On the weekend. I
was fortunate to be able to attend a workshop given by Andrea Hill
who is in Calgary to sing Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of
Seville. The time flew by as Andrea talked about her
experience as a singer and what she has learned.
The gathering was
informal and Andrea was down-to-earth. She often prefaced a remark
with a phrase like, “This is what I've found works for me,” or
“What I've learned so far is.” She noted that two teachers might
say completely opposite things and both be right depending on the
student's experience and physical make-up. Andrea told the story of
a teacher who helped her move her singing forward in significant
ways. Then the progress stopped and it was time to move on. She spoke
of how colleagues had helped her with different aspects of her
singing and she stressed the importance of finding out what your
voice can do and developing that to the best of your ability. Andrea
told of a colleague whose voice enables her to sing one type of role
brilliantly; however, she hates that kind of role and wants to do
other roles not suited to her voice. Andrea said, “You have the
voice you have and you can't exactly return to the store and get a
new one.” She talked about putting in the hours of practice,
finding the people who can best teach you what you need to learn and
then giving up control and trusting that your body and voice know how
to do what they need to do.
As I listened I
found myself thinking about my work with hand tools and wood. I am
beginning to understand how to let go and not overpower the saw when
making a cut. The turning point for me was a phrase Paul Sellers used
in one of his videos: he said to start a cut you stroke the wood
with the teeth of the saw. Because of the hours upon hours of
practice and frustration I have put in, that phrase at that time
allowed me to let go and let the saw do the work.
That's cause for a
huge celebration but I know I haven't got it made. Things can go
sideways at any moment. David Pye, who was a professor of furniture
design at the Royal College of Art, said when working with hand tools
a person engages in 'the workmanship of risk.' One cut may be
perfectly perpendicular and the next one may stray at a slight angle.
One note may be sung accurately and beautifully and the next one may
be slightly off. A piece of writing may flow smoothly and the next
one is a total slog. On some ordinary days life seems to sail along
while other ordinary days are grey and crush the slightest attempt to
move forward.
Andrea said for
years she avoided singing coloratura, those passages in opera which
seem to have millions of notes that go blindingly fast and either
lie high or ridiculously high in pitch. It was difficult to learn
and to do it she needed to stop thinking about every note and instead
think of anchor notes and broad gestures in the music. She had to
sing legato in order to sing the rapid passages. She spoke often of
learning to 'ride the breath.' She advised us to learn to sing
coloratura if we really wanted to sing well. That stopped me. I've
always assumed that it was too hard and I wouldn't be any good at it
anyway. I gave myself a mental slap upside the head. How many times
have I said to students that purpose of doing something is to learn
from the experience? Andrea stressed that lessons we need to learn in
singing are lessons we need to learn in life and visa versa. In
life, as in singing, there comes a point where a we must let go of
control and trust. Andrea characterized moving through her life and
her career as constantly seeking a balance between control and grace
and, she observed, “Control never wins.”
To do something
with grace, to me, is to step off a precipice into an abyss knowing I
will either fall or soar and that, either way, stepping off is what I
must do. I want to be able to work wood with grace. I want to be
able to sing with grace and, most of all, I want to live my life with
grace. I have so much to learn and I am grateful for Andrea Hill who has taken the time to hone her craft, to reflect on what that means and to share both craft and meaning with others.
