Sarah Boucher VRH Critiques 9/5

Sarah Boucher VRH Critiques 9/5
Emily Floyd: I liked that Emily released her breath silently on phrases that ended low. However, in phrases where the notes got higher the breath got higher and the jaw seemed to lock in the sound. The higher phrases where the jaw was tighter created more straight tone and didn't release the vibrato as freely. I liked that she had a confident air, posture and that her eyes were animated.
Amber Denslow: I noticed that Amber has a tendency to shift her weight to one side when singing. Her body was not balanced and so she had nothing to ground her breath to. When she centered her weight the sound was completely different, especially in the lower phrases her tone was brighter and more relaxed. I felt like her words were also easier to understand in her lower registers.Her sound was more breathy in the higher registered. She showed expression in her face that portrayed the meaning of her piece but she had a tendency to put her hand in a fist (I totally do it do).
Amber Farrow: Amber had a lot of movements that detracted from her performance. She especially had a tendency to lean backwards when taking breaths and she had a lot of extraneous movements like swaying, touching her stomach and putting her hand behind her back. I think that she needs to work on stillness to really find her breath center and establish a sense of balloon breathing.
Michael Lechner: In phrases that had a shorter time between them, Michael's catch breaths were "bucket" and audible. I also noticed a tendency to move his chin back on high notes, which caused the sound to be darker and not as free. In his lower range his chin remained to place and the sound was much more rich and confident.
Jared Daley: Jared had a strong and clearly researched character while singing. His tone on the last note was the perfect blend of richness and nasal presence. Some phrases stuck out because they were more nasally and the vowels were spread. I particularly noticed this on the word "doubts" near the beginning. I noticed that his breathing was quiet.
Sarah Gee: She has a really lovely, free and vibrant sound when she is in the lower phrases of the piece. As she approaches high sections she tenses up and vibrato is too controlled. She looked nervous about high phrases and her body would tense. Towards the end however, the word "vain" that was higher had a nice relaxed sound and the vibrato because she was coming to the end and relaxing more.
Jordan Davis: I thought Jordan's high notes were very grounded. He would slightly bend his knees when approaching high notes, I think to help him ground the sound that was a little distracting. I liked that he had strong facial expressions and I have never seen him more confident when performing.  In the fast phrases he tended to "bucket" breathe, because he did not have as much time to produce a lower supported breath.
Aubrianne Dunn: I noticed that Aubrianne's jaw would move forward on her higher notes, this would block the sound and make it come across as not as vibrant. She also would "bucket" breathe making her tone not as rich or resonant as it could be. She was very expressive and interesting to watch, but lost it for a second when she reached up to move her hair. Her words and diction were very good. 
Emily Hess: I liked the balance in Emilee's voice of having a rich tone while also producing nasal resonance. I noticed that she had a lot of weight shifting and would arch her body back and twist to one side when she was approaching emotion heights of the song. I especially noticed this lean and twist on the word "same". Because of these body movements, her breath was not able to find the necessary support making it more "bucket" than "balloon".
Kayelee: Kayelee was tight through her shoulders which made her breathing less consistent, and often "bucket" breathe. She would also sway cause her body to not be grounded and stable. On particular phrases that were shorter her breath release would be audible, in phrases with longer breaks between them she had very good breath releases. She has a gorgeous color to her voice, it is very rich and present. The last notes were a little forced and not as free as the sound produced in her lower range throughout the piece.