Sarah Boucher Master Class Critique 9/3

Sarah Boucher Master Class Critique
1. Shalayna
2.Breathing: Her breath was mostly quiet and she had some good examples of "balloon breaths".
3.Intonation: Overall great, a few notes were a bit pressed.
4.Timbre: Love her rich and resonant tone! When she releases the sound it is exquisite.
5.Diction: Consonants were very clear but the diction almost felt too choppy for the vocal line.
6.Expressiveness: She was confident and clear in her introduction, but she needs a more specific story to give the song more expressiveness.
7.Masterclass: I loved the changes that Shalayna was able to make through Cindy's coaching. Having her recite the text like dialogue in a play helped her to make connections to the piece that totally transformed her performance. It created a strong connection to the piece that you could see in her eyes and also helped with her diction and word emphasis.
8.Overall: Shalayna sang this piece well the first time. She was confident and had a lovely tone. However after receiving feedback she was able to take her piece to the next level, making it even more enjoyable for the audience because she put more emotion into it.
1. Jake
2. Breathing: He began with "balloon" breathing and slowly went to "bucket" breathing.
3. Intonation: The higher notes were a bit forced making them seem off pitch.
4. Timbre: His tone was a little pressed and forced. In those instances when it wasn't forced it was very powerful and free.
5. Diction: Rolled R's were nice.
6. Expressiveness: I could have used a lot more expression especially in the eyes. He also has a habit of taping one of his feet that distracted me a bit.
7. Masterclass: Putting the pencil in his mouth really helped Jake to not muscle those high notes. It was a glorious sound when he was able to find that space with out controlling the high notes.  I enjoyed watching deep practice characteristics put into practice as he repeated small sections over and over with a lot of concentration.
8. Overall: The sounds he was getting with the pencil were so free and beautiful. It was nice to listen to before but a little uncomfortable with those high notes being forced, when they weren't muscled it made the sound that much better!
1. Elizabeth
2. Breathing: She went back and forth between "bucket" and "balloon" breathing.
3. Intonation: Her intonation was great.
4. Timbre: Occasionally the sound felt like it was being held, when the sound was able to be free it was bright and vibrant.
5. Diction: Her diction was great but could use more word stresses to evoke the meaning better.
6. Expressiveness: The song is more relaxed but because her body seemed tense it took away from the calm of the piece. There were some lovely moments when the eyes lit up with expression and you could tell she had a specific thought.
7. Masterclass: The technique of holding her arms out helped to relieve some of that tension in the body and the sound became more free as well.
8. Overall: I enjoy how Liz has a deep concentration while being coached and it was cool to see the transformations she made in a short amount of time because of that focus.