After almost eight months of recuperation, I am now back at work after breaking my leg and then my back. It is so great to be making music again, and I have been inspired to try something completely new: voice lessons.
To start something so foreign at age 60..(yes, Nation, I have turned that corner into senior citizen land)... may sound crazy to some. But to learn to produce music in an entirely different way is both challenging and liberating. The biggest thing I have to carry to my lessons is a portable CD player. It is great fun not having to haul a 50 pound instrument around. And then there is the task of producing a beautiful sound with one's own body. The sound I hear is not the sound my teacher hears; she is very encouraging and yells "Yes!" when I get close to the sound she is looking for. Playing the bass, I never really had to worry about diaphragmatic support and breathing. This is all new territory for me and I get a small sense of accomplishment when I get something right or even sort of right. My teacher, Alexandra Sessler, is a very talented young soprano who teaches at my husband's music store, Bronstein Music. She is also one of the paid members of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. She never tires of all my questions and is ever encouraging.
Last week I started reading The Inner Voice, a book by Renee Fleming about her life and career. It is very inspiring and led me to purchase some of her recordings. (She has sung with the Symphony on several occasions.) I have been trying to sound like her, and though not entirely successful, at least got a nod of approval from Alex. "When I have trouble getting a student to get the correct sound and feeling, I often ask him/her to imitate an opera singer." Well, that is what I have been doing. There is so much more to classical singing than I ever imagined. I have new respect for our Symphony Chorus, and really, all singers. Next week, we are performing Brahms' German Requiem and I am looking forward to hearing the chorus and soloists. I hope to soak up as much as I can.
