Summer is starting to cool its heals, and leaf fall is already covering some lawns in my neighborhood. In short order, frost is going to bring my “weeds war” to an end. I’m already planning the day that I’ll have our traction expert change those smooth rolling treads on car and truck for our noisy ice munching studded numbers. They’ve been under wraps since spring rang the bell on our quick bout with short sleeve temperatures. I am happy to foresee the snow that Global Warming seems unable to steal from us, and the redirection of my energy from garden to Garcia. I still have a lot of work to do on Part 1.
I missed doing a master class in Plattsburgh this summer. When my wife and I retired, I believed that living in the North Country would effectively isolate us from the Opera addicted and we could cherish just a few visits from our artistic friends. You know, the ones that happen to be passing our little ‘burgh on their way to somewhere else on Route 87. I was also sure that students of singing would only venture this deep into the woods if they were really serious about asking my help. Well, that isolation worked better than I expected this summer. Preparations were made, thank you Jo Ellen Miano, but interest in visiting us in the woods just wasn’t enough to cover costs. Thanks also to Dr. Karen Becker for making herself available, even if we didn’t get to work together this year.
With weed wars soon to be well behind me, I am looking forward to a Master Class that is, happily for anyone wanting to attend, more convenient for traveling. I’ve been charged with two Master Classes in Torino. The interest of potential participants in the upcoming Master is already greater in Torino than we saw in Plattsburgh. After the press conference scheduled for September 21 that Armando Caruso set for presentation of this year’s activities, see and click on little poster to the right of this text, I hope even more participants will register to participate. Sorry to post an un-translated Italian document, but if you can make the conference, I think you can read it.
For those of you, who don’t dream of becoming stars of stage and screen in the shrinking Opera world but read my blogs anyway, please let me tell you why I think these Master Moments are important. There is no shortage of gifted humans among us on this earth, and I want to help those blessed with the gift of voice. Writing this blog and putting an English translation of Garcia’s books back into print isn’t enough. You may ask: “Enough for whom?” or even “Enough for what?”
I’m glad you asked. Garcia was all about empowering the singer to a high degree of effectiveness with his/her audience. Now that a century has passed since his death, I can see that Garcia’s mission has become a little more complicated. The need for “empowerment” is still with us, but I must add “Audience Expansion” to it. “A.E.” is on the mind of many an arts mogul and opera operative. It has become a subject of “Higher Learning” and a professor of this subject has a clear view of the problem (click to read his latest evidence). I don’t think he and I agree about what is needed to stop the audience shrinkage bothering the Arts, but he can see the problem as well as anyone else. I would say it is just an added component to “Development” (fundraising) as I first discovered it about a third of a century ago. I signed up with an able salesman hired by Houston Grand Opera to “develop” Texas citizens with largish bank accounts. What did I do? I sang for quite a number of lovely ladies and a few handsome fellows in a number of living, meeting and dining rooms. My salesman friend wanted me to help him inspire these well-dressed individuals into donating large sums of money to the benefit of HGO. When I sang for those small groups of happy and successful Texas types, I knew why I was there and did my best to get everyone excited with my singing. I must have been effective enough. Requests to come help out didn’t stop until I was out of town.
If money was pulled from purse, pocket and/or bank account, it wasn’t because of the nobility of the Art of Opera. It was because those open handed cash flush individuals had a good time, and wanted to support a fun art form that was never really profitable. Opera cannot support itself or better yet, it is unsustainable without an excited fan club that can afford it.
News of unsold seats at the bastions of Operatic life make the big, BIG buttons: “DONATE NOW“, “BUY TICKETS“, “SUBSCRIBE“, “GIVE“, “DONATE” and “SUPPORT” quite unsurprising. Unfortunately, just as unsurprisingly we see opera operative elites beginning to view dragging a big bag of cash out the door before the roof falls in as an attractive alternate choice to the rigors of “A.E.”. Click to follow one such story.
The Operatic roof no longer shelters my grey hairs, but I want the roof to stay up. The present and future generations of gifted singers seeking entry into the House of Opera need that roof, and the roof needs them, or it will fall in.
My crusade includes the prayer: “If it be the Lord’s pleasure, may all those relevant buttons on Opera Internet pages be clicked enough to break them.” I believe Garcia has the answer for how to get people to DONATE NOW and BUY TICKETS to the Opera. Garcia offers an un-simple answer, but it is what Opera needs: Gifted and talented singers trained to excite their audiences.
I wrote about Garcia’s first ingredient offered to The Opera World in Factory Made. The relevant quote is:
“Often one needs an experienced judgement (sic) to recognize in the voice of the student the germ of the true qualities which it possesses. Generally, these qualities are only in the rudimentary state, or well veiled by numerous faults from which it is necessary to free them. The essential point is to first establish the existence of them; one then manages to complete the development of them by patient and orderly studies.”
Garcia tells us to discover in the student a voice worth the effort, and then develop that voice. Such developed vocal gifts are Garcia’s first ingredient. The second part of his answer to the question:“How do we develop donations and sell tickets?” is in his second book. In it he tells us how each artist should use his/her fully developed gift with his/her fully functional technique to excite an audience to ecstatic applause. That empowerment to excite is just the ticket to develop donations and ticket sales.
I answer Garcia’s first call to arms in every Master Class. I always discover vocal gifts! Each class gives me a chance to help the owners of these gifts to develop them. When an artist with enough preparation shows up, I can put Garcia’s second book to good use, and teach “Excite your Audience”.
If you want to become a star and you have a gift sufficient to carry you there, the Opera world needs you. I want to find you and I want to help you. Come to Torino.
If you are an Opera lover, and want to see and hear how good singing is key to the survival of Opera, there is room for you.
For the purpose of demonstration, I dust off my vocal chords every day in those classes. Some have lamented about never hearing me sing in the flesh. Well, there’s room for you, too. Come to Torino next month.