Queensland
- Brisbane Chapter
Chapter
Update
October 2004
Young Voices
Revisited
The Brisbane Chapter
has been busy over the past few months, most recently with our
main function for the year, the "Young Voice Revisited" which
was held on Sunday 19 September. This one day conference
built on the success of last year's Young Voice Symposium. The
focus of the day was on the anatomy and physiology of the
adolescent and changing voice. We were fortunate indeed
to be able to have Leon Thurman, co-editor of "Bodymind and Voice" as
our keynote speaker while he spent a couple of days in Brisbane
on his way to the ANCA National Conference in Adelaide. His
generously shared knowledge & experience was conveyed
with much humour and enthusiasm when dealing with the young
people provided for him to "experiment on". This was well
balanced with "voice in action" sessions given by local
classroom, choir and voice teachers Anthony Young, Daniel Kay, Linda
Penman, Silvia Coady and Annie Hoepper. The day finished
very appropriately with a concert given by year 12 Music
Extension Voice students drawn from a number of schools around
Brisbane. We hope to make this concert a tradition, since
it provides students who undertake this subject with a very valuable "stress
free" non-assessed performance experience.
"Value
in Voice" workshop
Many members of the
Brisbane Chapter took advantage of the "Value in Voice" workshop
on the 29th August presented by the Harris Team from the
Sidcup Voice Clinic in England. This event was jointly
organised by the AVA and the Qld Multi Disciplinary Voice Interest
Group and featured Tom, Sara & Dinah Harris, Laryngologist, Speech
Pathologist & Singing Advisor respectively, presenting on
a wide range of voice related issues. It was heartening
to see so many people from different disciplines engaging in
such vigorous cross-fertilisation, academically speaking.
Certificate
of Recognition
Joan Neil was presented with a Certificate
of Recognition in a small private ceremony in August attended
by long-standing friends and colleagues. Joan was instrumental
in the foundation of the ANATS Brisbane Chapter and made a great
contribution to the voice teaching fraternity.
News
Update
 |
| Neil Semer |
Neil
Semer Masterclass
21 July 2004,
6pm
Queensland Conservatorium,
Recital Room
For those unfortunate enough to miss this year's ANATS Conference,
all was not lost!
Keynote speaker Neil Semer conducted
a masterclass at the Queensland Conservatorium.
Neil Semer teaches
voice and gives workshops internationally on the subject of vocal
technique and performance practice. His main voice studio is in
New York, but he teaches regularly in Toronto, London, Paris and
throughout Germany. His teaching combines the old Italian School
of Bel Canto as expounded by Giovanni Battista Lamperti with scientific
understanding of vocal function.
The focus was coordination of the heart, mind and
body. His students sing leading roles in Opera around the world
and star in Broadway productions.
Young
Voice Revisited
Sunday 19 September, 2004
Due to the overwhelming interest shown in last year's Young
Voice Symposium, a second symposium was scheduled for a
weekend day during the September school holidays.
Titled 'Young Voice Revisited' ,
the symposium was not be a mere repeat of the previous year's successful
programme. Young Voice Revisited continued to define
the young voice and all manners by which singer and teacher alike
approached the developing voice.
The day's workshops progressed into the evening
with a presentation of young voices from the Queensland Education
Music Extension Program. It was an exciting display of today's
young talent!
Certificate of Recognition
for Joan Neil
Firstly, the ANATS National Council recently approved
a recommendation from the Brisbane Chapter to award Joan Neil the
Certificate of Recognition for her contribution to the singing
fraternity as a teacher and leader, and in particular for her contribution
to the foundation of the ANATS Brisbane Chapter.
Whilst the presentation of this award will be conducted
privately, the Brisbane Chapter Committee would like to invite
notes of appreciation in honour of Joan's work and her dedication
to voice tuition in Queensland.
Please send all notes to Geoff Ashenden, Brisbane
Chapter President, via email: geoffashenden@iprimus.com.au .
ANATS Forums on this
website
Finally, the Brisbane committee would like to take
the opportunity to draw people's attention to the new FORUMS page
on the ANATS website.
By simply going to www.anats.org.au and
clicking the FORUMS tab at the top of the page,
you have access to a support network of both teachers and singers.
Tip: for quick and easy regular access,
add the following page to your Favorites in Internet Explorer
(other browsers such as Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, Firefox & Safari
use the term 'Bookmarks'):
http://www.anats.org.au/forums/index.php
Perhaps you have a question about your teaching
or a 'problem student', or maybe you hold the answer to another
person's query.
It's not just a chat page.it's a forum for discussion!
It's an incredible tool, let's use it.
Daniel
Kay
Committee Member
President's
Update
February 2004
As the incoming President of the Qld Chapter Committee
I would like to thank some of our committee members who are moving
on after some significant service, notably Gwenyth Chappell (10
years!), Irene Bartlett, Tricia Elgar, Carol Ruddy & Arthur
Johnson.
I would also like to acknowledge those who have
elected to stay on and share their experience, former Presidents
Adele Nisbet and Lesley Purvis, our indefatigable Secretary/Treasurer
Paul Neal and one of last year's recruits, the very clever (and
busy!) Scott Harrison.
We also welcome to the committee this year Margaret
Schindler, Antonia Metcher, Sharon Moore and Daniel Kay.
What a team!
I extend my sincere thanks to all my esteemed colleagues
for their vote of confidence in electing me to this high office.
We had a very successful year last year and are
pleased to be able to announce, largely due to the success of the
Young Voice Symposium, that we are able to offer a number of bursaries
to assist Qld ANATS members to attend the National Conference in
Sydney this July. We will be sending out some fliers shortly.
Talking about the Young Voice thing, I'm sure many
members will be wondering what we can do to top it this year.
Well.. So are we!!
Actually we do have a few plans in the pipeline
and we will not spoil the surprise now. It won't be Young Voice
2 - The Sequel necessarily. It might even be better!
One of our briefs this year is also to foster closer
ties with our collegiate organizations like ANCA, MTAQ and KMEIA.
I can just imagine their committees getting hold of this and thinking, "What's
he on about!?"
Don't be alarmed, it's all warm and fuzzy stuff
really; things like continuing to sponsor the MTAQ Qld Vocal Competition
and maybe actually getting together to talk some issues through!
We even have Anthony Young, a Brisbane teacher and
choral specialist, agreeing to advise our committee on choral issues.
(I hope this doesn't get you in trouble with the choral fraternity
Anthony!)
Well that about wraps it up. We'll keep our members
informed of approaching activities as soon as we can and I wish
you all a happy and successful year.
Geoffrey Ashenden
President
Brisbane Chapter Committee
Young Voice Symposium
2 - 3 Oct 2003
The Brisbane Chapter is glowing from the success of its Young
Voice Symposium conducted on October 2-3. We had around 80 registrants – 80
singing teachers! Wow! We thought we’d cover costs if 30
came!
And they came from as far north as Cairns and down south to Coffs
Harbour. It was a great time of sharing, learning, being affirmed
and opening up to new approaches and new repertoire.
The co-convenors were Scott Harrison and Geoff Ashenden – another
Wow! to have two young talented men taking leadership in our predominantly
female organisation. They did a terrific job, with yours truly
interrupting and advising to add the feminine touch! In fact my
sincere thanks go to the whole team from the Chapter Committee
who all did their bit towards the mounting of the event. The program
was in response to indications that there is both great interest
and a need for a forum on this general topic.
We were so pleased to welcome Tim Collins back to Queensland for
the two days and he was able to introduce his recently completed
Australian Songs for Young Singers publication.
The session topics ranged widely:
- The Physiological Development of the Voice;
- Classical, Music Theatre and Contemporary Repertoire;
- Vocal Health for Young Singers;
- Alexander Technique;
- Teaching Musicianship;
- Vocal Development in the Choral Context.
And the presenters were a cross-section of the talent and expertise
working in Universities, schools and private studios in Brisbane.
As thanks for their contributions, all the presenters were given
a big juicy pineapple to boost their bromelaine intake (see Australian
Voice 2000 page 16) and spread the good news about healthy and
exciting singing.
We were grateful for the use of the wonderful facilities of the
Music Building at Somerville House and the spirit of inclusiveness
and sharing was high enough to generate a significant number of
new members for ANATS.
The Brisbane Chapter feels it has a commitment to the whole of
Queensland and many of the new members from outside Brisbane are
looking to us to generate more activity in which they can participate.
What a positive and rewarding event this was and we are spurred
on to plan similar state-based events next year. Between now and
then, we’ll be having our Christmas gathering incorporating
the AGM.
Hope the rest of Australia is doing well too.
Adele Nisbet |
