Bel Canto, in so many words
I am a professional opera and musical theater tenor with extensive experience performing on operatic and theatrical stages, as well as in recording studios. My versatility spans multiple genres, including jazz, world music, and pop.
I hold bachelor's degrees in Music and Psychology, providing me with a unique understanding of both the technical and emotional aspects of performance. Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of studying and collaborating with some of the industry's most esteemed professionals, including Metropolitan Opera artists Cheryl Studer and Jason Stearns, and award-winning record producer Pierre Marchand, known for his work with Sarah McLachlan.
In addition to my vocal expertise, I am a dedicated Zen meditation practitioner and coach. This practice deeply informs my teaching, helping students develop mindfulness and presence in their performances. My background as an actor, with training from the prestigious Actors Studio, further enhances my approach to vocal technique by integrating dramatic interpretation and emotional authenticity.
Fluent in several languages, including French, Greek, and Italian, I bring a comprehensive and global perspective to my work, enriching both my own performances and those of my students.
The bel canto jazz great Tony Bennett has said, "find the center of the note". Franco Corelli, one of the great and thrilling tenor voices of the 20th century said, "not too back, not too forward, not too high up, not too low".
Joan Sutherland, one of the great sopranos said, "the sound should feel like it's hitting the dome of the palate, the front of the dome" before it starts feeling a little further back as you go higher.
Barbara Cook. Just listen to some of her live performances. that clarity of sound, of diction. That's a lesson in itself. All that to say, find the center of the note - the focal point should feel the same as when we're speaking in a resonant fashion (as that familiar adage from the historic Italian School says, “si canta come si parla” - one sings as one speaks).
One of the things that had held me back early on in my vocal development is jaw tension, due to a bad under-bite that I cultivated in my childhood years for whatever reason. And tension in the jaw/tongue area creates muscular interference to an open and free sound. It doesn't let the vocal chords approximate as efficiently. The symptoms and results of that can be many. Inability to sustain long phrases, vocal fatigue, lack of ease with high notes (we use the very edges of our chords for the higher notes). Which brings me to the falsetto/head voice.
The old Bel Canto school spoke of only 2 things: singing a clear vowel, and an awareness of the importance of vocal registers. There are 2 vocal mechanisms, muscular co-ordinations, that need to be built up thru exercise, and then properly blended. Focus on the weaker of the two. In men, it's almost always the falsetto. In women, it depends, but non classical singers usually neglect it. If you find your transition difficult, work that area from the point of view of strengthening the head voice, so that it dovetails into your regular voice more easily.
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was when I sang at NYC’s Birdland Jazz Club, and the legendary Michael Feinstein, a meticulous exponent of the Great American Songbook, was there. He simply said, "keep it conversational". And in a way, what is art, but a conversation?