I've just come back from watching part of a masterclass that was held locally, and it's totally blown me away!

It was a musical theatre masterclass, with German singer Sanni Luis, who has been a star in Cats, Les Mis etc, etc, etc in Germany.

The singers were six people who are having classical singing lessons, and the morning was spent helping them to perform various numbers from West End musicals. This included work on how to "belt", as opposed to singing operatically, and how to communicate the meaning of the song and the singer's feelings to the audience without hamming it up and over acting.

There were magic moments, such as watching someone singing "On my own" from Les Mis, and, after Sanni's teaching, being able to see the "lights grow misty in the river" and "trees...full of starlight".

And to watch people go from being more-or-less glued to the floor with their hands by their sides to being able to convey meaning even with very small movements - adding colour to the works they were singing - was an absolute revelation.

My mind's spinning with this - it's a level of performance I'd never really seen up close before! I hope I can learn something from it to put into my singing, even if I'm not belting out Lloyd Webber numbers.

Not sure this is a "discussion" topic as such, but I just wanted to talk about it, and thought you'd all understand. Going back in a bit for the afternoon session - I can't wait!

cheers

Katyjay

Katyjay

This all sounds fantastic. Where was the masterclass?

Glad you were inspired by it!

sounds fabulous, katyjay!

What a fabulous experience - I would love to go and watch a class like that. Hope the afternoon is as good as the morning was.



A
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How do you get to hear of these Masterclasses? I'd be fascinated to go along and watch, but have no idea when/where they're held.



Amber
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Some are advertised on websites, some I find out about from the big choirs I go to - their organisers get sent all sorts of promotional materials.

This one was organised by my singing teacher. I'm hoping he'll set up another one, and I want to be one of the participants next time I'll let you know if it's on.

Not that I suffered too much from just being an onlooker this time! My lesson was the day after, and my teacher was absolutely bursting with ideas from Sanni - which he only needed a tame volunteer to try out....so I got more of the same training at second hand!

Such a hard life being a singer....

Cheers

Katyjay

QUOTE (katyjay @ Feb 12 2005, 06:53 PM)

This one was organised by my singing teacher. I'm hoping he'll set up another one, and I want to be one of the participants next time I'll let you know if it's on.

Yes please.



Amber
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