The NSW anats Winter Workshop 2006 held on 8-9 July, was an energizing and rewarding weekend. Aptly titled ‘The Whole Performer’, it was a real chocolate box with each session unwrapping the goodies of highly skilled presenters who covered a wide range of disciplines and interests.
Karin Greenhead, the internationally acclaimed, London based teacher of Dalcroze took us through a masterful physical warm up which highlighted the need to isolate and activate various muscle groups (some long forgotten!) and eventually balance the body as a whole. Karin is an inventive and immaculately organized instructor who set various movements and interactive games, including ball throwing, to musical and rhythmic impulses. Apart from feeling (more than!) a little stiff the next morning, we all found this session to be useful and fun.
‘Technology for Singers, Singing Teachers and The Studio’ was a fascinating session led by the lovely Phil Evans and his equally lovely partner in crime Diane Hughes. Together they demystified the inner sanctum of the recording studio and showed how a voice can be expanded, compressed, re-pitched or ‘coloured’ with the mere touch of a technological mouse! Di also took us through microphone techniques for singers and Phil demonstrated the difference in sound design for contemporary singers as opposed to classical singers.
Christine Douglas was an absolute livewire in her masterclass ‘Music and Drama’. In questioning the text, character and motivation, she led each performer into a deeper, more focussed emotional world. They became more connected with the truth of the song (or aria) and produced, not only a better vocal sound, but a more intense and defined level of communication. Christine is a clear, concise and entertaining speaker whose enthusiasm and experience in working with young adult singers was evident.
The special treat of the day was an interview with Joan Carden, led by Geoffrey Chard. This was a relaxed yet informative ‘chat’ about this wonderful artist’s life and work. Geoffrey’s charming manner and thoughtful questioning allowed Joan to really open up and share her thoughts, views and feelings on her career as a singer. The highlight was an impromptu performance where the diva sat at the piano and accompanied herself as she sang ‘Ah! bello a me ritorno’ from Bellini’s Norma. Joan’s voice is still so fresh, youthful and agile. And she can play the piano! Pure magic.
Jocelyn Priestly warmed the wintry room on the Sunday morning with her very well researched and eruditely expressed work on vocal health and speech pathology. She found herself short on business cards, such was the interest, but a truncated version of her paper was later made available for interested participants.
‘Singing in English’ was led by Dr Rowena Cowley, who took us on a lightning tour of the world of international phonetics and demonstrated the vital link between the spoken and sung word. She also worked with a variety of singers on pure middle register vowels whilst highlighting the need to ‘narrow’ the vowel as it ascends into the upper register. Rowena was joined by the loveable Alan Dean, whose nostalgic trip down memory lane (including his own great career) made us aware of a range of accents used in singing from the 1940s through to 2006. Local American, RP and Australian accents were identified and it was interesting to hear a strong spoken accent, such as Scottish, disappear in a sung text. The weekend finished with stimulating lectures by Psychologist Dianna Kenny and Sports Coach Phil Spain. These sessions provided analysis and insight into performance anxiety, coping strategies, motivation and success. A farewell ‘Tapas’ dinner to Pat Howes on the Saturday night was relaxed and fun and a little bit sad as we will all miss her. Best wishes Pat!
Anne-Maree McDonald
Photographs by Judy Lindeman
