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VOICEPrints November--December 2018 JOURNAL OF THE NEW YORK SINGING TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION TABLE OF CONTENTS Holiday Event: Master Class and Reception with John Bucchino ................................................................25 President’s and Editor’s Messages........................................................................................................26-29 On-Demand Learning with Scott McCoy: Vocal Acoustics and Resonance..............................................28 2018--2019 Events Calendar...........................................................................................................................30 NYSTA Professional Development Program / Call for Singers........................................................... 31 Feature Article: Vowel Migration and Modification by Kenneth Bozeman.......................................32-38 Book Review by Anthony Radford: Singing in Brazilian Portuguese..............................................39-40 Holiday Event Master Class and Reception with John Bucchino Sunday, December 2 6:00-8:00 PM EST Marc Scorca Hall at National Opera Center, 330 Seventh Avenue, NYC Free for NYSTA members, students, and guests. Donations welcome. Composer, lyricist, pianist, and teacher John Bucchino will work with five singers on his compositions. During the master class, Mr. Bucchino will accompany the singers himself the final time through. His songs are available in his two songbooks or for download at www.johnbucchino.com Bucchino’s songs have been performed and recorded by renowned pop (Art Garfunkel, Judy Collins), theater (Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Audra McDonald), cabaret (Barbara Cook, Michael Feinstein), and classical (Yo-Yo Ma, Deborah Voigt, Nathan Gunn), artists as well as The Boston Pops, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Mormon Tabernacle Choir in venues including Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera, Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House, London’s O2 Arena, and The White House. Among his honors are two Drama Desk nominations, The Johnny Mercer Songwriter Award, ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, Jonathan Larson Award, Kleban Award, Los Angeles Ovation Award, DVD Premiere Award, and the first annual Fred Ebb Award. He has written scores for the musicals Urban Myths, Lavender Girl, Broadway’s A Catered Affair, It’s Only life, and the Dreamworks animated film Joseph, King of Dreams, and lyrics for the children’s musical Simeon’s Gift. His recordings include Grateful, The Songs of John Bucchino; Solitude Lessons; On Richard Rodger’s Piano, and the PS Classics releases of the cast albums of It’s Only Life and A Catered Affair. As part of its Julie Andrews collection, Harper Collins published a children’s book, based on Bucchino’s song “Grateful, A Song of Giving Thanks” which was awarded the Parents’ Choice Gold Award. www.johnbucchino.com 25 Vol. 16, no. 2, November-December 2018 © NYSTA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE An Empirical Middle Ground Last March, I was an invited featured guest for a webinar sponsored by the Pan-American Vocology Association (PAVA). The session was devoted to an online discussion of an editorial that I had coauthored with Mary Sandage entitled “Working toward a Common Vocabulary: Reconciling the Terminology of Teachers of Singing, Voice Scientists, and Speech-Language Pathologists.”1 In this article, we advocate for voice professionals to use standardized, agreed-upon terminology when describing phenomena across five areas of singing: Matthew Hoch loudness/intensity, breath management, singer’s formant/ 1 ring, vibrato, and registration. The article was something of This article was published in an expansion of the work I began when I advocated for a the Journal of Voice 31, no. 6 common terminology among singing teachers in my 2014 (2017): 647–648. Mary Sandage book, A Dictionary for the Modern Singer—a work I wanted to is an associate professor in the revise, expand, and update the second it was published due Department of Communication to the rapid pace at which our profession is evolving. Maybe Disorders at Auburn University. I will someday. If achieving unity within a single discipline is ambitious, inter- disciplinary agreement is idealistic at best. While we were half expecting a bit of pushback—particularly from the scientific community—the opposite happened, and the article was surprisingly well received, with emails pouring in from around the country affirming our work. We were surprised, to say the least, especially since the editorial was not an outcome- based study or lengthy piece of deep scholarship. (I wish that much longer and more involved pieces that I have written in the past would have been read half as much as this one!) Clearly, as our art form becomes more interdisciplinary and scientific, the phenomenon of singing also becomes less mystifying. University voice pedagogy classes in 2018 look nothing like they did when I was in college twenty years ago, and that is probably a good thing. We have learned so much over the past two decades. As discussion developed over the course of the one-hour webinar, philosophical questions began to emerge: If professional organizations—like NYSTA, NATS, PAVA, VASTA, and others—are advocating for fact-based pedagogy and evidence-based terminology, is there a risk that we’re insinuating that a “cookie-cutter” approach to voice teaching is best? Is there still room for singing teachers to have 26 Vol. 16, no. 2, November-December 2018 © NYSTA idiosyncratic, signature style? What about historical pedagogy, or non-fact-based imagery that seems to “work” with some students? At one point, I was asked directly by one participant about how my recent research and education—particularly the vocology training that I received from Ingo Titze at the Summer Vocology Institute—affected my teaching, and whether there were any echoes of the voice teacher I was ten years ago in my current pedagogy. I replied that I strive for an “empirical middle ground” in my teaching that is a blend of textbook knowledge and my own unique experiences and perspectives as a singer and teacher that I’ve gathered over the course of my lifetime. I don’t think I had ever used this term before that moment, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I believe it accurately describes how individual teaching styles develop over time. Merriam-Webster offers four definitions for the word “empirical”: 1. originating in or based on observation or experience (empirical data) 2. relying on experience or observation alone often without due regard for system and theory (an empirical basis for the theory) 3. capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment (empirical laws) 4. of or relating to empiricism (the theory that all knowledge originates in experience) Reading over these four definitions—particularly the ironic clash that seems to exist between the second and third definitions—seems to describe the “melting pot” nature of the voice teaching profession. We have all had a unique path to get where we are. We are formed by our individual experiences. Many of us have earned degrees in voice performance, but our educations have been as diverse as the universities, colleges, and conservatories we attended and the teachers who taught us there. Still others have forged their own path outside of institutional instruction. And no two performance careers look alike. Observing five master teachers teach is five completely different experiences. No two voice teachers vocalize students in the same way. What a wonderful opportunity to learn from one another. Even in the age of voice science, it is this personal touch that allows us to connect with our students, to engage with our colleagues, and make our own individual stamp on the voice teaching world. As NYSTA continues to educate voice 27 Vol. 16, no. 2, November-December 2018 © NYSTA professionals worldwide, we also want each and every one of you to find your own empirical middle ground, integrating current research in singing with your own personal teaching style. There is no other voice teacher in the world like you, which is exactly how it should be. I wish each and every one of you a joyous holiday season. Sincerely, Matthew Hoch, DMA President, New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA) ON-DEMAND LEARNING WITH DR. SCOTT MCCOY Study 24/7 at your convenience. Start anytime and receive four months of access. NYSTA’s Oren Lathrop Brown Professional Development Program presents VOCAL ACOUSTICS AND RESONANCE In this introduction to the science of sound for voice professionals, Dr. McCoy makes a challenging topic enjoyable and easy to understand. His exploration of the acoustics of the singing voice covers basics such as the nature of sound and practical applications of acoustics and resonance, as well as an introduction to computerized voice analysis. Using Your Voice: An Inside View, 2nd edition, as the accompanying text, this course is an exceptional resource, providing tools for both emerging and established voice professionals. NYSTA OFFICERS 2020-2023 TERM PROPOSED SLATE OF OFFICERS President: Elizabeth Saunders Vice President: Felix Graham Registrar: Diane Aragona Secretary: Benjamin Berman Treasurer: Sahoko Sato Timpone Dr. Scott McCoy Register at WWW.NYST.ORG Members are invited to vote online via the NYSTA For information, contact NYSTA’s Profes- website during the months of November and December sional Development Program Director 2018. Felix Graham at [email protected]. 28 Vol. 16, no. 2, November-December