For my STEP Signature Project, I participated in the SOO Theatre Apprenticeship Program for three weeks in Sault St. Marie, Michigan. During my project, I participated in master classes, rehearsals, and had lessons with faculty. We had three final performances: an aria concert, two performances of The Magic Flute (Mozart), and three performances of Susannah (Floyd).
I learned more about my voice, the rehearsal process, and effective communication. My primary reason for pursuing this project was to get more perspectives on how I can be a better singer. During my time, I had lessons with four different instructors. They all helped me, and two of them helped me greatly. One of them helped me understand the singing mechanism in more detail: one way of breathing correctly and how to remove tongue tension. The other helped me access more of my chest resonance, remove tension in the throat, and a technique for singing higher in the voice. Fully adopting these changes is a work-in-progress, however I have already received positive feedback about how these changes have helped my singing: it’s louder, more colorful, and created more easily. I also learned more about the rehearsal process. My experience in Michigan was the first time it was outside the university setting. In short, there was less of a learning stage than what I have experienced before. Music should largely be prepared beforehand and rehearsals are for memorization, staging, acting, and coordinating with other members of the ensembles. Asking others how they prepared offered some valuable insight. I also learned about the rehearsal timeline, its different technical stages, and what they encompass. Lastly, I learned to inquire about a role, how to communicate any issues, and overall navigate the professional relationships with coaches, directors, and others in the ensemble.
My lessons, as stated before, yielded successful changes. The lessons I had with the four faculty were amazing! I am still in the process of unpacking and exploring all their suggestions. These lessons (including masterclasses) were nice because I was getting fresh opinions from people who do not know my voice and have different ways of thinking about things from my teacher or me. My closest relationship in the program was with the person who helped me free up the throat, engage my chest resonance, and sing higher in the voice with ease. I think one reason I learned so much from him is because he is a baritone who has a similar vocal background to me. Aside from improvement in my singing technique, he was also someone who helped me better understand the opera industry and some of the challenges that I may face. I definitely see him as a role model and a mentor.
Rehearsals were a big part of the program and where I spent most of my time. I learned some of the rehearsal process by asking others at the program, but most of it was from first hand experience after just jumping in. I also was able to observe others’ vocal technique and characterization of the parts they were singing. This includes the baritone I studied with. This directly translated because we not only had similar voices, I was also understudying the role he performed. The final performances were fun and were a culmination of the short term knowledge I had gained and put it into practice in a higher stakes environment. Overall, I feel more prepared about the rehearsal process both in the professional and academic settings.
During my experience, I was put in a tough position. I was being asked to fill an extra role that did not benefit me, but was still a large time commitment at a time when I had other responsibilities. This occurred because of a lack of communication from the individual who made the request, a lack of proactive inquiry on my end, and multiple undeclared increases in responsibility henceforth. Navigating this experience and resolving it successfully taught me how to better communicate, enquire, and the overall dynamic between different roles in the production.
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These experiences are valuable to me because I want to be an opera singer! The improvements in vocal technique, the understanding of the rehearsal process, learning how to better navigate relationships, how to better communicate issues, networking with peers and faculty are all things that will help me land roles and successfully execute my responsibilities. This will then help me network more, improve vocally, etc… the cycle repeats. My experience as a SOO Theater Apprentice will also help me perform more successfully during my lessons and recital at OSU.
