Master Singers: Advice From The Stage

Description: There is often a dichotomy between the academic approach to singing that voice students learn in the studio and what professional singers do on the operatic and concert stage. Great singers at the top of the performing profession achieve their place with much analysis and awareness of their technique, art, interpretation and stagecraft that goes far beyond academic study and develops over years of experience, exposure, and the occasional embarrassing error. Master Singers brings these insights to the student, teacher, and emerging professional singer, giving them many needed signs and signals along the road to achieving their own artistry and established career. Through interviews with some of today's most accomplished and renowned concert and operatic singers, including Stephanie Blythe, David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves, Thomas Hampson, Jonas Kaufmann, Simon Keenlyside, Ewa Podle, Master Singers provides vocalists making the transition from student to professional with indispensable advice on matters ranging from technique and its practical application for effective stage projection to the practicalities of the business of professional singing and maintaining a career to recommendations for vocal hygiene and longevity in singing. Rather than relying on a traditional one-singer-at-a-time structure, Donald George and Lucy Mauro distill answers to a range of essential, probing questions into a thematic approach, creating not a standard interview book but a true reference for emerging professional singers. An indispensable resource and reliable guide, Master Singers will find its place on the bookshelf of singers of this generation and the next.

Review: As with everything where Ms Mauro and Mr George have collaborated, the book is a labour of love and genuine desire to create something thoughtful and entertaining ... impressive and fascinating ... Master Singers is however much more than just a guide for aspiring singers, it makes also for compelling, fascinating reading ... a must in the bookshelves or kindle collections of any self-respecting bookworm ... exceptional Margarida Mota-Bull, Music Web International

Contents: Foreword by Brian Zeger ; Preface ; Acknowledgements ; Artist Biographies ; Chapter One: On the Craft of Singing ; Chapter Two: On the Operatic Stage ; Chapter Three: On the Recital and Concert Stage ; Chapter Four: On Maintaining a Career ; Chapter Five: On Teaching and Studying ; Chapter Six: Extras from the Experts ; References ; Index



Author Biography: Lucy Mauro, pianist, is an Associate Professor at West Virginia University. The Journal of Singing calls her "a perfect partner". Her recordings with tenor Donald George on the Delos label have been acclaimed in Gramophone and selected as a Recording of the Year 2011 by MusicWeb International, among other recognitions. Their latest CD, Songs and Arias of Joseph Weigl, was recorded in conjunction with the Esterhazy Festival in Austria. Her website with Donald George is www.duodrama.net.