Workshops

Dear Choral Director:

As a singer you know how important it is that your choristers have some fundamental training on vocal technique. As a conductor I know how difficult it is to find the time during rehearsals to impart proper vocal technique to your singers.  We both know as well that in the choral setting, distracted by reading the music, blending with our neighbours, tuning the chords, watching our diction, and following the conductor,  we often lose awareness of our bodies and lose sight of the fundamentals of technique.

A well-timed clinic can help awaken body awareness long ago forgotten, it can create a deeper understanding of the fundamentals and reinforce the importance of good vocal technique. It can bring to light spcific technical issues that singers may be facing and that prevent them from their best sound. These individual defficiencies at large become choral issues and hold the choir back from their true potential. 

My approach is wholistic and organic, based on the natural and proper structure of the singing apparatus and efficiency of the mechanism, tailored to the individual and their particular issues at the time. My first priority is to find tension and help release it, thereby freeing sound energy and achieving a more complete physical relaxation. 

Some of the technical issues that I can plan to tackle in a workshop situation might be:

• Proper use of the breathing apparatus
  
• Breath management
  
• Awareness of the importance of intercostal muscles in breath and support
  
• Proper use of the diaphragm and abdominal wall
  
• Sound placement
  
• Proper use of resonance
  
• Proper use of chest register
  
• Use of middle voice -- blending the lower and upper registers
  
• Use of vowels to achieve depth and resonance
  
• Vowel modification for tuning and blending
  
• Use of language for projection
  
• Efficient and clear diction
  
• Language coaching -- Spanish, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, French, Catalan, and German
  

These are just some of the most common fundamental concepts which often need to be revisited and reinforced. You may have some specific concerns that need to be addressed with your choir. 

I am available to visit you at rehearsals in or out of town, retreats and workshops.

Rates

In-rehearsal workshop (1.5 - 2.5 hours) .......................................................................

3-hour workshop (morning, afternoon or evening) ..................................................

Full day workshop (morning and afternoon) .............................................................

Weekend Retreat (Friday evening, Saturday morning and afternoon) ................

** These rates do not include meals or out of town traveling or lodging when necessary 

$ 345

$ 395

$ 545

$ 875

Past Clinics

Freedom Celebration Singers Abbotsford
United Voices Vancouver
Viva Voce Choral Society Salt Spring Island
Laudate! Fraser Valley Choir
Bellingham Sings
Bellingham Threshold Singers
Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship Choir
Kelowna Community Chorus
Vancouver Men's Chorus
Chor Leoni
Elektra Women's Choir
Aura Chamber Choir
White Rock Children's Choir
Coastal Sound Academy Choirs
Richmond Chorus
BC Girls Choir
Terrace Music Teachers' Association
Sea to Sky Singers
Albertson College of Idaho
B.C. Choral Federation
Grande Prairie Music Festival
Whistler Music Festival
Howe Sound Music Festival
Comox Music Festival
Chancellor Music Festival
Kamloops Interior Summer School of Music
Sunshine Coast Music Festival
Aura Choir of Vernon
Sutherland Secondary Concert Choir
St Thomas Moore Secondary