Sarah Gee 9/12/13 VRH Critiques

Samuel Meredith

B: good bucket breaths but you are a little tense so you can’t get all the air in that you could potentially get.

I: you are very good with this. A few of your starting consonants are a bit lower in pitch than your vowel and the rest of the word. Practice doing the words with first consonant half step above note the word really falls on like what Cindy had Taylee do in master class on Tuesday.
T: very deep and resonant.
D: Great job on your diction; this seems to come very easily to you.
E: Put your line of focus up just a little bit, even if you are supposed to be looking at the ground, place your focal point up on maybe one of the lowers steps of the riser. When you were looking at the ground it closed you off from the audience. It is alright to use that as a performing tool but you don’t want to stay in that position very long because you don’t want to lose your audience. Mostly relax your arms they seem stiffly held to your sides. You also swayed just a little, find yourself a nice solid stance before singing, even for songs that you will be moving around for. It was a nice somber mood that you conveyed to the audience, you are on the right path.
O: It was a nice performance. The piece really is beautiful and you sing it well.

Sara Low

B: You take nice balloon breaths but, I’m working on this too, but don’t let yourself collapse after taking a nice full breath. Suspend the breath and do what Cindy had Laekin do during master class, the incremental breath exercise. Breathe in as you let your torso drop. Slowly bring yourself upright as you let the air out throughout the phrase. Do this over and over with each phrase of the song.

I: you have lovely intonation but don’t squeeze out your high notes they sound strained and just a tich sharp. The sustained breath thing will help you to feel like you don’t have to squeeze the note out on no air.

T: you have a very smooth, light sound to your voice.

D: pretty good, make it more crisp and clean.

E: Keep yourself from looking at the floor to long. There are instances where you can pretend to be coy in that song but don’t get stuck in that position

O: nice job today.

Laura Berg

B: Good Ballooning. Make sure you are keeping the breath from coming out but rather practice letting it out slowly through each phrase the way Cindy had Laekin do during master class.
I: Don’t tense yourself when you prepare for those M6 leaps “allen ended” and “nicht enden”

T:  you have a very lovely, mature sound.
D: your diction is great. “vergiB der Qual” I think it is said qval with a v sound in place of the u. That is the only thing that I thought might have slipped your notice as you were performing.
E: Great emotion in the beginning but you tensed up once you started to sing. Relax your neck, relax your arms relax, relax, relax. You’ve got this.
O: Good Job. I love that song. It is a hard one to do without the accompanist you’ve been practicing with.