Archive for June, 2006

A Toast to Bettine!

June 23, 2006 at 10:35 pm

Bettine McCaughan, OAM, one of Australia’s well-known and respected voice teachers, celebrated her 80th birthday on June 13.

The Victorian Chapter of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Lieder Society of Victoria combined to co-host a special afternoon in honour of Bettine and her great contribution particularly to opera singing in this country.

Bettine was a founding member of both ANATS and the Lieder Society and was also on the staff of the Ronald Dowd Bathurst Summer School for Singers. She has taught at both the Melbourne University Conservatorium of Music and the Melba Conservatorium. Bettine has trained 7 Herald-Sun Aria winners, the first of whom was Jonathan Summers. Many of the hundreds of students trained by Bettine have gone on to international success and are working overseas.

The afternoon celebration on Sunday June 18th was held at Cameron Close, Burwood, where Bettine and fellow singing teacher Joan Arnold, OBE, reside. It was attended by over 200 guests who were entertained by some of Bettine’s former students including Carole McKenzie, herself a Sun Aria Winner.

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Review - Music Theatre Workshop with Queenie van de Zandt

June 23, 2006 at 8:36 pm

Sunday, May 28th 2006, Carlton, Victoria

Report by Martine Halliday, Frankston

As Contemporary singing teachers, my husband Ron & I are always thrilled when ANATS offer workshops on contemporary themes.

I was delighted to attend Queenie van de Zandt’s afternoon on choosing & preparing an audition song for Musical Theatre. A gifted raconteur, Queenie delighted her eager audience with anecdotes of her own music-theatre experiences whilst providing us with invaluable tips in preparing our singers for a successful audition experience.

Queenie approached the session from an actor’s point of view maintaining that technique should only be there to facilitate the singer being able to do what they want with their voices. Beyond that, any vocal choices the singer makes should stem from the dramatic interpretation of the text (rather than what they think “sounds good”). As part of the song/script analysis the singer needs to look at the song & determine the character’s journey, from the previous moment to the resolution.

Queenie demonstrated this journey herself as she sang from her own repertoire. This was fabulous! She maintains that singers should have an uptempo & slow song from the different genres (including rock, legit, comedy, contemporary etc) to ensure auditioning with the appropriate material.

One of the great points to come out of the session was that we shouldn’t get hung up on trying to make our students always sound “beautiful” in music-theatre repertoire. Contemporary theatre music requires the singer to be able to portray a wide range of characters where they need to be able to access a wide range of vocal qualities to play the character authentically - not all of which are “attractive”!

Queenie finished the session by working with one of her students, however due to time constraints this part was all too brief. It was hard to be disappointed though as Queenie had presented her invaluable information in such an entertaining & accessible manner.
Thanks Queenie!

Thanks ANATS!

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