Sigma Alpha Iota

10 Winter 2023 • sai-national.org SAI Philanries, Inc. Due to SAI's generosity in awarding me a Summer Music Scholarship for 2022, I found myself unexpectedly rejuvenated at the conclusion of Roberta Cunningham's Summer Course for Solo Singers in Coesfeld, Germany. Going into the experience in Germany for the first time, I was expecting a hyper-competitive performance environment like I have experienced in the past elsewhere; imagine my elation when I not only found myself in an unconditionally supportive environment of recovery and discovery, but also one where I was accepted into a group of longtime friends. Roberta's course was structured in such a way that each singer (of which there were less than fieen) had the opportunity to participate in four masterclasses, two public concerts, and receive four coachings and two technical lessons. While I presented pieces by Lili Boulanger, Jules Massenet, Libby Larsen, and Andre Previn (performing Massenet and Larsen for the public), it was also a privilege to be able to observe all the vocalists' masterclasses as well. I found that the faculty, Roberta Cunningham and Rayanne Dupuis, were able to teach essential techniques (i.e., releasing the pelvic floor and their explanation of an "open throat") in a way that was new and automatically engaging to me. Each day began with instruction and practice re-aligning our bodies and engaging them for singing from pelvis to head. Whether inside the education center or on the grass of the lawn in the morning, beginning the day with loving what my body can do for my voice and teaching it to serve me well brought a grounding and calm energy to my music-making that has been difficult for me to achieve in the past. is in turn taught me to be comfortable and enthusiastic about communicating with an audience through characters and their songs–such as the women I performed, including Massenet's Manon, briefly Blanche DuBois, and the Tudor queens Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Bonnie Wagner, my coach, fostered an energetically creative environment to also expand my communicative artistry with these songs. Another highlight of the program for me was the diversity of repertoire which singers presented. We had total freedom over what music we brought. Other singers presented Puccini, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Schwartz, Handel, Mozart, and many others. Hearing and seeing Roberta instruct in so many genres has hugely influenced my own teaching. Since returning from Germany, I have acquired 20 students of my own with Voice by Chelsea; the vast majority of them are interested in singing commercial music and because of the musical interactions I witnessed and experienced in Coesfeld, my ability to communicate those stylistic techniques aer building a classically informed background for myself has vastly improved. However, during my time at the workshop, I did my best to highlight repertoire that was fairly new for the community. Most of what I brought was material from my graduate recital at which I chose to highlight several women composers and subjects, and I was grateful to the workshop for giving me the autonomy to choose how to amplify these womens' voices. Unlike the full remainder of the other participants, I had little knowledge of the environment of the workshop and I think that its location is particularly noteworthy. e Kolping-Bildungstatte, where all the non-locals were housed, is a repurposed and remodeled mansion equipped with housing, music, and dining amenities that frequently hosts educational programs of all sorts. Other programs that overlapped with ours included one for young children and an adult workshop for accordion players! Within walking distance Vocal Recovery and Discovery in Germany Roberta Cunningham leads Roberta Cunningham leads a morning body work session a morning body work session including yoga and qi gong. including yoga and qi gong.

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