Sam Meredith Master Class 11/12

Maikjan Fielding- I didn't notice any trouble with breathing in this performance. The intonation was good and the timbre was mostly very full and pleasing. I think the release of some of her pitches could be a little smoother, though. It looked like there were a few times when she cut off the note with a glottal stop rather than through inhalation. I also think that the shorter articulations need to enjoy the same vibrato that the longer notes do. Some spontaneous combustion exercises might help. The diction was good, but I think there needs to be more consistency in the shape of her vowels. The expression of the piece was good at first, but lacked motivation. I think she did a good job giving heed to Cindy's advice as the sound improved a lot in her second performance.
Liz Tait- I thought the breathing was very good in this performance. There was one time when the breath seemed to be tense, but we'll talk more about that later. Other than that I could hardly tell she was breathing from where I was sitting. The intonation was spot on and Liz always has a wonderful, lively timbre. I liked the expressiveness in the piece as well. She did have trouble reaching up for that high 'd'. This was simply a problem of tension and trying to force the note out. I think she did a good job taking Cindy's advice to just release the tension and let the note out. It improved a lot when she did that because that note is clearly within the ranger of her abilities. Good work!
Allen Stevens- The breathing in this performance was pretty good. The body alignment very much lent itself to full and consistent airflow. This was evident throughout the piece in the solid intonation and warm timbre. There were some times when I thought that he could have made a smoother transition between his chest and head voice, though. I think he just needs to have a feeling of letting the airflow take over sooner. The diction was clear, but I think all of his vowels could be a little more open. I think he did a good job expressing the emotion of the piece and I think he did a great job when Cindy started changing the key of the piece. Even in the higher keys it still seemed very easy.
Shalayna Guisao- Shalayna's shoulders seemed to be very involved in some of her breaths. I think that made it difficult for her to endure through long phrases. There was one word where she stopped in the middle to take a catch breath before jumping up to a higher note. I think fixing the breathing would probably fix that problem. The intonation was good, but the timbre seemed slightly colored a little controlled. I think there was just too much tension in the jaw. I think that she did a pretty good job once Cindy asked her to release some of that tension by using the primal 'uh'. I think when she sings like that more consistently the timbre will improve and the expression of the piece will come more easily.