Within the resonance of every good voice is a great teacher. Recognizing this, each year Classical Singer honors a Teacher of the Year based on student and colleague nomination. This year, the award is given to the incomparable and fascinating Inci Bashar.
Renown in her own right throughout the classical singing world among her fellow colleagues, peers, and students for her outstanding voice, unique teaching philosophy, and unrivaled, inspiring, and infectious passion and enthusiasm for singing, Bashar has been the mentor behind the success of many classically trained voices for more that 40 years. Guided by honesty, encouragement, and a constant drive to help students find their true sound, Bashar is noted as never allowing vocalists under her wing to strive for less than their highest potential.
Now retired and teaching private voice lessons between her home base in Kansas City and Chicago, Bashar remains a highly sought-after voice teacher, ever steadfast in her ideas and philosophies about teaching and in encouraging students to their greatest ability and quality as emerging classical vocalists.
What is it like for you to receive the honor of being named Classical Singer’s 2009 Teacher of the Year?
I am very pleased and honored. I had absolutely no idea I had even been nominated or that Classical Singer even honored such a thing, so it came as a very big and pleasant surprise. It’s always nice to have a positive review from your peers. As far as I’m concerned, I try the best I can. It feels good when it is appreciated. I always feel there is more I could have done, but this kind of validation makes me feel that at least I have done good enough and have done my best.
How did you find out that you had received this honor?
I found out through Facebook. I thought someone was pulling my leg or something. [CS Editor-in-Chief] Sara Thomas sent me a message there saying I was the 2009 Teacher of the Year, and I said, “What?” As soon as I realized it was legit, I was very, very pleased.
How long have you been teaching classical voice?
My husband (tenor Norman Paige) was hired to teach at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and I joined him with my young daughter. Before that, I had sung quite a bit and done a lot of opera and oratorio work, mostly in Turkey, Europe, and the United States. The chair of the voice department [at the University of Kansas], with whom I had performed, wanted me to teach at the university. This was limited because of the nepotism law at that time, but I replaced him whenever he was gone to perform. I sang quite a lot in Lawrence with the orchestra and gave recitals with my husband.
Later, I substituted for other professors when they were gone. Suddenly, I had all of these students who wanted to study with me. By 1980, I had made a name for myself as a teacher and was offered an assistant professor position at the University of Missouri in Kansas City.
When I started, I hardly had any good voices in my studio, but I was just so happy to be teaching. I found the idea of teaching and helping and encouraging students to realize their potential and their true voice and sound a wonderful challenge that I really enjoyed. In a couple of years, I had a very strong studio. I was given the Excellence in Teaching award, offered tenure, and was later promoted to full professorship. I didn’t even have my degree in voice, but I really think my degree in law helped me get through the university system. It taught me so much about being logical and realistic.
When and where did you get your start in classical singing, and how did it evolve for you?
I was told by my mother that I was born singing from my very first cry. I honestly don’t know where this talent came from. I am born of Turkish descent, in Turkey, and classical music is not a big thing there, although they have two state-run opera companies and conservatories. Nobody in my family sang, but they were very advanced in the ideas of education. When I was very young, my parents had me take piano lessons. But I was always singing in school plays and recitals, etc. By the time I was 15 or 16 years old, my parents said, “If you’re going to sing, you might as well learn how to do it right.” So I started studying with a good teacher at the conservatory.
Later I was going to the law school in Istanbul, where I got my degree. I was a very logical person—who could sing. While getting an advanced degree at the university as a teaching assistant, I was offered the leading mezzo soprano role at the then newly established Istanbul Opera Company. After a long time of contemplation, I accepted the offer. I couldn’t believe they were actually going to pay me for something I already loved to do so much anyway. I thought that was a pretty good deal. And so I began a career in singing. I received a grant from the German consulate in Istanbul to go to Germany to study. I auditioned there and landed a job, met my husband, Norman, and had my daughter, Peri.
When our daughter was two months old, my husband had an engagement with the Metropolitan Opera National Company, which brought us to New York. Thea Dispeker, a reputable manager, accepted me on the roster. I made my New York debut at Carnegie Hall, singing alto solos in an uncut version of the St. Matthew Passion, which was received very well.
My husband was touring, and I decided to go back to Germany to sing, so I got an engagement with the Dortmund Opera Company. Our daughter was very young at the time and didn’t really understand what was going on. When Norman got an offer to teach at the University of Kansas, we decided to get the family back together. By that time, our daughter was ready to start preschool. And that is how we ended up in Kansas and how teaching voice began to evolve.
What is your personal philosophy behind teaching classical singing?
I believe that teaching classical voice is about balance and coordination. This involves elements of the voice working together, aiming for an efficient multi-dimensional production capable of many colors, flexibility, accuracy of pitch, big range, spontaneity, and freedom. I try to work with each singer . . . to create elastic tensions which are properly calibrated to achieve a proper vocal result. Proper ratio will change with every individual instrument. If parts are not capable, we have special exercises to access them. One has to have vision for every voice and to give the tools and encouragement, and open doors, and let them recognize the possibilities.
During the process, I hope to educate the singer to aim for these goals of unhampered, genuine tone and have the right attitude and patience to acquire the skill and apply it to express the piece of music with accuracy of pitch, dynamics, tone color, and any vocal inclinations of the composer. Even if some singers do not ultimately become professionals, the study of singing always benefits their personal growth—systematic, rational understanding of the process so that they can ultimately self diagnose and use the tools that they were given to properly coordinate the voice at any given situation.
I try to be an honest teacher telling my students what is expected, where they stand, and what is possible and then guide them to experience great sounds. I find a lot of satisfaction and joy in seeing students grasp a concept and be able to produce a sound that they never thought they could. This motivates them, and we love this as voice teachers—we jump up and down.
Training to be a singer may sometimes feel like walking on a tightrope. One knows one will fall down many times, but with good concepts, patience, and constant training, we may be able to run and bicycle on this tightrope, all systems working simultaneously for a proper goal. This is not going to happen 100 percent of the time, but if we do not go down under 70 percent, we should be happy and believe that we are still good and capable singers. I always am striving to find different ways to reach my students and guide them with knowledge. I make sure it works for me first before I try it on them.
