionate about all aspects of MT performance and pedagogy, and she is dedicated to developing MT actors as they launch and further their performance careers.

Unlocking the Mystery of Musical Theatre Performance Synergy

Today's Western musical theatre (MT) canon draws from almost every genre of the past 120 years. In defying conventional classification, productions incorporate a wide range of singing, acting, and dance styles alongside ever evolving staging and production values.

Whilst MT actors undertake intensive training to achieve this complex artform, the inspired performance artistry that elevates some MT actors above their peers is difficult to define. Colloquially known as "stage presence", "the X factor" or "it", this synergistic energy appeares to be greater than the sum of the individual, advanced technical skills considered to be standard in an MT actor's craft.

Performance synergy appears to be key for a successful audition outcome, 'landing the professional role' and, most importantly, in maintaining employment in today's highly competitive MT industry. MT actors require an ability to impress the creative directors who cast them with seamlessly integrated triple threat skills of singing, acting and dancing, whilst advancing the dramaturgy; that is, to present believable characterizations through delivery of authentic emotions that connect to, and directly impact their audiences.

To investigate synergy in an actor's performance, my PhD research enquiry involved interviews with 42 participants, including career successful MT actors and Australian creative directors. The interview questions were structured to capture the experiential opinions of the participants on the elements, constructs and praxis of performance synergy and how this could be engendered in the MT performer. In triangulating the results from the research data, key techniques from recognised acting and singing methods, and my own performative and pedagogical experience, I have developed an organic framework of strategies that has the potential to assist MT acting singers to unlock the mystery of performance synergy. In this paper I will present preliminary findings from my research and speak to the implications for Musical Theatre performers and those who teach them.

HAKANPÄA Tua

I am an artist firmly positioned between art and research and I’m trying to merge these two practices in my daily work.

My research subject is emotional expression in the singing voice. I am looking into questions such as: How can we add emotion to voice? How can emotional expression in the singing voice be taught?

I am trained as a musician at the Pop&Jazz conservatory of Helsinki and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York. I also have a double degree in voice pedagogy (singing and speaking) from Metropolia University of Applied sciences and the University of Tampere. And on top of that I have a degree in Contemporary Improvisation from The Estonian Music and Theatre Academy.

I enjoy experimenting with different sounds and styles and I am always on the look out for something interesting.

Training the vocal expression of emotions in singing: Effects of including acoustic research-based elements in the regular singing training of acting students

Objectives: This study examines the effects of including acoustic research-based elements of the vocal expression of emotions in the singing lessons of acting students during a seven-week teaching period. This information may be useful in improving the training of interpretation in singing.

Study design: Experimental comparative study

Methods: Six acting students participated in seven weeks of extra training concerning voice quality in the expression of emotions in singing. Song samples were recorded before and after the training. A control group of six acting students were recorded twice within a seven-week period, during which they participated in ordinary training. All participants sang on the vowel [a:] and on a longer phrase expressing anger, sadness, joy, tenderness, and neutral states. The vowel and phrase samples were evaluated by 34 listeners for the perceived emotion. Additionally, the vowel samples were analyzed for formant frequencies (F1–F4), sound pressure level (SPL), spectral structure (Alpha ratio = SPL 1500–5000 Hz - SPL 50–1500 Hz), harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), and perturbation (Jitter, Shimmer).

Results: The number of correctly perceived expressions improved in the test group’s vowel samples, while no significant change was observed in the control group. The overall recognition was higher for the phrases than for the vowel samples. Of the acoustic parameters, F1 and SPL significantly differentiated motions in both groups, and HNR specifically differentiated emotions in the test group. The Alpha ratio was found to statistically significantly differentiate emotion expression after training.

Conclusions: The expression of emotion in the singing voice improved after seven weeks of voice quality training. The F1, SPL, Alpha ratio, and HNR differentiated emotional expression. The variation in acoustic parameters became wider after training. Similar changes were not observed after seven weeks of ordinary voice training.

Key Words: voice quality, perceived emotion, acoustic analyses

JOHNSON Amy

Amy Christine Johnson is a second-year graduate teaching assistant in the PhD for Vocal Pedagogy program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ms. Johnson has a Bachelor of Science in Choral Music Education, a Master of Music in Voice, and continued her graduate studies with a Professional Studies degree in Voice at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Ms. Johnson has been teaching private voice for sixteen years. She has taught both classical and musical theatre styles, working with students of all ages in studios at performing arts centers and schools. She also worked at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory as a voice instructor where her undergraduate students performed regularly in concerts and opera productions. Many of her high school students have continued their studies at the collegiate level. Her students have consistently performed well in competitions and in various productions. In the theatre, Ms. Johnson has worked as a musical director and as a teaching artist in vocal workshops, theatre programs, and productions. She has composed and directed several elementary musical productions, as well as created a curriculum for elementary and middle school musical theatre classes. She has also enjoyed playing keyboards in several musical theatre productions. As a performer, Ms. Johnson is equally at home on the opera, recital, and musical theatre stages. She created a unique recital experience by focusing her program on characters from the same author. Combining a spoken narrative with song selections to tell the story, she performed recitals using Goethe’s Mignon and Margarete as well as Shakespeare’s Ophelia and Juliet. Favorite roles have included Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), and Kate (Kiss Me, Kate!).

The Effects Of Dramatic Preparation On The Singing Voice: A Study Of Acoustics In Singing With Emotions In Both A Rehearsed And Unrehearsed Setting

It is natural to assume that singing, especially singing with storytelling, will have an emotional connection. Most classical singers have spent countless hours refining their vocal technique, yet very few have spent half as much energy on learning any type of acting technique. When considering the increase in streaming and filmed productions, opera singers today must be able to act convincingly while maintaining their craft and their vocal health more than ever before. While there have been studies done on the effects of adding emotion to singing, there is less information about different applications of emotion to singing. The purpose of this study is to provide a more detailed analysis on how the preparation of adding emotion may or may not change acoustic outcomes. Specifically, an analysis will be made of the acoustic changes in the sung tone between a rehearsed performance of an emotion and an improvised performance of an emotion to determine which has the greater impact on the sung tone when compared to a baseline performance without emotion. Ten collegiate singers will be recorded with and without added emotion for acoustic analysis: five with rehearsed emotion and five with improvised, or unrehearsed, emotion. The randomly assigned emotion will be based on psychologist Paul Eckman’s six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise. Recordings will be made with the KayPENTAX Computerized Speech Lab and analyzed with the PRAAT software program. Data will be analyzed using ANOVA with repeated measures. This study will be used as a preliminary study in support of further research on the effects of specific acting methods in classical singing. The two methods under consideration are the Chekhov technique, which relates more to a planned performance, and the Meisner technique, which incorporates improvisation. Findings from this study will provide singers with more information about how the application of specific acting methods affects the voice and may have implications on the maintenance of singers’ vocal health as they integrate more acting skills into their performance.

LEIGH-POST Karen

Karen Leigh-Post, Chair and Professor of Music and Voice Science at Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Wisconsin, earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree under the tutelage of master teacher Shirlee Emmons who inspired her research in optimal performance. Internationally recognized as a pioneer in the application of cognitive neuroscience in the voice studio, Dr. Leigh-Post’s ground-breaking volume, Mind-Body Awareness for Singers: Unleashing Optimal Performance (Plural Publishing, 2014), is “highly recommended to scientists and singers” (Timothy Petersik, PhD) and is proclaimed to be a “significant contribution to the field — a must read for every singer and teacher of singing” (Constance Chase). Urged to “keep spreading the message,” publications include “Awareness and Optimal Performance,” in So You Want To Sing with Awareness(2020), and the forthcoming “Perspectives on Perception for Optimal Performance,” Journal of Singing, Vol 78, Issue no. 2. “An excellent clinician,” Dr. Leigh-Post’s workshops and presentations at national and international conferences, have been described as “whimsical, intelligent, practical and brilliantly communicated” (Pat Wilson) “charming, amusing, but dispensing valuable information every second.…highly intelligent artist with a matching intellectual curiosity” (Shirlee Emmons).

The Brain, Music, and Optimal Performance

This clear yet delightfully quick-paced introduction to cognitive neuroscience for the voice studio nimbly weaves together discoveries in neuroscience with the experience of vocal artistry to show how singing can be viewed as a perception-action cycle. From the outset, practical-application exercises demystify how the conscious mind integrates with the unconscious brain to unleash our body’s intelligence to produce optimal and even peak performance in the expressive and artistic endeavor of singing. A pioneer in the expansion of voice science and pedagogy into the field of cognitive neuroscience, Leigh-Post’s singular application of perceptual-motor psychology demonstrates how singers learn to take charge, and mindfully integrate their audio-motor intentions with expert motor response. The teacher becomes equipped to better understand optimal flow of information, where disruption may occur, and how to guide the student in setting the right goal for the task of the moment — to get the thinking right.

Carrying forward the work of Emmons and Thomas and other advocates of the mind-body link, “Leigh-Post delves deeper into the mind-body connection by clarifying the role of the nervous system in the act of performing” (Debra Greschner, Journal of Singing, May/June 2015). Theories and concepts emerging from her unique research on the role of the vestibular system (inner ear) in spatial cognition and, more specifically, in monitoring and correcting our postural orientation to the force of gravity while singing, inspire a transformative science- and performance-based perspective that accurately represents how the singer integrates the cognitive and conscious, imaginative and alert mind with the largely unconscious sensory and motor processes of our nervous system.

Thus, our journey will extend beyond the essential perceptual processes of bodily-awareness to include perceptual-motor skills for mindful guidance of expert motor control. Key concepts will include, Anticipatory Control for Optimal Control, Vocal Vibrato and Reflexive Resonance, Developing Expertise from the Innate to the Intuitive, and Turning Off “the Judge” for Creative Flow.

Empowered with this knowledge, we can train the singer’s brain to unleash optimal performance at any skill level and enjoy the highest of cognitive functions — the imagination — as expressed in art.

MC CARTHER Sean (Co: HOLLOWAY Jacqueline)

Dr. Sean Mc CARTHER serves as Associate Professor of Voice and Acting Chair of Theater and Dance at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where he teaches classical and musical theater voice, voice science, and movement for performers. An advocate for physical theater and mobile singers, Dr. McCarther has created a movement-based performance pedagogy that helps students learn to actively engage their environment, their scene partners, and the audience with the highest potential expression. Scholarly research in the areas of voice pedagogy, movement, alignment, performance psychology, and consent and creating safe theatrical space include articles in the Journal of Singing, presentations at both national and regional NATS conferences and workshops, the Dalcroze Society of America’s National Conference, Southeastern Theater Conference, Texas Music Educators Association, and numerous workshops at universities around the country. He has contributed chapters to two books, one on the intersection of voice science and choral pedagogy and another on creativity in performance, both with GIA Publications.

Jacqueline HOLLOWAY is an internationally recognized Fight Instructor, certified with the Society of American Fight Directors and Fight Directors Canada. In addition to teaching stage combat and theatrical consent through her company Arte Violenta, she is a stage combat instructor with Columbia University, Lee Strasberg Institute, Acting House Studios as well as a parkour coach at Pinnacle Parkour Academy. She also holds the title of East Central Regional Representative for the Society of American Fight Directors. Jacqueline also teaches workshops on Consent as well as works intermittently as an intimacy choreographer. Over the past few years, Jacqueline has started studying and choreographing staged intimacy and teaching theatrical consent. Her work in this area focuses on teaching actors and production staff how to mindfully create safe working and learning environments.

Consent and Creating Safe Theatrical Space

Performers are paid to be vulnerable on stage. Problems arise when a character’s simulated emotions morph into the actor’s real emotions. While this can be precarious with any emotion, those related to intimacy and physical attraction can be particularly problematic. In the extreme, such instances can lead to cases of emotional, physical, and even sexual abuse. The #metoo movement has shed light on all too many instances of this in the theater and film industries. This presentation addresses issues of consent in the theater. Attendees are encouraged to participate in several exercises that explore ways to establish safe rehearsal and performance spaces. While not explicitly an intimacy for the stage workshop, this presentation will give participants a foundation for how to protect themselves and their scene partners and provide a basis for communication between and among actors that is the basis of all good collaborative theater.

MUNCH Ulla

Ulla Munch is a professional singer and mantal trainer. Employed at the Danish National Academy of Music, training bachelors and master students in mental training. Ulla Munch has more than 30 years of experience as professional singer and coach in voice and mental training, regularly preparing professional singers and musicians in the Royal Danish Opera choir and orchestra and The Danish National Concert choir.

How to stay calm at auditions

What can a singer do to balance voice, body and nervousness before and during an audition?

Auditions are the primary way of applying for jobs as a singer. You get 3-5 minutes to show your very best. It is one of the most challenging kind of job interviews you can imagine!

How do you stay 100% alert and calm at the same time?

How do you balance voice and body when nervousness suddenly pops up?

Every singer know how nervousness can make the body freeze, give mucus in the throat, tighten muscles and reduce the freedom of the voice.

Workshop: Singers Mental Toolbox

Participants in the workshop will work with the following techniques, which reduces performance anxiety:

Breathing – Anchoring the body by breathing will help the performer to stay calm and reduce anxiety.

Body Balance and centering – Be sure to balance muscular tension and loose joints, to secure a free functioning body and voice.

Visualization – Get to know how you can benefit from using visualization in your preparation for an audition. Working with preplanned images in a relaxed state of mind focuses the thoughts and calms the mind. Visualization is a skill that needs to be practiced weeks ahead of an audition

Storytelling - Keep your mind occupied with a

Reduce stress - How mental training reduces stress before an upcoming audition

Nervousness is a chemical reaction in the brain, and you feel it in the body. In the workshop How to stay calm at auditions, Ulla Munch will introduce you to Bodybased mental training. During the workshop you will be guided step by step on how to ground the body and mind. You will learn how the vagus nerve is so essential for breath management and a free voice. You will also learn how visualization and storytelling are efficient performance skills, which will help you eliminate racing thoughts taking over.

Participants in the workshop will be introduced to techniques that will help them become mentally robust and resilient in an extremely competitive environment.

SAMLON Philip

English tenor Philip Salmon has had an international solo career in a varied repertoire in opera (Royal Opera, London; New York City Opera; Théatre du Châtelet, Paris; Teatro Regio, Turin etc.), in concert (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Bayerisches Rundfunkorchester; Amsterdam Concertgebouw etc.) with leading conductors (Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Sir John Eliot Gardiner etc.) and stage directors (Peter Stein, Luca Ronconi, Mark Morris, Sir David McVicar etc.).

He conducted Dame Emma Kirkby in the British premiere of Telemann’s LukasPassion 1744 in 2014.

He has given classes and lectures at the Centro Italiano di Musica Antica in Rome, at the Universities of Rosario and La Plata, the Catholic University in Buenos Aires, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire etc.

Born in Buenos Aires, soprano Susana CALIGARIS graduated from the Singing Faculty at the Instituto Superior de Música de la UNL, where she is now Professor of Singing.

Recent performances include Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and Britten’s War Requiem with the Sinfónica Provincial de Santa Fe, La Quête de Bronwyn by Luis Mucillo with the Sinfónica Nacional de Argentina, written for and dedicated to Susana, and Die Lustige Witwe in Santa Fe. She has also performed in Spain, Switzerland, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, Holland and Mexico and received several awards in recognition of her artistic and cultural activities in Argentina and internationally, including the Premio Jubileo Tercer Milenio for Artistic Merit in Art and Culture, given by the Mozarteum Argentino Filial Salzburg.

Alongside her teaching in the Instituto she has given lectures and master classes at the University of La Plata, the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Gran Canaria, and the Accademia Santa Cecilia de Roma

Together Professor Caligaris and Philip Salmon have presented at the Facultad de Medicina and the Escuela Superior de la Música in Barcelona, at the ECCOM 2017, the ESCOM-ICMPC 2018 international conference and JIMUS 2018 at La Plata University, and published in Vocalidades 2019.

These studies are part of an ongoing collaboration between Santa Fe Lírica, la voz en toda su expresión and the British-Argentine Voice Initiative (BRAVI).

The Embodied Voice: The creative interaction between teacher and student as the basis for developing a holistic pedagogical approach in the singing studio and in performance

The act of singing is a bio-psycho-social activity, with all the complex interactions that that involves. The singing teacher’s role is to facilitate the student’s understanding of this complex process. For a successful learning outcome it is essential to balance these physiological, psychological, somatic, proprioceptive and cognitive elements in a holistic pedagogical paradigm. Extensive experience has shown that a teaching model adapted to each individual invariably improves performance and psychological perception.

The Embodied Voice is part of an ongoing activity in collaboration with Santa Fe Lírica, complementary to the diploma course at the Instituto Superior de Música in the National University of the Litoral in Argentina. Its aims are two-fold: to challenge students to maximize their potential in a nurturing environment, while quantifying, where practicable, qualitative empirical judgement.

Each student, whether beginner or advanced, is given technical and musical guidance in a singing master class format. Subsequently, integrated movement is added. A group class establishes simple but effective principles of stagecraft. Then each participant brings a song or aria they have prepared musically (classical, jazz or pop) to work on appropriate expressive movement and gesture. At each stage the resulting performances are given in the context of public concerts. The activity culminates in student participation in a fully staged operatic production.

The presentation will illustrate how the student discovers optimal voice from primal voice through assimilation of the various elements involved and is led to expression and interpretation via the imagination and elimination of negative diversionary movements, with the goal of artistry in performance. It will discuss the effects of self-determination and its outcomes as part of the conscious competence cycle, including short videos demonstrating the effects of different teaching approaches, and of student experience in performance. Finally, it will show how the outcome of the staged productions contributes to a rounded development of the student and, equally important, communicates to a new audience. After all, the objective in singing is to express and communicate.