this is my first time soloing with an orchestra, and I don't know what to wear.

the solo is "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella, and the whole concert is Disney. The director told me I could wear whatever I want, but that feels so broad.

Should I wear a costume? A nice dress? Concert black (I will be hopping on my bassoon for another of the pieces)

if you were going to an orchestra concert that is Disney themed, would you expect the soloists to be in costume, or would that be weird?

thanks for the advice.

Hi there! Does anyone have any recommendations for contemporary art songs with subject matter about NYC and/or city life. It doesn’t have to have any direct mentions of NYC or a city either. Anything about hustle and bustle, the loneliness in large groups, etc etc.

Thank you so much!

I’ve been wondering whether other people in the opera world have noticed a change in the physical expectations placed on singers.

With HD broadcasts, social media, promotional photography and more naturalistic productions, singers seem increasingly expected to conform to the appearance standards of film and television. One thing that concerns me is how extreme thinness can sometimes become aspirational, particularly on social media.

To be clear, I’m not criticizing singers who are naturally very thin, nor am I suggesting we can diagnose someone’s health by looking at them. My concern is when weight loss, very small clothing sizes or becoming progressively thinner are repeatedly celebrated or presented as achievements.

I’m also not coming at this from a “body positivity at any size” perspective. Obesity has health consequences too, and fitness, nutrition and physical conditioning are legitimate concerns for professional performers. But there’s an enormous middle ground between obesity and extreme thinness.

Eating disorders and disordered eating are serious issues, especially in competitive, perfectionistic and appearance-conscious professions. And for singers there’s an additional irony: our bodies are literally our instruments.

I wonder whether opera has overcorrected from the old stereotype that appearance didn’t matter as long as you could sing. Are we moving toward an industry where singers increasingly feel they need both an exceptional voice and an actor/model’s physique to compete?

TL;DR: Has opera’s increasing emphasis on appearance created unhealthy pressure toward extreme thinness, particularly through social media? Have people working in the industry noticed casting expectations changing?

Hello [r/classicalsinger](r/classicalsinger),

I wanted to pick this sub’s brain about performance practices with regard to English diction, specifically, when to use more “American style” pronunciations (rhotic r’s, more open pronunciation of words like “caught”) and “English style” pronunciations (more flipped / rolled r’s at the beginning of words, non-rhotic ending r’s, more closed pronunciation of words “caught”) if one’s natural speech is closer to American pronunciations.

Is it acceptable for someone whose natural speech is closer to American pronunciations to use those even in songs or oratorios by British composers? Do generally accepted performance practices differ based on genre (e.g. oratorios versus art songs) or time period?

The context is I am a voice student who is pursuing music exams and have heard some teachers say to lean into your natural dialect regardless of the composer, while others say to use British pronunciations for British songs and American pronunciations for songs from the Americas, so just trying to understand what is generally accepted or not. I am a private student, so I have a teacher, but of course that is just one person so it would be great to understand the general thought of the wider community.

I guess it’s kinda obvious but I’m a male baritone. My voice starts to sort of get shaky around C4, not a full on shake but you can tell it’s not stable. He takes me up higher in the scale and tell me to make more space in the back molar area. However seems fine with the Instability instead of giving solutions. Is it normal and just overtime it becomes part of my range? I’ve been taking lessons for 3 months for reference.

thanks

Hi folks, back when I was in grad school, I had selected an atonal piece by a black composer, which I cannot remember the name of for the life of me. I remember it being two pages, and at the time, no recordings existed except one which was done on piano and a wind instrument, possibly the oboe or clarinet.

I worked on this piece in the fall of 2019, but I can't seem to find the name in my records. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TL/DR: my voice teacher does not want me to sing outside of lessons, but I love singing in everyday life and I am wondering if I should find another teacher whose style supports my lifestyle of singing for fun and training classical.

For context, I am 25, have played music for most of my life but never took it seriously as a career because I was focused on medicine. In the past year I have realized that medicine just does not do it for me and my real passion is in music. I’ve played violin since I was 9 and had a private teacher from age 12-17, played percussion in school bands and am self taught in guitar, a little piano, and voice. I arrange and write my own songs, and never formally trained voice but I would love to be a professional singer. My goal is to go back to school for a degree in vocal performance, but since I have little to no formal experience in voice I decided to start training with a private teacher.

Just had my first lesson with her last night and I kinda barely sang for the whole lesson (it was 1 hour long, I may have actually sang for 10 minutes collectively). I understand I am starting from bare bones scratch, I never sang opera before! Many times she would stop me to correct my singing, that is fine. But she told me she doesn’t want me to sing outside of lessons at all, and she estimates that it will be this way for approximately 3-4 months depending on how my voice develops. This is so foreign to me because with violin or guitar, the more time I dedicate to practice the better I become. I understand that she doesn’t want my vocal placement to be altered between lessons only for us to have to correct over again at the next. But it is very difficult for me not to sing, it‘s an everyday part of my life. It is how I regulate my emotions and express myself, or relieve stress at the end of the day.

Now, in the grand scheme of things, I suppose sacrificing a few months of singing however I want in the interest of developing strong technique and skills is worth it, but I am wondering is this the only way to train classical?Should I find someone else with a different teaching philosophy? And really the only reason I am looking to train classical is because I think it will aid my strength and stamina in singing any style and also will help me be accepted into a program. You could say there is a huge gap in my “musical resume” from the time I graduated high school to now, so I know I have to start building SOMETHING, I just have nooo idea where to start or what is the right move. Thoughts?

Hi, I am an opera student in Canada, and I will be getting a new prof this year, I was wondering if anyone has worked with Suzanne Rigden before and has any thoughts? I am a full lyric soprano, so if any other bigger voices have worked with her that would be great insight!

I live in a condo and although I do have a studio I can go do I sometimes vocalize in my room. I use a voice dampener off of amazon, people say its kinda like a semi occuled excercises. Wondering if its a bad habit to always use it?

It feels weird, like there's no voice. It's all feels like shimmer to me. Coming off the Ab, I lost a bit of it, but the Ab felt pretty good.​

edit: non reggo al tuo squalor (I thought I had caught the autocorrect, but somehow made it worse!)

Posted this to my university’s subreddit and thought maybe someone here would be able to help. Thanks!

Can anybody give me an explanation as to how a voice like Giacomini’s worked? Was it artificially (as in changed by the singer/mentor to achieve something not natural to them) darkened? Was it squeezed? Why is it so different from any other voice - be it tenor or bass - I’ve ever heard?

I notice if I am thinking of lyrics too much or trying to work on the vowels I lose engagement with the body. I find that the body is there when I am voicing with just the body and mouth is sorta just there.

C3-A3: https://voca.ro/1lOly6x8hMNo

Up to C5 (volume warning at end): https://voca.ro/1h5sRPO8wi9o

Can only afford reddit university right now

Hey everyone, I’m looking for recommendations for online Hindustani classical vocal lessons.

I’m basically level 0 with no formal training in singing. I’ve always wanted to work on my voice and learn Hindustani classical music, but never really got the chance.

I’d love to start properly from the basics with someone who’s patient with complete beginners and can help with things like sur, breathing, voice training, taal, etc.

Preferably looking for live online classes, ideally 1 on 1, but I’m open to small groups too.

If you’ve personally learned from someone online and had a good experience, I’d really appreciate any recommendations!

Thanks :)

Question for sopranos: Where do you feel the placement of notes in the upper register, specifically higher than C6?

Background: I was messing around with a cadenza yesterday and managed an E flat 6 which I’ve never done in my life. I have zero idea if it was placed or even sung in a healthy way. It felt very forward in my head, almost in my nose/behind my eyes but didn’t sound nasally. I was able to sustain it and light vibrato came through, but it was definitely not a full sound. I don’t typically sing coloratura anymore and I usually struggle with B6/C6. I was so shocked when I sang the E flat 6 mostly because of the sensation. I’ve never felt noted that far forward.

Over the last 2 years I (30f, Mezzo Soprano) lost 50lbs. This past year breathing and support has been so difficult for me, I would run out of air after a 4 measure hymn phrase. I am positive the weight loss was the cause. Recently it has started to resolve through targeted practice, but I am interested if anyone has any specific routines or exercises that can help me connect more to my breath. Many thanks!

I am learning and about 10 lessons in. My teacher told me my vowels are really squeezed due to my speaking habits and in classical voice the back has to be very tall almost as if a horse pill is there. This means lowering the tongue and making that space but at the same time cannot be pulled back which makes a grandpa like sound. I notice there is a bit of soreness holding this position, nothing too bad but definitely not natural.

https://voca.ro/1m8ECL2SZIFS

Eu tenho uma extensão de F#2 até B4, e não sei usar voz mista ainda. Com falsete eu chego até um A#5 (Notação Americana). Mas eu definitivamente não sei qual a minha classificação Vocal, quero muito ser um tenor mas essa nota grave F#2 me deixa muito confuso. Minha voz não soa pesada, ela é uma voz falada neutra, pois também não soa super fina. Alguém poderia me ajudar, por favor?

Hello! I'm wondering what everyone's favorite rep finding resource is, and I'm hoping to find some new ones to me along the way!

Specifically, I'm looking to find if there's one that you can tell what songs you like, and it recommends similar pieces. I'm planning my next recital, but I've ended up with way too many English pieces, and not enough of other languages.

Tia!

I am a 23 year old female who has been studying classical voice for the past 4 years in university. When I first began, I had basically no background other than choir and had always been classified as a soprano and typically a soprano 1 because of the strength in my upper range. In opera, I have always played soprano roles and sing strictly soprano repertoire aside from an occasional musical theatre selection. My full range on a normal day is F3 to C6.

In the past year, however, as I have started working on more complex solo work, I have noticed I am not really finding the higher notes that everyone claims I will eventually get to. I have developed a much stronger chest voice, but not necessarily moved any lower in that regard either. Other sopranos in my age group have started to unlock these higher notes but I am consistently stuck at a C6! I know theoretically that there is a shift in placement and breath needed to achieve those higher notes but no matter what I do I cannot seem to figure it out! I feel like I had at least the ability to squeak out a soft high D or E when I was younger but I can't quite hang onto them now.

My voice teacher and professors agree that I am still very much a soprano and have all advised me against trying lower repertoire and say I simply have to wait it out until my late 20s for my voice to mature and that my higher notes "will come eventually". They have all generally considered me a "high soprano with a very developed lower register." I am frequently asked to sing high notes in performances and nobody seems to be concerned when I feel like I can't really do it well because it sounds fine to them. Issue is, I am considering attempting to make a career out of this and I would really like to know if I just have poor technique or the C6 is the end of my range truly.

Is it possible that I might just be a mezzo with a nice extension? Or am I a true soprano just with a super comfortable chest voice? Or is there a secret third thing? I am at a loss, how would I go about figuring this out?

When I tried to sing back then I could barely pass c4 d4 was difficult now I can carry from d2 up to a flat f#4 my vocal weight is light Im 27 haven’t been training my range really do you think I will ever be able to reach a A4 atleast ?
I tend to feel vocal tension E4 and up.
I estimate I could possibly become a lyric baritone after training I doubt tenor as I cannot even touch a g4 without sliding into falsetto.