I'm Singin' in the Morn'!

As a tenor, I am wielder of one of the most difficult voice parts (say what you want others, tenor's the hardest). When used properly and with the proper warm-up, it can sound amazing and is well worth the immense effort one must put into it. This is not to say the other parts don't have to work as hard, it is only to say that it is harder for tenors to get to their peak and easier for them to die (vocally, that is).

That said, the morning-time is the worst time for any singer to sing (unless they're nocturnal). It would be difficult for even the world's best soprano to sing a difficult aria early in the morning.

Recently, I was at a vocal performance audition for one of the top music schools in the country, Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. Though I got up at 7:30 and the audition wasn't until 10:40, for some reason I could not get warmed up well enough by audition time and ended up cracking on every high note in Mozart's Il Mio Tesoro Intanto. Most notably was my high A, the favorite note of this piece. My runs were choppy and overall the song was terrible.

To top this off, the other piece I auditioned with was Ständchen, by Franz Shubert. It is a great piece I've performed numerous times and auditioned with prior to the Oberlin audition. Yet, on this very important day, I forget an entire phrase. Completely blanked, I stand there with my mouth open, the blood draining from my face. "Damn!" I say in my mind. Fortunately, I was able to remember the next phrases and could keep going till the end, even with the knowledge that there was no way Oberlin was going to accept me with that audition.

Two days ago I redeemed myself with my audition at Westminster Choir College, also one of the premier music colleges of America. This is probably because I took a lesson from Oberlin and woke up at 5:00 instead for an audition at approximately the same time. I warmed up for an hour at home, then another 45 minutes there. My repertoire was Il Mio Tesoro Intanto, Mozart; Ständchen, Shubert; Bright is the Ring of Words, Vaughan Williams; and Total Eclipse, Handel. I was fully prepared, with all of my music memorized and my shattered confidence rebuilt after a morning of preparation: hot and steamy shower, green tea and raw honey, slow and steady warm up to a high B.

The audition went phenomenally. I had an interview with the director of music education, Dr. Abrahams, then the vocal audition with three judges whose names I unfortunately cannot recall, then the Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA) exam. Dr. Abrahams was great; he guided the conversation quite well, and I followed suit answering the questions quickly and with confidence and understanding (hopefully, the fact that he hates my choir director, Mr. Dungee, won't impact my aid). The vocal audition, though shorter than I would have hoped, allowed me to demonstrate my abilities and range and understanding of the pieces I performed. I was allowed to choose the first piece, Ständchen, then they picked the order of the rest. They only wanted to here Bright is the Ring of words, then they told me they had heard enough and from what I could tell, they were pleased.

The AMMA exam was daunting in the respect that it was so terribly easy and so very repetitive. They play a few measures of music, then they play the same measures but with a slight variation in either tonality or rhythm. We had to choose whether the second play was the same, tonally different, or rhythmically different. Quite simple.

Finally, though, to the point of this post. If ever you must sing (or if you know a singer who, perhaps, is unaware) before noon. Ensure that they get the proper amount of rest and that they have at least 4 hours to warm up after they wake up. I, personally, will never make that mistake again. At the time of this post, I am probably just waking up to prepare for a competition at 2:00. Because of my silly inaction, I will probably not be going to my top choice school. Fortunately, Westminster is a spectacular school as well, and I have no inhibitions in following in two of my favorite teachers' footsteps. Thank you Scott Williamson and Jason Dungee for all you've done for me.