• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • News & Blog
  • Weddings & Rentals
  • Login
  • Cart
  • Membership/Donate

Caramoor

  • About
    • History
    • The Rosen House
    • Who We Are
    • Employment
    • Inspire Campaign
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Kids & Families
    • Sonic Innovations
    • Health & Safety
  • Visit
    • Getting to Caramoor
    • Box Office
    • Explore the Area
    • Venues
    • Accessibility
    • Policies
  • Education
    • Mentoring
    • School Programs
    • An Interactive Caramoor
    • Community Engagement
  • Support
    • Membership & Donations
    • Volunteer
    • Our Donors
    • Ways to Give
  • News & Blog
  • Weddings & Rentals
  • Login
  • Cart
    • Membership/Donate
  • About
    • History
    • The Rosen House
    • Who We Are
    • Employment
    • Inspire Campaign
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Kids & Families
    • Sonic Innovations
    • Health & Safety
  • Visit
    • Getting to Caramoor
    • Box Office
    • Explore the Area
    • Venues
    • Accessibility
    • Policies
  • Education
    • Mentoring
    • School Programs
    • An Interactive Caramoor
    • Community Engagement
  • Support
    • Membership & Donations
    • Volunteer
    • Our Donors
    • Ways to Give
  • News & Blog
  • Weddings & Rentals
  • Login
  • Cart
    • Membership/Donate

2021 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars | Day 4

March 30, 2021 Blog

March 29, 2021

Artistic Director Steven Blier recaps each day of intensive rehearsal and coaching with the 2021 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars — four vocalists and one pianist at the beginning of their professional careers. Day four faced the difficulty of the French language!

Normally the fourth day of a seven-day residency is a clammy experience. The concert looms, the window for fixing problems is closing, the music and words need to be memorized, and everyone is getting tired. In short, the party’s over.

That was blessedly not true today. We ran this project a little differently than in previous years: we gave the singers the option of a slightly longer stay that included a day off, and they unanimously voted yes. That meant that Sunday—yesterday—was the eye of the hurricane. In truth, we all needed a little bit of time to regroup. And since Monday was designated “off-book day,” the singers had a chance to catch their breath and work on memorization. 

I think the cast must have been fairly industrious during their free day, because they were (1) very much on top of their music, and (2) a bit tired. Still, the spirit in the room was good. Certain kinds of progress with a song can only happen once the performer gets his or her face out of the score, and there was more sweetness and more depth in their work than there had been two days ago. 

The Covid restrictions are still in place: the singers, who have previously quarantined, can work together unmasked. Bénédicte and I, who have been vaccinated, can also work with them unmasked as long as we are eight feet from them. At lunch we’re at the same long table, but Béné and I are at one end and everyone else is at a discreet distance away. Sadly, we can’t be photographed as a group unless we wear masks (and what is the point of that?) or sit apart from them. We tried it, but you can see me wincing.

None of this has stopped us from working in an intimate way. We have not used the other rehearsal room to split into two groups; I did not hire any other guest coaches this year. We have spent all of our time together as a septet, and because Béné and I have the same goal in mind and kept true to it, the process has had a rare feeling of consistency.

What is that goal? Well, none of our American cast actually speaks French. But we work every day on the poetry, searching out the nuances and beating the vowels into submission. When they sing their French songs, we want a feeling not just of correctness but authenticity. We want them to own those words and sing them with authority. We want them to sound as if they wrote the songs. We want the French audience to tune and say, “Oh la la, pas mal.”

There were some stunning moments today. When Samuel Kidd began the Charles Trénet song “Douce France,” he launched the tune with a suaveness that took our breath away. Most Americans have trouble with the conversational French “r” that we’re trying to use in the popular songs, and truth to tell four days ago Sam’s sounded a bit like Yiddish. Today it purred of him like Eartha Kidd seducing a rich businessman. He’s a veritable Carvel machine of music, a fountain of aural delight. 

In truth they’re all killin’ it. For some months I’ve been comforting my friends, “There is light at the end of the tunnel.” Now I know that my words of hope were actually true. Listening to Nicoletta Berry, Erin Wagner, Aaron Crouch, Sam Kidd, and Gracie Francis is my reward for getting through twelve and a half months of musical solitary confinement.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Blog
  • From the Archives
  • Press Releases
  • Rosen House
  • Rosen House Connections
  • The Social Scene

Recent Posts

  • Caramoor Announces Appointment of Gillian Fox as President & CEO
  • Introducing Caramoor’s 2025 Summer Research Fellow: Annalise Gall 
  • 2025 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars: Day 6 Blog | From Artistic Director Steven Blier
  • 2025 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars: Day 5 Blog | From Artistic Director Steven Blier
  • 2025 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars: Day 4 Blog | From Artistic Director Steven Blier

Footer

VISIT US

149 Girdle Ridge Road
PO Box 816
Katonah, NY 10536
914.232.1252
boxoffice@caramoor.org

BOX OFFICE

By Phone Only
Tuesday – Friday, 10:00am – 4:00pm

Venue Box offices open two hours before performances.

STAY CONNECTED

Sign up to receive our weekly email newsletter:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Contact Us
  • Policies

© Copyright 2021 Caramoor

Manage Cookie Consent
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}