Thursday, August 29, 2013

Sarah Boucher's Recital Hour Critiques 8/29

Sarah Brenay:
-Breathing: She began with very supported low breaths and as the song continued her breath became more shallow and her breaths became audible.
-Intonation: Her singing was very in tune.
-Timbre: I loved her placement. She has a nice mix of a warm tone while also having enough nasal to keep the sound present. Her tone was very consistent throughout the piece as well.
-Diction: Her words were clear and easy to understand. She also did well at stressing parts of words to add to the phrasing of the piece!
-Expressiveness: She was clearly comfortable and confident in front of us but I could have used more expressiveness in the eyes. Maybe more specific thoughts during the song would help to create more expressiveness?
-Overall: I found Sarah's performance very enjoyable. Her tone is stunning and I loved how comfortable she appeared in front of the group. It was clear that she knew how to "paint" the piece with word stresses and dynamic changes, taking it to a new level.

Taylee Beckstead:
-Breathing: Sometimes Taylee's breath appeared a little high in her body and were audible.
-Intonation: Overall I found Taylee's singing to be in tune.
-Timbre: She had an occasional pressed sound that seemed to controlled and contained. However moments when she let the vibrato go, the sound was free and sparkling and a joy to listen to!
-Diction: Overall very good.
-Expressiveness: I loved how confident Taylee was! She was enjoyable to watch and despite many stops and starts with the accompanist she went right back into character and clearly had a story in mind.
-Overall Performance: I thought that Taylee had some great moments in her performance. I especially enjoyed her professional attitude, confidence and the moments when the tone was released.

Mariah Boyer:
-Breathing: Mariah's breathing was very audible and you could see the shallowness of her breath in her body.
-Intonation: Overall, the intonation was good. The ascending phrases had some notes that were a bit flat.
-Timbre: Her tone had real nasal presence but was occasionally pressed making the vibrato inconsistent.
-Diction: Great!
-Expressiveness: Mariah was very pleasant to watch, she had expression and was clearly engaged. However I would have liked to see more specific emotions on her face.
-Overall Performance: She was easy to watch and engaging. I really enjoyed her tone when she wasn't pressing. She seemed prepared and confident!

Carolee Beck:
-Breathing: Her breath was high in her body and her shoulders would raise when she breathed. Her posture was a bit hunched over as well.
-Intonation: Great!
-Timbre: She did a great job of picking tone that was appropriate for the genre. Her tone was a bit gravelly at times, but that just suited the piece.
-Diction: Carolee's diction was very well suited to the style. She could have done more consonants, but it would have taken away from feel of the piece.
-Expressiveness: When she was singing she had a very lively face, but when the piano soloed she went dead.
-Overall Performance: She has a gorgeous smile and when she used expressions it was fabulous, she just needs to keep that throughout the whole performance. I loved that she was true to the genre but still made it her own.

Emily Cottam:
-Breathing: Emily had some very good breaths that were low in her body and relaxed.
-Intonation: Overall great!
-Timbre: Her tone was very open. Occasionally is was a little too open and felt far back in her throat.
-Diction: She had good diction overall.
-Expressiveness: She was very expressive in the way she phrased the piece musically but her eyes needed more. I wanted to get more of an essence of what the piece was about.
-Overall Performance: I loved the way she phrased the piece and used dynamics and word stress to bring it to life. I could have used more facial expressions, particularly in the eyes.

Caitlin Craig:
-Breathing: Caitlin had a very confident posture and had some very good low breaths that were comfortable and supportive.
-Intonation: Intonation overall very good, some moments the notes felt a bit under.
-Timbre: Her tone was bright and yet breathy at the same time.
-Diction: Great.
-Expressiveness: She took a different approach to that song than I had never seen and I really like the way she did it. She was expressive but not over the top. Her eyes were alive and clearly in the moment.
-Overall Performance: I enjoyed the presentation of this song and I loved the confident posture and the stillness in Caitlin's body. She was relaxed and had lovely full breaths.

Laura Berg:
-Breathing: Laura's breathing was shallow sometimes but occasionally she had some very nice breaths that were not audible and that were lower in her body.
-Intonation: Because of the lightness of her tone she wasn't pressing notes and they all felt very in tune.
-Timbre: Her tone was very light and clear.
-Diction: Her diction was good, because the piece is Shakespeare I could have used a tad bit more diction just cause Shakespeare can be hard to understand at times :)
-Expressiveness: I thought her presence was good and that her expressions were nice. She matched the lightness of the song.
-Overall Performance: I enjoy Laura's tone color very much and liked her expressions throughout the piece. One thing I did notice though was that her arms seemed to be a bit tense and not relaxed by her sides.



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