So... this book review is going to start off with a little personal history. I spent many, many hours learning from Glenda Maurice. I may have told one or both of these stories before, but they fit this situation, so I'm going to tell them again here.
Story #1 When I was trying to decide where to go to grad school, I was literally just pulling cards off the posters that were up in our music department. I sent away for information on a few schools. I can't remember the exact situation now, but somehow one of the voice teachers (not my teacher) found out that the University of Minnesota was one of the schools I was looking at. She took me to her office and said something to the effect of, "I heard this woman give a masterclass at a NATS Convention. You should listen to this." And then she handed me the recording. I listened once, and knew that Glenda was the teacher that I was supposed to study with. I only applied to two schools and only auditioned at one. I started lessons with Glenda the next fall.
Sometimes there are people that you meet and you feel like you've known them forever. Some relationships you grow into. And then there are those rare ones when it just hits you. This is a person to watch. She is going to change your life. I don't think it is coincidence that the two people with whom I've had the most profound experiences of that were two voice teachers and mentors.
Story #2 I flew from the big city of Salt Lake City, Utah to Minneapolis, MN all by myself to audition. Because we had been in opera rehearsals during the regular audition dates, the U of MN faculty had agreed to meet me at a different time. Larry Weller greeted me and made me feel as comfortable and at ease as it is possible to be when you are waiting for a big audition. When they were ready for me, I sang my songs and then had about 30 seconds (OK maybe that's a slight exaggeration) to speak with Glenda Maurice before she had to rush off to something else. I don't remember if it was during that conversation or when we first got together in the fall, but when she learned that my primary interest was in teaching, she suggested I might be better off studying with Clif Ware. (Later I got to work with him when I taught class voice and private lessons as a TA.) I explained that I really wanted to work with her and she said OK. After my audition Jean del Santo took me back to her wonderfully comfortable studio for tea and a friendly conversation. I remember on the plane ride home wondering what I had gotten myself into. All those other really good options and I had chosen Glenda. Had I made the right choice?
I think both of us were wondering that for most of the fall quarter as I got off to a rough start in grad school with lingering bronchitis, ear infections, and sinus infections. Getting healthy enough to go to a lesson was hard, and even then, I knew I wasn't showing her my best because I was still not fully recovered.
The good news is that I got better and lessons got better. But still, I think it is important to say that Glenda and I had a complicated relationship. She knew I was talented and smart, but I don't think she really understood that I didn't know as much as she thought I did. There were huge, gaping holes in my education and I didn't know enough about what I didn't know to clearly articulate what I needed help with. We're also both quite opinionated and strong-willed, but I didn't know how to express what I was thinking and feeling. And after all, she was the teacher, so for the most part, I just tried to do what I was told. There were times she thought I was far too passive and wasn't taking enough initiative. And a couple of time, I did speak out (or sent emails) and that caused even more problems. I love her. I respect her. And I learned so much from her. But sometimes I'm still stuck in the complications.
Although we are very much alike in some ways, Glenda and I have very different perspectives. Glenda wanted to work with the best and the brightest, those students who had the most potential to reach the highest degree of artistry in vocal music. That was her desire, her call, her gift. The world and the art form need that. I think that most of our conflicts grew out of the fact that she saw that it me. She wanted that for me. And for awhile, because she wanted it, I wanted it too. But the stage is not my home. The spotlight is not calling to me. I am not a singer who teaches. I am a teacher who sings.
If you stripped everything else away, I am first and foremost a teacher. And I am teacher that needs to help students reach their full potential even if it is not of the level (basic talent, skill, or artistry) that Glenda expected of her students. I love opening doors for students and giving them a glimpse of that artistry and beauty even if they can't live there yet and might never be able to. The world very much needs what I have to offer too.
At the time I was studying with her, both of us struggled with how to help me find artistry AND be the best teacher that I could be. I wanted the artistry side. That is why I chose to study with her. Because even with my baby beginners or even when I'm singing for a church congregation that will love me no matter what, I want communicating what the composer intended and the experiencing the beauty of the music to be the first and most important thing.
All of that lays the foundation for you to better understand the things that I will say about Glenda's book, Finding Vocal Artistry. It is a must read. She says things that you will disagree with. She says things that might make you mad. You may feel defensive. But she speaks her truth and is not ashamed to share it.
I've always been a quote nerd, even before I met Glenda, so please forgive me if rather than writing about what she says, I just give you her words. She was so much more articulate than I am anyway.
One of the fun things about reading this book was that I kept reading things and saying, "I said that in a lesson this week!" The book really is a wonderful review of the things I learned in her studio. It's also a humbling reminder that the brilliant things I say and do didn't all come from my brain. I've had some wonderful guidance.
I love Glenda's emphasis on listening. How will students know what we are aiming for if they have never listened to great examples of artistry? I have a baritone that is now hooked on Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and I can't tell you happy that makes me.
Glenda begins Chapter 3 "There are no short-cuts to the truth" with this:
Learning is an active pursuit of the mind. It entails digesting data, satisfying curiosity, enriching perceptions, and honing skills. Knowing is something else. It is visceral, spiritual and inexplicable. It comes from deep inside you. It is more valuable and more powerful than learning. It is a gift given in the quiet of non-conscious acceptance.I have nothing brilliant to say about it because it pretty much says it all. Wow.
Glenda Maurice (2013-05-31). Finding Vocal Artistry (Kindle Locations 340-342). Xlibris. Kindle Edition.
My passion for finding repertoire appropriate for each individual student comes from Glenda, and there is a wonderful chapter here on choosing repertoire. If you read nothing else, read Chapter 9. In addition to some guidelines for choosing repertoire, she shares her frustration with people that include "Morgen" by Richard Strauss in beginner collections, and I couldn't agree more. I first sang this song in college. I think it might have been on my senior recital. I thought I did a pretty good job. I later pulled it out and worked it with Glenda and the life experiences since the first performance made it a completely different song. Now, at 43, I'm starting to really understand it.
Tangential personal rant: Please, please, please DO NOT assign "Gretchen am Spinnrade" to a young student! Yes the character is young. Yes the melody is easy in the low key. But the breath and the shape of the line and the emotions are far beyond those of high school students. Even with advanced adults, it takes a certain kind of voice to sing this well and do it as the composer intended. End rant.
In Chapter 10, Glenda plays the dictionary definition chain game. (This is so me, and I think I was like this before I met Glenda.) The chain game brings her to this conclusion:
If we consider these definitions, diction is far more than technical formation of shapes. It is pronunciation and enunciation; it is presentation of words in such a way that the ideas they represent can be readily grasped by the listener. It is grand, and definite, and it leaves no room in the listener’s mind for doubt. It is a far more fundamental art and skill for the singer than is generally thought. And like any art, it must move far beyond skill to become truth.Then she moves into what became one of our battle grounds. It's taken me years to figure out how to articulate my response in any way other than "Yes, but..." and then a few incomprehensible mumbles. And since I didn't have the chance to tell her, I will tell you. Glenda hates IPA and actually presents a very good case here for why she hates it. She also feels that diction classes are failing us as singers. Now, years later, with much more teaching and life experience and much more self-reflection, I can say with certainty that she is correct. IPA and diction classes do not take us far enough.
Glenda Maurice (2013-05-31). Finding Vocal Artistry (Kindle Locations 922-925). Xlibris. Kindle Edition.
But...(you knew it was coming), I think that she failed to recognize how necessary a step they are for some of us. Glenda was easily one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. And some things, including languages came easier for her than they do for most of us. I have a unique challenge (which I didn't totally understand when I was studying with her). Without some kind of visual representation, I have difficulty processing sound. (I know, weird for a musician, but I've got it figured out now.) When I hear people speak, I see words. If I hear a word I have not seen before, I often can't say it back to you immediately. If I have to learn it by sound alone, it takes me many times of hearing it before I can come up with a spelling, symbol, or visual shape that allows me to anchor that sound. Because foreign languages and diction classes were part of that huge gap in my education, I needed something to help me anchor all the sounds I was trying to process. No, I was not the student that blacked out the words and wrote in IPA instead, but I did use IPA to help me remember what those spellings sounded like. The IPA symbols were my anchors. I'm now really comfortable with the fact that ie in German is [i] and I don't need that help any more, but at that point I very much did.
I don't think my special learning needs are the only cases where IPA and diction classes are helpful. I'm always telling my students that vowels are sounds, not shapes. But I also know that you can get that sound into a student's ear by having them make the shape. It's a tool, not the final product. Once they know the sound, they can sing the vowel sound and let go of the "chicken butt lips". (Very disappointed, by the way, that that lovely description didn't make it into the book. She certainly shared it enough times during my lessons.)
Even though we fought some battles as I tried to figure out the whole languages thing, I am carrying the torch of the vowel police. How you say the word creates the placement and tone color, and even affects how you use the breath. If the vowels can't be beautiful, specific, and full of the idea you are trying to communicate, you might as well go home. How you say the word creates the placement and tone color, and even affects how you use the breath. Pretty sound is nothing if it doesn't say something.
Tone is totally meaningless until it fulfills and expresses an idea.
Glenda Maurice (2013-05-31). Finding Vocal Artistry (Kindle Location 1044). Xlibris. Kindle Edition.
I was surprised and excited to see Glenda's discussion on the difference between hold and sustain. I use that all the time, but I guess I had forgotten who I stole it from.
In the last Chapter, Glenda takes a stand against staged art song. Read the book for her thoughts. Here are mine. If it gets people into the audience and exposes them to the music, is it all bad? On the other hand, nothing is more moving than being pulled into the beauty by the sound and face alone. If you doubt it, watch this YouTube video. (I'm purposely not embedding because I want this to be all Glenda focused.)
Finally, treat yourself to these wonderful examples of everything Glenda wrote about in the book.
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