ANATS ACT Chapter News

Greetings to All from Canberra.
Thank you all so much for coming to “Viva la voce”. We hope that you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did (despite our state of exhaustion). We have been left with so much to reflect upon. For those who missed out on attending, I encourage you to avail yourselves of the opportunity to order DVDs of the sessions that might appeal to you, so that you at least have a taste of what went on. 

Below is a copy of a letter which I received this morning, and I am sure that we in Canberra hope that these sentiments were shared by many.

 It was wonderful meeting so many colleagues, and putting faces to names. Looking forward to seeing you all again in Perth in 2008!!
Pat Whitbread
ACT President

Dear Pat, Sharon, Norma, Judith and Margaret - and all your organising committee for the ANATS Viva la
Voce! Conference 

What a wonderful weekend! I know you must be exhausted but I hope you cannot wipe the smile off your faces (it’s something I find lingering on mine even today, back at work…!)

As an ‘outsider’, I found the ANATS conference rich and rewarding. So much of its content was transferable - not just across the various categories of singing (classical, legit, belt, cabaret) - but, for example, so many good examples of fine teaching technique were demonstrated that it doesn’t matter what you are teaching, you witnessed excellent approaches. I particularly appreciated the finely honed ‘double-act’ of Mary and Anthony as a text-book case of team teaching.

There were many special moments - the masterclasses particularly - and it didn’t matter what genre of music. The masterclass participants were willing and generous in their openness to explore alternatives - and equally the presenters were respectful and generous in return, revealing and incisive in their feedback, and the results instantly conveyed in a joint exercise which can so often be confronting, occasionally embarrassing, and sometimes destructive, but was invariably constructive and revelatory here. 

This was valuable to all assembled in the fine venue (one of my favourites) - and perhaps surprisingly consistent across the genres: so much detailing is dependent on understanding, a thorough grounding in the text and subservience of technique to the text and subtext of a work. Interesting ideas of trusting the work. Fascinating ideas to make the material ‘new’ or fresh after so many months of learning. Useful ideas of not being too reverential to a well-known work or composer. Seeking your own ‘way in’.

Confirming beliefs I’ve held about the most engrossing performances - but perhaps more thoroughly than I dared consider - across the whole field. These ideas are also transferable to instrumentalists and, indeed, all other artists. 

Also pleasing was the expectation of versatility grounded in technique - a singer cannot afford to just let it happen anymore; they must know the mechanics - and when to use them.

Meeting so many inspiring, good-humoured, enthusiastic and committed teachers and singers and sharing their inspiration and, yes, passion was refreshing and valuable. I know this is going to become a fondly remembered experience - your conference had everything a conference should: it fed the emotions and the intellect; it discussed technique and ideas in performance, science, music, art, beauty, reality; it demonstrated the commitment to excellence that enhances our cultural life. 

I feel privileged to have shared the weekend with you and your colleagues in ANATS and am now so invigorated - it has felt like a holiday!

Congratulations and thank you.
Fond regards
David