N.B. Bella Nov 05, 2002

Gala Recital
Where: Saturday, November 9 2002 at 7pm at the Crowden School (1475 Rose Street, Berkeley)
What: This promises to be a spectacular event featuring Matthew Edwards (piano), Marcelle Dronkers (soprano), Clarence Douglas Wright (tenor), Richard Mix (bass), Asher Davison (clarinet), Jerry Kuderna (piano), and Thad Taylor (piano) in a concert of Mozart, Schumann, Wolf, Shubert, Brahms, Pasatieri, and more! The concert will be followed immediately by a food and wine reception. This is an event not to be missed! Help pay for our orchestra & enjoy a fantastic concert with reception at the same time!

Why teach or learn breathing?
The baby takes his first breath with no tutoring; humans breathe for life needs with no particular or conscious effort. We inhale when the brain says that the body needs oxygen. The system prefers to work automatically and needs no conscious controls. Even speech therapists debate the wisdom of intervening in the breathing process of their patients, not knowing whether it will help or cause more problems.

Why then all the furor? Because breathing for singing is another matter. Conscious control diminishes the spontaneity with which you breathe, but it must be learned. On the other hand, the effects of various theories about breathing are difficult to test, because interactions between the thoracic and abdominal muscles are complex. We can never be sure that what we perceive to be happening is indeed happening. Not only that, but what is efficient breathing for one singer may be less efficient for another.

Most of the requirements for singing air do not apply to air used for day to day living. There is no particular need for an ordinary person to have a "long" breath; he or she will simply breathe again if the air runs out. There is no particular need for an ordinary person to have great pressure behind his air for speaking; if he or she must shout for any reason, the abdominals will kick in automatically. There is no particular need for an ordinary person to time the inhalation; he or she will simply breathe when it is time to talk.

The singer is required to inhale when the text or the music dictates, thus creating a need for differing amounts of air. In order to inhale in the most efficient manner (sometimes in a very small period of time), the abdominals need to be trained to relax quickly so that the diaphragm will descend as swiftly and as low as possible.

The body possesses a motor program designed to give life support in emergencies. This built-in program results in a problem for the singer: he/she must be able to manage the subglottal pressure that will be too high at the beginning of long phrases. Help is given to some by the mental image of continuing to inhale after the onset of the phrase ("drink in your air while singing"). Until the level of exertion demands assistance from the mouth, inhaling through the nose is normal. It filters, warms, and adds moisture to the incoming air. But breathing through the nose must also slow down the inhalation, thus limiting the amount of air that can be inhaled in a hurry.

The singer must find an air supply sufficient to last until the end of the phrase as it is conceived by the composer. Remembering that "the prime mover of any liquid through a confined region is pressure," it is an important study in itself for the singer to balance the amount of air that is flowing against the pressure under which that air is moving.

Most important, the singer is charged with a responsibility of maintaining a constant beauty of tone, while inflecting that tone with colors appropriate to the text. In the Western hemisphere, the tone regarded as "beautiful" is a supported tone. This means muscular control of the air supply and the pressure. "Vocal color," too, depends upon a supported tone.

Source: http://www.voiceperformance.com/Technq2.htm (Shirlee Emmons, 'Breathing for Singers')

Upcoming Musical Events:

UC Alumni Chorus Awake, psaltery and harp! featuring Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and Britten's Ceremony of Carols (SSAA version). Sunday, Nov 17, 7pm @ Hertz Hall (Bancroft & College) Tickets $15/$10 call 510 643 9645 for more information.

American Recorder Orchestra of the West (AROW) presents: The Gift of Music; Moods of Christmas and Chanukkah, a benefit concert for Eileen Hadidian December 15, 3:30pm at Zion Lutheran Church, 5201 Park Ave. (Oakland)