I entered my fourth National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS)/Georgia competition this past weekend at Columbus State University, and placed third in my category of post-college-age men in the third or fourth year of vocal study/classical division. (There is also a musical theatre category which I didn't enter this year.) Though I participate in these events for the performing experience and the detailed, written comments from three music instructor judges (many of them college-level teachers) regarding vocal technique and artistic interpretation, it's always nice to win an award, especially since a certain number of points are required to place. (Nice, too, to get a $25 check for third place!) Besides having the opportunity to reconnect with buddies with whom I have performed in the past, the NATS event is always good exercise for me--fun and a bit nerve-wracking at the same time. I'm glad I do it and think I am a better singer because of it.
Five not-so-easy pieces
I had five pieces prepared--Faure's Lydia, Schubert's Die Wetterfahne, Handel's Arm, Arm Ye Brave from the opera Judas Maccabeus, Tosti's Il Pescatore Canta, and Britten's arrangement of The Ash Grove. You only have ten minutes to perform for the judges so you never get to do all five of the songs, but you have to have all of them ready, because after the first "offering" of your choice, the judges get to choose what they want to hear.
Like other singers I know, I do better performing if I can start with a laugh or at least something quirky rather than launching right into the serious stuff, so I offered Die Wetterfahne, a song about a young man who compares his lady friend's fickle heart to the twists and turns of a weathervane in the wind. Schubert's music suggests this erratic movement; it's a wonderful, fast-moving piece with a free-wheeling melody and a crazy, complex piano accompaniment. Afterwards, the judges requested Lydia and Arm, Arm Ye Brave, meaning that the easiest piece, Ash Grove, and the toughest one, Il Pescatore Canta, went unheard. Lydia is the next easiest; the Handel piece ranking right up there in difficulty with The Fisherman's Song. The challenge for me is to get through it all "loose," navigating its quick ups and downs, its repetition and its drama while staying relaxed and keeping the vibrato going throughout.
Nailed the E!
It's a tough repertoire (four different languages) that I've been working on since last fall, and I didn't perform the pieces perfectly by a long shot, but I felt good about my performance, especially about hitting the high sustained E in the Handel, a high note for a baritone and the first time I've gone into my head voice and stayed there for more than a beat or two in performance. (I can do it easily in practice, but performing is a WHOLE different ballgame.) I guess you could say this is a personal best for me. Now the trick is working to be able to do it consistently and confidently in future pieces.
I got Excellent ratings from all three judges, good comments--a few bravos!, praise for my legato lines in Lydia and my handling of the melismas and the recitative in the Handel--and good advice on breathing, achieving clearer vowel tone, and continuing to work on getting rid of my American r's in the French and Italian. As in past years, the judges liked my German diction. I value the comments--the positive way in which they are expressed and the roadmap they create for the next year of work with my voice teacher, the meticulous soprano Dr. Andrea Price at Piedmont College in Demorest, GA.
Like flying
My only regret is that I didn't have a picture taken with my accompanist, a young fellow from Atlanta named Grant Jones, who played beautifully after only two brief rehearsals, one a few days before NATS and one about an hour before we performed for the judges. I love the bond that forms so quickly when you perform with someone, no matter whether you've known them for years or a matter of minutes. It evaporates when the singing is over--after the "good jobs!" and the handshakes and the packing up of the music for the long ride home--but while it is happening it is almost an other-worldly experience. I'd say intense, but it's more a floaty feeling. Imagine meeting someone at the grocery store and deciding to fly Peter Pan-style over the parking lot together for three minutes, after which you re-enter the store and go about your separate shopping ways. A real person playing a real piano offers a sense of buoyancy and support that you just don't get with a CD. Thanks, Grant, for a great flight.
