Paris
Vocal Music Performance

ACADEMIC PROGRAM

Orientation (one week)

French Language Seminar: 10-15 hours weekly of French grammar and diction at La Sorbonne

Research Methods Seminar: 30 hours of coaching and master classes

Music and Culture Seminar: 60 hours of lectures, guided museum visits, concerts, musical exhibitions and seasonal cultural events (example: Fête des Vendanges de Montmartre)

Music Research Project Preparation: 12 hours of private lessons in preparation for students end of term final presentation

Music Research Project: End of term recital, professional rehearsals/concerts with Maestro Steven Crawford

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS: 

MUSIC AND CULTURE SEMINAR

The Music and Culture Seminar is a multifaceted course aimed at understanding the unique position of music, and more generally the arts in Paris. This class combines lectures and master classes by professional musicians with an exploration of the cultural monuments and venues of Paris. Guided lectures by LEXIA Paris Resident Director Ludmilla Barrand in the major art museums and architectural monuments will be complemented by attendance to music concerts and music exhibitions at the Cité de la Musique, a three day excursion to the historic city of Dijon in the heart of Bourgogne, and other seasonal cultural events in and around Paris.

Interspersed with this daily immersion in French life and culture, students will have direct exposure to the unique professional musical life in France through both their participation in the Lexia Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Steven Crawford,  their work with internationally recognized operatic artist-coaches such as Michele Troise and Eric Halvarson, icon of the French chanson Michel Jonasz, and international chamber music masters such as Guy Danel of the Quatour Danel.

This daily immersion in French life and culture will be interwoven with a series of interactive lecture/presentations by internationally prominent guest lecturers who are established professionals in the world of music and theater, as well as presenters on topics geared toward helping the emerging young artist maintain a balanced life under the stress of auditioning and performing.

This lecture series is designed to complement and expand the pedagogical goals of the MRS (MUSIC RESEARCH SEMINAR) from diverse perspectives, from presentations on tools to maximize physical performance and reduce unnecessary stress (The Alexander Technique), to examination of the young artist’s priorities in study, rehearsal and performance (The Performer’s Triangle of Relationship), to step by step guidance in the practical aspects essential to the realization of a professional musical project such as Quatour Danel.

The lecture series topics are applicable to both the vocal and instrumental programs, and will also afford LEXIA program participants the opportunity to meet and network with fellow and future colleagues.

RESEARCH METHODS SEMINAR:

Vocal Performance Master Class - CHANTER AUTREMENT – SING DIFFERENTLY ®

Each human voice is as unique as a fingerprint, and it is each singer’s innate vocal timbre that fundamentally distinguishes him from all others. There will always be someone who can sing higher, lower or louder, but each singer’s unique timbre is his and his alone. It is only when the technique developed in a young singers formative years is rooted in this authentic timbre that the he/she can begin to discover his real vocal and interpretive capabilities, thus enabling him to better formulate personal career goals in the world of vocal music.

Today’s singer is extremely well trained, with an impressive range of vocal and theatrical versatility. Ironically, in the complexity of all that he must attend to, his most precious gift, that unique vocal timbre that is his and his alone, is too often submerged or obscured – even lost. And lost with it, his capacity for authentic expression.

Singers have a tendency to fix on an impossible goal –- to hear their voices as an outside listener does. And in so doing, their singing becomes inevitably detached from its primary functions: to move the audience, and to respond spontaneously to the demands of the music. Both singers and audiences know something is amiss, but can’t quite define what it is.

And in the quest to succeed in today’s highly competitive professional world, young singers often fall into the trap of modeling their voices on the sound and vocal personalities of successful mature artists. The result is that the unforgettable vocal personalities that we associate with great singers and speakers of the past are disappearing in today’s young artists. This is the unfortunate consequence of neglecting the only element that can ever separate an individual singer from all the others – their unique timbre and authentic expression.

It is possible to change this situation when singers understand how the natural synergy between mind, body and voice work together in the act of communication, and apply it directly to the act of singing. Based on the latest discoveries in neuroscience about how the plasticity of the brain spontaneously re-coordinates complex activities, the methods employed in CHANTER AUTREMENT – SING DIFFERENTLY ® allow singers to restore these primary functions in their singing, and to integrate that new approach without compromising any other necessary skills.

CHANTER AUTREMENT – SING DIFFERENTLY® restores and preserves the essential element that makes an artist fascinating – their unique unmistakable vocal timbre, and thus their authentic expression. This authentic expression is at the heart of why we sing and why we listen, as well as at is the heart of all music.

This Research Methods Seminar presents the ideal setting for each singer to observe and understand the phenomena of false sensory perception and cognitive illusion relative to the act of singing – traps that have sabotaged many promising young artists in both the audition process and in their first professional experiences. In each session, the participants will have the opportunity to work on the repertoire for their MRP (Music Research Performance), during which time they will develop the skills needed to overcome these traps. Participants will learn to focus their energy on the elements that they can control, instead of wasting it on things that they cannot. 
All participants in the Vocal Performance Program will present their work in a public recital, and have elective opportunities to collaborate with fellow students in the corresponding Instrumental Music Performance program. Selected vocal program participants will have to opportunity to take part in a rehearsal/public performance presentation with the Lexia Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Steven Crawford.

*This Research Methods Seminar is also open to instrumentalists, pianists, conductors, coaches and choral directors who wish to understand the elements that limit or expand a singer’s performance -essential information that can help them to draw the very best from the singers they will work with in the future.

MUSIC RESEARCH PROJECT

Individual Instruction

In tandem with the Research Methods Seminar, students will prepare an end-of-term Music Research Performance. To help students realize their projects each student will have 12 hours of private voice lessons.

The purpose of this series of private lessons is to give participants a personally tailored experience of how to employ the techniques presented in the Vocal Performance Master Class in the real life situation of preparing repertoire for public performance in a limited period of time. The emphasis will be on continued development of individual skills and musical expression. Accountability and musical preparation are expected from all LEXIA program participants.

THE MUSIC RESEARCH PERFORMANCE will include a public recital presentation, as well as a performance (for qualified students) with the Lexia Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Steven Crawford.

Elective opportunities will also be available to collaborate and perform with members of the orchestra-chamber music program.