During my six years at the Guildhall School of Music the question where can I learn to sing echoed through every practice room in the building. We were in one of the top vocal training colleges in the world but that didn’t stop most of us from floundering around in a desperate effort to find the holy grail of vocal production. We were constantly looking for the answers to a better technique – a magic button that would turn our issue ridden young voices into the next Cappuccilli or Mirella Freni. It’s such a paradox that although singing is one of the easiest things in the world to do, it can also be one of the hardest.

The voice is a musical instrument that is hard-wired to ‘us’ – to our emotions and moods. If we’re sick, the voice is sick, if we’re having a bad day, the voice cuddles up and joins in. If we’re feeling a bit low and lacking confidence, in comes the voice with an immediate and chronic mixture of man flu and acute shyness.

Of course, all these anxieties and our obsession with ‘getting it right’ are hugely wrapped up with us getting it wrong. Sure, the process of singing to a high level is utterly reliant on a firm technique, however to pursue that one ideal is to forget the ‘instinctive’ voice – the voice that just wants to do it’s stuff because it’s uninhibited and full of the joys of spring. Without this ease or approach it’s pretty impossible to use or implement any ‘technique’.

It’s not by chance that the Italians and Welsh for instance often have a high quota of good singers. It’s not totally wrapped up with the language either (although this does play a big part), on the whole they are just less inhibited when it comes to opening their mouths and making sound. They often grow up in an atmosphere where singing is fun, a relaxing thing to do down the pub at the end of the day. No pressure, no judgement. In fact quite the opposite, they sing with their friends and family within a community to release stress. Maybe the disintegration of community plays some sort of role in all this but I think that’s another topic and another article. Didn’t the Brits used to sing around the piano together before Terry Wogan? Now we all stay at home and watch tele – the idea of singing in front of someone would cause most people to go into catatonic shock. That’s not good is it?

To discover singing is one of the joys of life. Furthermore there is also a therapeutic side to simply making sound and expressing emotions that might perhaps be too difficult to express with just words. I’m looking forward to Témi’s article on ‘Music & Healing because that should elucidate other fascinating angles on the physical health benefits of sound production.

Singing transcends culture, language and social status. It covers almost every form of music from Rap to Gregorian chant. It’s skilled and yet non-skilled. Can everyone do it? Yes. Can anyone sing opera? No. Can anyone be a pop star or Frank Sinatra? No. But everyone can enjoy making music with his or her voice and everyone should have the opportunity to do so without ridicule or judgement. I think this is the essence of enjoying the music and getting pleasure from the sensation of singing and producing a performance of substance unhindered by self-doubt. This is relevant for all of us of course, not just amateurs but also professionals. Who wants to listen to an evening of pure technique after all? Having just written that line I realise the answer might be ‘me’! That is the professional (slightly obsessed) singer in me talking mind – realistically I’d much rather have an evening of music making and honest emotion than solely perfect technique that is devoid of substance. If I had both, well, that would be the magic moment we’re all aiming at.

As well as being a singer I also teach singing to kids and adults from ages 10 to 110. OK, maybe not 110, but some are quite seasoned. There are so many opportunities these days for anyone of any age to get singing and to improve their singing. So back to the question Where can I learn to sing? Well, every town seems to have one or two singing teachers coaching privately from their own home and even the county councils have, as part of their music service, the opportunities for anyone to pop in and sign up for a lesson or two. There is, of course nothing nicer than singing in a choir and feeling the confidence of other voices around you. It’s often a brilliant way to improve your musicianship, musical knowledge and vocal abilities, plus the opportunity to meet new people and experience singing in new places. Whatever you do though, don’t forget to be instinctive, just open your chops and make a noise – you might surprise yourself. You don’t need a “technique”; you don’t need to search for any magic buttons, all you need is a passion to sing. Whether you confine yourself to the shower, try out a choir or maybe even apply to a music college, it all boils down to singing with a joy and commitment to sound, music and words.

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This is the second of our 10, quick fire questions for the Singing Holidays conductors. 10 probing and searching oneliners designed to reveal all the nooks and crannies of the people behind the baton…kinda!

Shifting uneasily in the inquisitors chair this time is the lovely and exceptionally talented conductor Robert Dean. Vocal professor at the Guildhall School of Music, former Opera Singer, conductor of the London Chorus and Philharmonia Chorus, vocal consultant for the Bristol Choral Society…I know, almost boringly brilliant isn’t he? Anyway, here goes!

Robert Dean. The Qs.

Best conducting experience?

Dream of Gerontius Festival Hall 2005 – Philharmonia Chorus and the New Queen’s Hall Orchestra playing on some of the instruments Elgar himself would have conducted.

Most embarrassing conducting experience?

None!! (seriously!) Although come to think of it there was that time when I “chased” a German soprano around the role of Fidelio at Scottish Opera….. best forgotten. At least we ended together.

If you weren’t a musician what would you like to be?

A chef (d’orchestre naturally!)

Of all the projects you have worked on what has made you most proud and why?

Conducting the 6 annual Come and Sings for the Art Room charity in Oxford. Using one’s talent to help others in whatever way, is what it’s all about as a performer and teacher. I like to think of myself as an enabler and if that also can raise money for others in the process, all the better.

What sort of animal do you see yourself as?

I don’t

Who do you admire?

My Mother. At 86 she is still learning and reading to gain knowledge and is enthusiastic about everything she does. A real inspiration.

Do you have a secret skill we don’t know about?

That would be telling!

Apart from music, what else makes you happy?

A wonderful bottle of wine and good food.

Your favourite book?

Usually the book I am reading at any moment. At this moment it is “ALL HELL LET LOOSE” a history of the 2nd World War, harrowing and humbling in equal measure.

Your favourite plate of food?

Depends on my mood but my top two would have to be Peking Duck and Bacon and onion steamed suet roll. Two perfect taste sensations.

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2012 beckons and have we got some lovelies lined up for you next year! Five Singing Holiday Weeks, one Singing Holiday Weekend and one Taster Day in London in February.

On top of all that we have “Il Contadino di Lusso’ (The Luxurious Peasant), a truly authentic and magical five night Christmas Singing Holidays Special in the mountains of the Abruzzo. Snow, exceptional and unique accommodation, mountain strolls and open fires will be coupled with 5 days of group a cappella and individual singing lessons. Bliss!

For 2012 we’re excited to announce the inclusion of a NEW type of Singing Holiday called SingingWorks. Combining physical techniques, Breath BodyWork and an all consuming approach to singing, these activity holidays will deliver a complete experience that’s uplifting, unique and far reaching.

Also next year are our classic Sacred Summer Holidays: 7 nights (or a long weekend) in rural Italy with our top notch visiting conductors. Totally immersive and highly rewarding.

Lastly, and on the back of an extremely successful holiday this year, we will again be running our ‘Find Your Voice’ week. This is a confidence building 7 nights in rural Italy that’s truly inspiring, leaving even the most timid shower hugger transformed and ready to scale new vocal and physical heights.

We believe in giving you maximum attention on a Singing Holiday so you can fulfil your unique potential and become a better singer. Spaces are therefore limited to 15 only per holiday (8 only for the ‘Il Contadino di Lusso’ Christmas singing special).

Singing Holidays is a unique opportunity to discover new possibilities both vocally, physically and perhaps even emotionally. Learning new skills within inspirational surroundings, our aim is to create activity holidays that are “transformational”, “supportive” and “revelatory”.

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Singing in a choir is great…but shouldn’t it be even more rewarding?

Picture the ‘typical’ choral scene, you’re standing there with a load of other people, one eye on the music and the other on the conductor trying your level best not to goof up the whole shebang. Important thing is, keep your head down, do not under any circumstances stick it above the parapet, just in case you sing that entry half a beat before you’re supposed to therefore exposing a life full of inadequacies in one brief musical meltdown moment. Eek!!

You’ve probably been working on this piece for a few months now and finally the day of judgement has arrived in the shape of a concert. You’re standing together uniformly on a precarious platform, white blouse freshly pressed with appropriate chiffon purple scarf wrapped elegantly around your shoulders and neck. It’s not often, you think to yourself that you can wear a 1980s throwback in a room with 50 other woman with the same outfit on and get away it!

The conductor then comes on to rapturous applause, turns, gives you the evils as if to say “watch me or you’re dead” then lifts his eyebrows high into his already high hairline in a last ditch effort to make you aware of how flat you sang in the afternoon rehearsal.

As the conductor’s baton flicks up in what maybe the first and last upbeat of the evening, you’re solely transfixed on dots, flapping arms, the final furlong and not messing up.

No doubt the concert will be successful with no serious casualties and there will be enough friendly and family fire to keep everyone sweet.

But, and this is the big BUT, could it have been even better? Were you totally engaged in the music? Were you physically engaged with the singing? Did you get the most out of yourself and did the chorus sing, move, breath as one? Answers on a postcard!

We believe at Singing Holidays that you can have a far more rewarding and indeed more fun experience in a choir (or on your own) if you are given tools, which enable you to sing and perform in a way that is both vocally better and physically more engaged. That’s why we’ve introduced SingingWorks into our 2012 calendar.

It’s a week focused primarily on establishing techniques that help you become a better singer and performer. It’s the culmination of our training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, our past work running an experimental opera company that focused on the collaboration between opera singers and physical theatre actors and our knowledge of how the body and breath works via our training in yoga, theatre and voice. It’s a holiday that will inspire, lifting you to new heights and allowing you to feel the true magic of singing in a way that is physically and emotionally engaged.

It’s part holiday, part course and because of its unique format it’s for all levels from beginner to professional, from totally inexperienced to very experienced.

We stay in inspirational and off the beaten track surroundings often within a National Park high up in the mountains. Clean air, clean water, stunning nature, wonderful food, the best Umbrian wines and no tourists.

It’s a unique taste of real Italy and in itself it is the perfect backdrop for a transformational week of singing.

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Singing Holidays aren’t really choral holidays. Not that there’s anything wrong with the notion of a choral holidays week away, in fact I think it’s a great thing and I’m sure many of you have experienced the thrill of singing in a big group in a wonderful venue, and that fantastic sensation when a spot of Handel ricochets off the often multitudinous walls of a large church.

But to consider Singing Holidays as Choral Holidays would be misinterpreting what we are trying to achieve during a 7-day stay in this wonderfully serene, off-the-beaten-track, rural area of Italy.

We do sing in some spectacular venues on a Singing Holidays week and we often do sing choral music but our main focus revolves around singing, singing confidently, singing better and discovering tools that can be taken away and used beyond the holiday experience so continuing ones development and enjoyment.

I think if I’m honest, when Temi and I first thought up the idea of Singing Holidays in Italy we didn’t delve too deeply into the whole benefit behind small groups, yoga, individual attention (we’re both suckers for detail), inspirational setting, clean air and ‘clean’, often organic grub.

We just started it all up because it was a merging of our skills and it combined the things in life that we truly loved. It also meant that we could tap into our own environment and introduce people to an area of Italy that was so incredibly inspiring and untouched that it’s intrinsic qualities would be a major part of a Singing Holidays experience.

It was only through doing the Singing Holidays weeks that we discovered the fundamental benefits of having small groups and of always being in inspirational settings that were, as much as possible away from the madding crowd of tourism. I remember busking with Temi in Strasbourg 10 years or so ago, and after having done pretty well in the main square in front of the Cathedral, an old Jewish American woman came up to us and said in a voice that could slice through steel, “Do you like Strasbourg?”
“Yes, very much…lovely people” I replied, staring into my hat of coins, “It’s a tourist trap!” she screamed!! She was very scary. She was very right as well!
“Tourist traps” we avoid as much as possible, or we visit at a time when the tourists are far less in number. Real Italy and meeting real Italians who are warm and welcoming without being jaded by the masses is what we love. Eating food that the locals eat and drinking cappuccini in bars full of Italians is wonderful and surely what it’s all about!

When we’re in a small group, just like we are on a Singing Holiday, we are able to get into places that would be inaccessible and impracticable for a larger group. Whether that is Compline with the Benedictine Monks in Norcia or an impromptu visit and sing in a spectacular cathedral such as Spoleto or even a visit to a remote hermitage. None of these special moments would be possible with a large coach load of people on their choral holiday.

For us choral holidays are about large groups and broad-brush strokes where as Singing Holidays are more about individual needs, small group singing, friendship, family run accommodation, the opportunity to work with the very best conductors within a safe and friendly environment. Singing Holidays is not about mass production and it’s not just a week away in the sun (although, of course it’s nearly always sunny and gorgeous!).

• Is it a holiday? Yes, most definitely.
• Is it a singing course? Yes, it is.
• Will I just be one of many? Never.
• Is it like other choral holidays? No, it isn’t like other choral holidays.

We always hoped that a Singing Holidays week would deliver an inspirational experience; we wanted it to deliver more than expected. What we didn’t bank on were the amazing friendships that have transpired from running the weeks and I truly believe that this is part and parcel of the small group environment and the amazing power of singing and making music together within an inspiring setting.

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Amongst the summer flowers and the ‘happy pigs’ we practiced our Lotti mass (led by the brilliant Robert Dean), breathed new life into our singer’s lungs in Temi’s yoga sessions and pondered the significance of the carved bird with object in mouth that adorned the many nooks of our lovely accommodation at Ernesto’s Casale Degli Amici. Never did get quite to the bottom of that bird!

We ate delicious local food, supped a glass or two of Umbria’s finest Sagrantino wine, went for a mountain walk in the Piano Grande and watched Angela and Santini make pecorino and ricotta cheese. We also drank Anna Rita’s wine at the brilliant Romanelli cantina and gulped down lashings of olio di olive too. Did I mention the grappa? It really was a tough 7 days!!

It was certainly a varied week! Dodging storm clouds, candlelit dinners under the portico of San Andrea di Campi and singing mass at the incredible church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Spello were all highlights – even the occasional downpour didn’t put us off our stride or dampen our spirits! In fact, the rain added to it in a bizarre way…kind of.

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This is the first of our 10, quick fire questions for the Singing Holidays conductors. 10 probing and searching oneliners designed to reveal all the nooks and crannies of the people behind the baton…kinda!

First up, settling down uneasily into the inquisitors chair is the warm, very lovely and hideously talented, Principle Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Mark Shanahan.

Mark Shanahan. The Qs.

Best conducting experience?

The last one is always the best

Most embarrassing conducting experience?

When an orchestral manager forgot to put the Act 2 score on to the music stand during an Eugene Onegin performance

If you weren’t a musician what would you like to be?

A good musician!

Of all the projects you have worked on what has made you most proud and why?

Often community projects with disabled/mentally handicapped, somehow the real power of music is revealed in such circumstances

What sort of animal do you see yourself as?

A large one

Who do you admire?

People that continually try to improve

Do you have a secret skill we don’t know about?

If I told you ..no more secret

Apart from music, what else makes you happy?

Surprises from children

Your favourite book?

Impossible

Your favourite plate of food?

The freshest of seafood

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OK, this is weird although I suspect you’re going to like it! If you suddenly find however, that you’ve expanded your repertoire of musical knowledge 100 fold and discover yourself up to the eyeballs in corks then you’ve taken the following way too far!

We all know that eating food with wine (particularly salty or sweet foods) plays a huge part in our appreciation of the red and white stuff, but now there’s evidence that suggests music (and in particular the choice of music) plays a large role in how we appreciate the taste as well.

According to Heriot Watt University in Scotland, music by artists such as Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones goes very well with a nice Cabernet Sauvignon. If opera is more your thing then you need to be supping on a Syrah! So it’s wine enhancing music. I like the sound of that!

This research has been done in collaboration with the Chilean winemaker Aurelio Montes, who even admits to playing monastic chants to his maturing wines. It indicates that different types of music stimulate different parts of the brain, making us appreciate the taste of wine in a corresponding way.

For example, when you listen to a bold piece of music such as Carmina Burana, a Cabernet Sauvignon is perceived as being 60 percent more potent, rich and robust than when no music is heard at all. By contrast, Chardonnay is enhanced by the light strains of pop group Nouvelle Vague. Still with me? Good.

“This is the first time it has been scientifically proven that music can affect perception in other senses and change the way wine tastes,” said Professor Adrian North.

David Williams, editor of Wine and Spirit Magazine, said, “I love the idea that music has such an enormous effect on the way we taste wine, and I love the idea that people in the wine trade might make use of this information. Maybe we’ll start seeing buy-one-get-one-free offers replaced by free Mozart, and maybe one day there’ll even be music lists in Michelin-starred restaurants.” Maybe, but only I guess if we’re all drinking the same wine! And if they start rolling out Jimi Hendrix while I’m tucking into my £100 Belly of Tuna with White Truffle I might get a bit depressed!

The research involved 250 university students who donned headphones and were served a free glass of wine in exchange for their views. The appreciation of red wine was up 25% when listening to ‘mellow and fresh’ music such as Otis Redding singing “Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay” but it was up a staggering 60% with Carmina Burana.

It’s interesting to note that Mr. Montes believes there is a positive affect even when music is played to maturing wine…hmm. So the wine itself has taken on something from the music. It’s also interesting that not only does listening to music enhance our appreciation of the wine whilst it’s being drunk but it also can determine our choice of wine at the shops. Professor North also conducted supermarket research, which suggested people were five times more likely to buy French wine than German wine if accordion music was played in the background (these were the few who hadn’t been tempted to strangle the accordion player beforehand of course). If an oompah band was played, the German product outsold the French by two to one. Verdi and Puccini no doubt would potentially cause panic buying of Pinot Grigio.

What do you think?

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