Dear Editor: I love how the magazine continues to grow. Please keep including articles about singers who are parents.
— Marianna Vagnini, Naugatuck, Conn.
Look for the February issue of Classical Singer, which will focus on the art of being a singer and having a family. — Editor
Dear Editor: Singing jobs, whether paid or not, are getting too hard to find. We all know that talent is not enough.
Here in the L.A. area there are three opera companies with large budgets. None of them hire or audition locals, except for chorus. I personally feel that local singers should boycott their performances. After all, if they refuse to support you, why should you support them? I’ll go to a smaller production instead.
Many people don’t want to or can’t adopt an itinerant lifestyle in order to sing. Traveling around the country for jobs or auditions is not a possibility for many. Opera companies should hire locals in support of the local singing community.
— Name Withheld, Los Alamitos, Calif.
Dan Montez started a resident opera company in 1998 to do just that: provide singers an opportunity to work steadily while living in one place. Watch for an article featuring Montez and Taconic Opera in the February issue of CS. — Editor
‘Never the Diva,’ October 2005
Dear Editor: CJ Williamson was an inspiration. She will be missed. Her legacy is a wonderful publication that benefits the full spectrum of singers, from the student, to those in their prime, to older singers.
— George Deaton, Raleigh, N.C.
‘Nasality in the Tenor Voice,’ October 2005
Dear Editor: The article by David Jones, which you published in the October issue of Classical Singer, is excellent, despite Mr. Jones’ inability to simplify the solution. Through my teaching of all voice categories, I, too, have found that nasality is more often a problem in the tenor voice than in any other.
I know there are teachers who shun the idea of the “yawn.” This is a mistake. The space created at the onset of the yawn, [the] high soft palate and low larynx, is the ideal relaxed space to strive for in classical singing, and necessary for the operatic “head voice.” When a tenor can maintain this relaxed open throat, he will automatically produce a sound that is pleasant, warm and ringing.
Mr. Jones is correct in saying that in order to maintain the low laryngeal position where the soft palate works “in concert” with the larynx, adequate support from the muscles of the rib cage and the abdomen is paramount. And an additional vocal tip: Have the student pinch his or her nose, so that no air passes through the nostrils, and vocalize all vowels. He or she will be able to detect the nasality and correct it. The key words in all vocal study are “patience” and “practice,” and in the case of maintaining the relaxed throat, a great deal of “P and P” is necessary.
— David Hall Sundquist, via e-mail
Dear Editor: My husband and I really enjoy your magazine. Keep those David Jones articles coming!
— Name Withheld, Westchester, Penn.
