Public performance must be a part of the musical training of any serious musician. While it's fine to enjoy singing in the shower, to have a career in music one needs to stand up in public and share the wealth. Whether you are a singer, an instrumentalist or a composer, merely performing for yourself has a limited reward. We all need to share our talent with others and performance is the way to do that.
This week my six voice students at Smith College did just that. They stood up before an audience of family, friends, and strangers and sang. They all did very well. The more opportunities they have to perform, the better they will become at doing it.
Any young performer may have 'performance anxiety'. There are some of us who are born 'hams', who love to do nothing more than stand up in front of people and show them what we can do. But more of us may have questions in our minds about performing which will affect the way we present ourselves on the public stage.
For example, I asked my six young women to dress for an afternoon concert. You sing better when you present yourself in the best possible format. The way you look is one part of this.
A most important part of performing is the kind of preparation you do beforehand. Very few people can 'wing it' and get away with that kind of performance. One must have a thorough knowledge of the music, and in the case of singers, the text one is presenting. If you are unsure about what you are about to do, nothing very good will happen.
I remember as a young performer, I was given the plum job as Assistant University Organist and Choirmaster under the great Searle Wright at St. Paul's Chapel, Columbia University, my alma mater. At the beginning of the fall term that year, Searle told me that instead of doing five noonday services in St. Paul's Chapel, we would do three services and two half hour organ recitals. He said, 'You take Tuesdays and I'll take Thursdays.' At that point I had done exactly one full organ recital in my life! Needless to say, I worked my fingers off practicing all hours of the day and night to prepare for this barrage of public performances. Hitherto, I had often been nervous when I had to perform in public. Faced with a new program to learn and perform every week, I soon found out I had no time to be nervous. I just had to get myself ready and play the program. It was this pressure placed on me that brought me to the point where playing a recital became a joy rather than a job. I learned to love performing.
This is what all musicians must learn to do to get themselves out of the shower and onto the public stage.
I have told my voice students that my epitaph will be 'Just sing the damned song!' This is after the hours of practice, of course!
There have been numerous times when I have performed and become so committed to my program that time seemed to slip away. One instance was a concert in Weill Hall with my duo-piano partner, Eleanor Benoist. We were playing a tough program but had worked together many long hours. During the performance, when we came to the last piece on the program, I suddenly thought, 'How did we get here so soon? Did we leave something out?' Well of course, we hadn't, but our concentration was so complete that time had simply slipped away. It seemed to have sped up!This kind of experience is a good end to aim for by any performer.
My students will present another recital at the end of spring term and we will do an informal recital for each other sometime before that. Practice makes perfect.
Even though all of them may not become professional singers, they will have had this wonderful experience of the love that comes back to one when the audience joins you in the appreciation of music: they applaud! Applause is palpable love being sent to you over the footlights. That is the greatest feeling in the world!
