A tough coaching

So, riding my "someone wants me in their show!" high, I went to a session with my amazing awesome coach* this afternoon.

And was promptly humbled once again.

One of the reasons I love my coach so much is that she will not accept anything less than "performance quality" of the pieces I am working on during my session. Today was no exception. In addition to corrections of diction and phrasing, I am supposed to sing these pieces with proper emotion and artistry. I, like some of my colleagues, occasionally fall in the habit of focusing entirely on what we are sounding like and how are vocal mechanism is working. So acting falls by the wayside.

Unfortunately, this habit is a TERRIBLE one to have when you are in the middle of a slew of auditions. When you are in front of an audition panel, they expect that, for the pieces you are presenting, you have all of the technical aspects worked out to the point that you can push all of that thinking from your mind and become the character of the aria/song that you are presenting.

So I was thinking about my technique - should I flip over that note, do I have enough breath to make it through this phrase, how long should I take on this cadenza - all that noise in my mind of things I should have decided BEFORE I brought these songs in for coaching. But I hadn't. So of course my acting went away. Luckily my coach was there to bring it back, and I got through the rest of the hour somewhat convincingly.

The session made me think a lot about how off balance a singer's training can be. Throughout undergrad and graduate training, you think it's ALL about those tiny 3/8" muscles in your throat. And you coddle them and fret over them and worry that they won't turn into the Next Big Thing, and you don't learn one important fact about the "real world" of opera - it's ALL about how you are on stage. Confidence, definitive acting choices, and carefully thought out character development. If you believe you are the Next Big Thing, you just might be. But you have to work SO HARD on being a Singing Actress - not just a singer.

I have about 10 days to turn into one of those.

*quick clarification - a "teacher" of voice is one who works on your vocal mechanism and technique, a "coach" is someone who works with you on diction, style, and interpretation. Although the best teachers and coaches work on both. My coach is definitely a best.