News from our members
LATS – Latvian Association of Teachers of Singing
2. Conference held in Latvia
The 2nd LDSA conference was held from 27th – 29 June 2008 in Jazeps Vitols Latvian Music Accademy.
The conference was opened by the Rector of the Music Academy, Mr. Artis Simanis. This was followed by a vigorous 3-day work programme, each day beginning a with body movement and coordination programme under the guidance of Igors Kudrjavcevs, lecturer of the Riga Stradins University.
Day 1 - The first lecture by Ilze Strazdina covered questions regarding voice care and rehabilitation. This was followed by a master class by Prof. Elisabeth Bengtson-Opitz, University of Music and Theatre University with 8 promising young singers from several Latvian music colleges. The day finished with an irresistibly interesting lecture on the determination of voice type according to aerodynamic and radiological measurements by Dins Sumerags, phoniatrician at the J. Stradins Clinic, who is a doctor, singer, and scientist.
Day 2 – After the movement class with Igors Kudrjavcevs, Prof. Bengtson-Opitz presented a fascinating lecture on “Symbolism and Metaphor in German Lied” followed by master-classes conducted by Lithuanian Music and Theatre Academy Prof. Regina Maciute with 8 students from various music colleges in Latvia. In the closing speech prof.Regina Maciute particularly emphyasized the importance of not forcing the voice at the beginning of singing studies but to go step by step so that by entering the university one does not have to start learning from the beginning. The day finished with an exciting and exhilarating lecture on physiology of sound perceptivity presented by mag.art. Valdis Bernhofs.
Day 3 - On the last day, after the movement exercises, the audience had an opportunity to attend two master-classes conducted concurrently. The highly admired singer Inga Kalna had an opportunity to share her experiance with a wide range of students explaining various techniques and interpretations. The lecturer of Dome Chorus School Valda Tračuma explained how to release stress and achieve the best performance from younger children.
At the end of the conference the
participants were asked to submit their assessments in writing, results of which
were very positive, encouraging and thought-provoking.
At the business meeting, the members of the association reported on their
achievements during the year and the new board was elected.
President - Antra Jankava; Treasurer - Andžella Goba
Members of the board: Zigrīda Krīgere, Lilija Greidāne, Andis Pētersons, Dins
Sumerags, Mārtiņš Zvīgulis
At the present the association has 69 members.
We trust that we may continue our successful cooperation in the future.
Antra Jankava, President of LATS
The AOTOS Autumn conference took place at St Paul’s Girls’ School on Sunday 9 November. The conference opened with a presentation by Richard Stokes on the subject of “Heinrich Heine and Schumann”. It proved to be both scholarly and profoundly moving in equal measure. Richard Stokes needed little introduction to members of AOTOS since his books on German, French and Spanish song are well-known resources for many singing teachers already. After an interesting outline of Heine’s life, he focused on Schumann’s response to Heine’s ironic poems through his setting of Dichterliebe. Not only was the text studied in depth but each poem was followed by a recording which highlighted Schumann’s response to the text.
The next presentation was by Ed Blake, an Australian trained physiotherapist who has made a speciality of the diagnosis and treatment of performance based injuries. He brought with him his ultrasound equipment which allowed us all to see exactly how the muscles move and work during the act of support. This was a fascinating and illuminating presentation. Not only did he give a detailed presentation of the vocal and breathing anatomy but also the chance to see the ‘support’ muscles at work by using his equipment on a volunteer singing student.
After a wonderful lunch and an opportunity to explore and buy from the vast displays of songbooks brought by Faber Music, Peters Edition and Eva Hornstein’s second hand music book shop, all re-convened to witness a formal presentation to Coral Gould. It was made by Paul Deegan (Past Chairman) on behalf of the membership. Coral, with the admirable support of her husband John, has given many years’ service as Honorary Secretary to the Association, and the presentation was followed by a standing ovation.
The final session of the day was entitled “Smiling through the Pain: recognising and solving the common problems in developing the dancer’s voice for use in musical theatre”, and was led by Mary King. She brought with her four dance students from the Millennium Performing Arts School to demonstrate and to assist in explaining the problems. After an impressive physical warm-up, the four students did a vocal warm-up followed by each of them presenting a song. It has been known by many teachers for some time that the abdominal and mid-riff muscles which dancers use to keep their bodies taut and firm are exactly the same muscles that need to be flexible and elastic when singing. It was helpful to see that these students were aware of these issues and that through careful teaching it is possible to be a successful dancer whilst still following the basic principles of good singing. In fact it is essential!
So again, this was an inspirational day devised by our chairman Liza Hobbs with lots to take home and pass on to our own students. The next conference is on Sunday 8th March at the Birmingham Conservatoire, where speakers will include Ron Morris talking on “Articulation” and Janice Chapman addressing some of the particular issues raised when male singers learn with female teachers. If you would like to know more about AOTOS, please go to our website www.aotos.org.uk
Heidi Pegler, AOTOS Membership and Publicity