The End of The Performance Block

So, we are nearly at the end of the performance block which means that most of the Music Box occupants will be taking place in concerts showing off the work we have done over the past three weeks!

Over the weeks we have had performances from the Advanced Pop Singers taking on songs from the 20's, 30's and 40's, the Contemporary Ensemble performing 'In C'; a minimalist work by Terry Riley, the Community Music class performed at an over 50's club in Slateford and many other concerts have been held and are being held.

I attended the Advanced Singers concert and found that highly enjoyable. The prospect of performing a style that you have never performed before was very interesting to me and I have to say all the singers were fantastic and did wonderful jobs on each song. However, I was slightly disappointed by the fact that nothing like that had been held for the Classical singers. It would be nice to have the opportunity to perform the same genre as the concert as it would be a challenge but also an enjoyable experience. I myself love performing different styles of music. At the end of the concert, I asked the lecturer if there was any chance the same sort of concert could be held in the next performance block but including Classical singers as well. I was told that there would be a possibility in the next performance block, especially as most of the Classical singers who attended the concert also asked if this would be possible. So I am looking forward to the next performance block!

I was also involved in the Community Music concert which meant that I missed the Contemporary Ensemble perform, though I did manage to catch the first five minutes and from what I have heard, it was very successful! The Community Music concert was being held as part of the module which is held during the normal, timetabled part of the semester. There was about eight of us performing and I felt it went well! There was, however, some forgetting of the lyrics (I raise my hand to that!) but it just goes to show that anything can happen in a performance!

There is one more concert that I am involved with and this is the concert which is being held tomorrow evening. This will include the Concert Band, Choir, Sax Ensemble and many more musical acts who will be performing to mostly family members. It is always fun to be involved the concerts at band as it shows off everyone's hard work and everyone has a fun time preparing for it. In this concert, I will be performing in the choir and the concert band. Concert band has been rather tough this semester as I am now playing first flute. Last year, I was mostly playing second flute, as I am not a first study flutist. However, I have been promoted to first flute and it is challenging! Not all of the pieces which the band are performing are difficult, but they do involve playing in the higher end of the flute, which I don't have much confidence with! However, practicing has helped and my fellow first flutists have been very helpful (a big shout-out to Crystal Holdsworth!) when asked 'What on earth is that note?', and 'What is the finger positions for this note?'. They are lovely people!

So that has mostly been all the performing that I have done in the last week and a half. I did perform at the Cabaret Night for Biggar Little Festival last week and it seemed to be very successful! It was lovely being accompanied by one of my high school teachers again and I used a lot of the tips I gained from the Singing workshops I have attended. I have even been given the opportunity to attend piano lessons with my high school teacher which will be fantastic as I need to work on my piano skills so that I can teach in high schools and/or privately. The future is looking bright!

As for singing lessons, I have looked up a few more pieces for this year's repertorie. As previously mentioned, I have got one piece so far ('So In Love', from 'Kiss Me Kate'.) and I now have a few options as well. They are 'Lamento', by Henri Duparc and 'Beau Soir', by Claude Debussy. Both are lovely and challenging pieces though both are in French, which means I will have to look out the French vocabulary books again! I am also trying to find 'Les Filles de Cadix', by Pauline Viardot but I haven't had much luck, so if anyone has a copy, please get in contact!

I don't think there is anything else to report on for the moment so I think I shall say goodnight!

Until next time, bye!

Singing Workshops

For the past three weeks of the Performance Block in college, I have been attending singing workshops held by one of the lecturers (previously mentioned in my last post). I found the whole experience very interesting and gained lots of tips for my own performance skills.

One thing that I found very helpful was how to present yourself whilst performing. Having played the flute, I find it easy to hide behind my instrument, but while you are singing, you can't hide. I started really developing my singing in my Amateur Dramatics Society and I learned a lot of tips and gained a lot of advice on performance skills. In order to perform a character in a play, you have to gain an image of the character and portray them. I tend to use this trick in my singing as it helps with my confidence as well. It's harder to sing as Jennifer Gillespie than it is to sing whilst pretending to be e.g. Johanna in Sweeney Todd.

So, this is how I prepare myself for a performance. I did this in the singing workshops and I did this in the Cabaret Night last week. During the workshops, it was pointed out to me that I tend to over-act some of the words i.e. too extravagent arm movements which also looked slightly 'cheesy'. Looking back, I have to admit that I do do that but I think that is a nasty habit I have picked up from performing in shows for the last twelve years.

Another habit or action that was apparent was that I tend to panic whilst in front of a microphone. When I sing, I don't tend to use microphone, I tend to project. And I also admit that microphones scare me, which isn't a great thing for a singer to be afraid of!! I don't really know what I am suppose to do with a microphone in my hand or in a stand. I also worry about my being to close to the microphone which means nobody can hear me or I am too loud or if I am too far back and no-one can hear me at all. This results in me forgetting to breathe and rushing my words and basically me looking rather silly.

So, what I have learned from the singing workshops is that I need to start using more subtle hand movements when performing in smaller performance spaces and try to make sure I am aware of the space around me, and I need to do a lot more work with microphones. Both of these are more than attainable and I will be putting more work into these areas.

Until next time, bye!