Luke Shepherd VRH 8/29

Sarah Boucher:

Breathing: Breathing looked under control at parts, including some breaths through the nose, and other breaths weren't as good . 

Intonation: One or two onsets were a little flat, perhaps under-energized, but mostly in tune. 

Timbre: There was a difference between phrases that were released and clear and other notes that were a little pushed and out of tune. 

Diction: I understood every word she sang (which is a big deal) 

Expressiveness: Her expression matched the longing of the song. 

Overall: A very charming performance.

Taylee Beckstead:

Breathing: There were a couple shallow or gaspy breaths that made several phrases feel kind of frantic or uneven

Intonation: Very clear intonation. 

Timbre: She sang with a very confident and powerful sound, though it felt a little pushed at times.

Diction: Very good energy spent on consonants and being understood.

Expressiveness: Fun and exciting facial expressions and phrasing.

Overall: A very fun and confident performance.

Mariah Boyer:

Breathing: Good expansion in abdomen for low breath but she let it collapse pretty fast.

Intonation: Mostly solid intonation but there was some scooping for notes.

Timbre: Open and clear timbre with a bit of an edge. The high notes sounded a little forced/unprepared.

Diction: Some of the italian vowels weren't 'pure' and some of the consonants were dropped.

Expressiveness: She looked scared or nervous (understandable, I'm always that way in VRH) Try to use that energy to show emotion on your face on not your body.

Overall: Great song choice, good switch from italian to english mid-song.

Carolee Beck:

Breathing: Gaspy breaths were probably the result of her restricting posture.

Intonation: 'Scoopy' at parts but other than that good intonation (clean riffs)

Timbre: The vibrato sounded a little forced and tense and the lower register lost the brilliance and was a little dull.

Diction: The power and zing she wanted to have for a song like this were lost when the vowels became to wide.

Expressiveness: Effectively expressive face. Interesting choice for this setting, I could tell her body wanted to move around more. Hard to do in the crook of the piano. 

Overall: Gutsy choice and kudos for taking a risk! Needs more connection to get that powerful, grounded sound for a piece like this.

Emily Cottam:

Breathing: There were some breaths in the middle of phrases. Planning out when and how to breathe would fix that.

Intonation: On the ascending runs there were some missed or out of tune notes. Those can be fixed by going over them more slowly and more legato.

Timbre: Very sweet timbre that had some darkness in it.

Diction: Double consonants were good. Good dentalized 't's on "diletto"

Expressiveness: It was hard to know the emotion of the piece without more commitment in the face. Let the eyes and the face tell the story. I think you were just nervous.

Overall: Very pleasant sound, wanted to feel more. I could hear a lot of potential.

Caitlin Craig:

Breathing: Breathing was a little difficult with the occasional swaying side to side and dipping. Her hips didn't seem centered.

Intonation: The only issues came from under energized breaths, but mostly good.

Timbre: Breathy quality especially creeps into the higher register.

Diction: French pronunciation was pretty clear.

Expressiveness: Effective slide. Eyes were really focused and intense which is good at parts but there are other emotions in the text that perhaps asked for some variance.

Overall: Very expressive performance. I love to watch Caitlin sing and see what she does with the text.

Laura Berg:

Breathing: Low, quick breaths. Good. Posture fell a bit forward.

Intonation: Solid intonation

Timbre: Higher register was very bright and full. The timbre was in and out in lower register with some 'creeping' into notes.

Diction: The words were hard to understand at times. There was one harsh glottal. 

Expressiveness: Very clear expression on specific phrases, but other phrases were in and out. 

Overall: Very enjoyable performance. With more consistent thoughtful expression and full sound throughout entire range this would be most excellent.