The New Zealand visit was very successful and stimulating and I returned on quite a high. That only lasted a few days before the swine got me – and that was nearly 3 weeks ago.
In Auckland I was based with Katharine and Peter Watts. The message had gone out and I spent 2 days in Katharine’s studio teaching singers who’d booked ahead. It was very interesting to work with a range of singers, at different stages in their musical and vocal development. One professional oratorio singer later sent a thank-you email to Katharine saying (in part):
It really was an eye-opener of a lesson, and Jean’s teaching will come in very useful.
… that Rossini movement has been a challenge in the past, but with Jean’s help, although it felt rather unusual to sing it at first in the way that she got me to, it was extremely noticeable that however many times I had sung it by the end of the lesson, my throat felt completely relaxed, and as if it hadn’t been used at all. I would imagine that singing that solo that many times, in the way I had in the past, would have been a killer when succumbing to the old chin-jutting “technique”!
My sincere thanks to Jean for pointing me in the right direction. I remember [a friend] saying to me some time ago that she took singing lessons so that she would be steered away from bad habits, and prevent herself from forcing her voice; well, I think Jean has done that for me in one fell swoop! I hope that as many other people as possible took up the opportunity to have a lesson with Jean while she was here. Her advice will stay with me for a long time to come, and make singing even more of a joy!
I also gave a session for NEWZATS (The New Zealand Association of Teachers of Singing) on Text and Tone, explaining the links between word articulation and resonance, and demonstrating on 2 willing guinea pigs.
Then on to Wellington, with a couple of days’ teaching in the studio of Sally Barrett Boyes.
Akaroa, in the South Island, was cold and beautiful. There were about 40 at the conference on music education research, held in a large, old boatshed (fortunately renovated and heated!) on the edge of the water. With that small number, bonds were forged and there was time for informal discussion of work – both research and teaching. I particularly enjoyed re-establishing contact with two mates going back to student days in Perth: Dr Sam Leong (now Professor in charge of music education in Hong Kong) and Dr Joan Pope (still running round the world teaching and researching Dalcroze eurythmics).