Whats the best approach for choosing repetoire for the DipABRSM singing? Should I be going for a variety of styles and periods to show versatility, or should I be singing pieces which "go together" better in terms of how a real recital would be, and therefore choosing pieces in a styles which brings out the best in me? Some of the pieces on the singing list are quite short so it takes quite a lot to fill 35 mins.

Suggestions/ideas anyone?

The diploma regulations, which I'm sure you've read and know rather better than I do (as my diploma is from Trinity not the AB ), state that you should choose a general programme that covers wide range of styles, moods, periods etc. Think of it as being a chance to demonstrate as many different aspects of singing as you can.

As you say, you will have to choose a number of works, and you're not allowed to have any two by the same composer, so you're going to be able to choose a good variety of material.

Choosing mine, I had a mental list: had I covered the main genres - Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern? Had I incorporated opera and oratorio rather than just songs? Had I demonstrated recitative, coloratura techniques, lyric singing? Had I shown my full vocal range? How many languages? At a rough estimate 35 minutes is about 9 items, so there's a fair bit of leeway.

Obviously you don't want to sing anything that really doesn't suit your voice, but you are going to have to sing outside your comfort zone to some degree - and you may surprise yourself! For example I'd always preferred the late baroque/early classical music I'd sung, but I discovered a real enjoyment of the modern composers in my repertoire and my LTCL choices so far are based on this discovery.

I'd also suggest you collect your songs first, and don't worry about performance order up front. An order may well suggest itself to you as you become more familiar with the works. I discovered that my "start" song and "finish" song were obvious from early on, but some of the middle order needed a fundamental re-work as I ended up with two strenuous works (a Romantic song by Berlioz and an aria by Mozart) together, leaving me without the resources to move comfortably to the next item.

Good luck with your choices - part of the fun is trying out the repertoire in the syllabus before you make your final selection. Enjoy!

Cheers

Katyjay

Hi Katyjay,

Thanks for your advice. Interestingly my teacher wants me to learn ALL the pieces on the repetoire list, I thought maybe he was just being cruel but atually it's great to be singing some"grown up " oratorio and opera stuff instead of just "songs". So really I'm quite happy to learn it all and treat is as an exercise in increasing my repetoire. Once I've done all the note-bashing we can begin the process of elimination to pick the best pieces covering the widest range. I may be sad but I'm quite looking forward to tackling the programme notes. I haven't had any chance to study music formally before, so it will force me to research things I wouldn't normally have done.

I just wish I could turn back the clock 20 years and study music instead of psychology! Mind you, I love my job now (chemotherapy nursing) and wonder if I would have been more, or less, fulfilled by actually studying music formally. Would I have become cynical as many professional musicians seem to do? Perhaps being a gifted amateur is the best of both worlds - pretty good at music while retaining the enthusiasm and wonder at being able to create something glorious.

I'm rambling now but as an accountant turned musician perhaps you may understand what I'm getting at?!

My teacher is also going through pretty well the whole syllabus with me, as there are a far number of pieces that I don't know yet. We are also not limiting ourselves to the soprano list, but looking at any from the other lists (apart from opera/oratorio) that I could sing.

To help with a final choice, I'm trying to sing as many of the pieces as possible in public (concerts, competitions etc) so that I can see how they go under pressure. This is quite useful and I've already eliminated a couple and firmed up on about 5 pieces as a result.

Like you I am also rather bizzarrely looking forward to the programme note writing part. As you say, it's a welcome change from normal work!

Have you chosen any pieces yet - I'd be interested in your choices, once you've started deciding. Good luck!