Recently, two international figures who shaped my approach to singing and the teaching of singing have died: Richard Miller and Thomas Hixon. Both were Americans, whose work I first encountered through their publications.
I first became aware of Richard Miller’s work through his first book, English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing, first published in 1977, in which he examined the varying tonal ideals from one national school to another and how these shape vocal technique and approaches to the teaching of vocal technique. From a singing performance background in Ohio, Marseilles, Rome and Zürich, Richard moved into teaching and research in the US. He taught first at the University of Michigan for five years, and then at Oberlin Conservatory for over 40 years.
Richard Miller was internationally known as a teacher of singing and as an inspiration to singing teachers. His 1986 text, The Stucture of Singing remains a bible for singing teachers, with his other books also continuing to provide inspiration. He wrote books specifically devoted to the training tenors, sopranos, and baritones/basses. For me, a mezzo who also teaches many mezzos and contraltos, it is sad that he never got to that last book on training mezzos and contraltos. I met Richard Miller several times, when he came to Sydney to give masterclasses and workshops for teachers, and at international conferences. I was honoured that he was one of the examiners of my PhD thesis.
Thomas Hixon also visited Sydney. I remember him as an erudite, but unassuming man, with whom I shared the stage at a Sydney voice conference. He was an international authority on breath management, so I remember how delighted he was to be given a thank-you present of a didgeridu and his attempts at playing it. He was Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Arizona. His research centred on normal and abnormal speech production and the biomechanics of singing. While his work was principally in speech pathology, it certainly influenced our approach to breath management for singing. He had a gift for translating scientific findings into understandable practical applications, as demonstrated in his 2006 book, Respiratory Function in Singing.