Classical Voice Majors
SPRING 2013
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Please ‘bookmark’ this blog – the schedule for Classical Voice Studio is below. Also embedded is lots of information on grading, performance protocol, resources for music. See below
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Please pay special attention to the material on how to prepare your music for the accompanists, and also the timeline for getting music to them, prior to them playing it for you. Gone are the days when we expect a pianist to play a piece at sight – they deserve the professional courtesy of readable music, given to them in plenty of time to master. See below.
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Remaining Classical Voice studio dates:
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(All are Tuesday at noon unless otherwise noted)
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Location for all studios - Room #223 (final studio on April 16th will be onstage in Poncho)
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#7. April 9 – masterclass with Nancy Zylstra – “if it ain’t baroque, why sing it?” (this is my title, not Nancy’s)
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#8. April 16 – everyone sings in preparation for SOS and ESPs
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April 23-26 is SOS
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April 30, May 1 and 2 are esps
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Upcoming Classical Voice Recitals:
· Turi Henderson and Marie Morris, April 14, 8:00 p.m. (junior recitals)
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**New policy in the Music Department – each student is expected to attend 10 concerts per semester. Please support your colleagues and friends as they perform from 12:30-1:20 throughout the semester. In order to assist with these concerts, afternoon classes begin at 1:30…this means you have time for lunch (or can get warmed up) from 12-12:30 and can then attend these concerts. Let your instructor know if you have questions.
ACCOMPANIST PROTOCOL updated 2.16.12
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Rev. Jan. 2012
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Music Department Classical Singer & Accompanist Policies
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Unlike many other colleges, Cornish provides accompanists at no additional charge
to all classical vocal students for lessons, vocal studio classes, noon concerts,
masterclasses and End of Semester Performances (ESPs). Students are only
responsible for arranging and paying for their own accompanists at their junior and
senior recitals. The professional expectations governing the use of accompanists by
classical vocal students are outlined below.
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Sheet Music
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Providing sheet music to accompanists:
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• Once the private instructor has assigned a new piece of music, students must
provide copies of the music to the accompanist by the end of that week.
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• Label the music with your name, the accompanist name, and the date; put it in
the accompanist’s mailbox.
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• Send an email to the accompanist and cc: your teacher.
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Quality of copies:
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• Copies provided must be clean, and free of extraneous marks.
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• Copies must include all staves (at the bottom) and all lyrics and markings (at
the top).
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• Copies should be single-sided, 3-hole-punched on both sides so the
accompanists can determine the best page turns for themselves.
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Performance Preparation
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What do we mean by a performance? In short, any time there is an audience. You
have multiple opportunities to sing in performance each semester: vocal studios,
noon concerts, masterclasses, Scores of Sound, and ESPs.
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Preparing for a performance:
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• At least two weeks prior to any performance make sure your accompanist has
the music!
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• Two weeks prior to performance run the potential repertoire in rehearsal.
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• One week prior to performance run the repertoire with accompanist in your
lesson. Take into account when the accompanist can attend your lesson and
adjust timeline accordingly.
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Please note: accompanists have the option to refuse to accompany a singer in
performance if they have not been given the consideration of preparing and
rehearsing with the singer at least two weeks prior to a performance!
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Performance Opportunities
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Vocal studio and masterclasses:
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• In vocal studio classes you have the opportunity to sing for your peers and the
Cornish vocal faculty; in masterclasses you may sing for a visiting artist or
pedagogue and receive constructive criticism in a forum open to the public
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• You will have the opportunity to sing at least three times every year at vocal
studios or masterclasses. This is an opportunity… seize it with gratitude!
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• Dr. Natalie Lerch will assign the vocal studio and masterclass singing slots.
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• Discuss and agree upon repertoire with your teacher; send an email to Natalie
and the accompanist at least two weeks prior to the performance.
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• Make sure your accompanist has the music two weeks prior to performance.
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Noon Concerts:
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• Natalie will coordinate noon concert programming.
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• Fill out the Noon Concert form with all information requested. This includes
information such as the correct title for the piece, the composer’s first name,
etc. It is your responsibility to gather this information! Practice being precise!
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• Natalie will finalize the program for the concert and provide copies of the
program to the accompanists via e-mail.
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• Students will be able to see a posted copy of the program on the voice board
the day before the concert.
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End of Semester Performances (ESPs):
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• The Music Department Administrator Mandy Bowker schedules all students
based on the availability of the teachers and accompanists.
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• Fill out the ESP contract with all information requested; have your instructor
sign it. Turn in the contract to the Music Department office by the due date.
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• Students will find a complete schedule listing all assigned ESP timeslots
posted on the second floor bulletin board.
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Junior and Senior Recitals:
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• You are responsible for arranging and paying for your own accompanist for
your junior and senior recitals.
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• Determine with your accompanist the dress rehearsal/performance schedule
for your recital and when payment will occur.
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• Be prepared to pay your accompanist the total fee by check or with exact
change on the agreed date.
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• You must pay your accompanist at or before the time of your recital.
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Accompanists Recital Fees
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For Chris Vincent and Guinevere Saenger for 2011-12.
• $25 for a 30-minute rehearsal
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• $40 for a 60-minute rehearsal
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• $50 for performance
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Music Department Accompanists Policy:
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Cancelation Policy
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If you are sick and canceling a lesson:
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• Email your teacher and cc: the accompanist.
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• Follow up with a call to your accompanist.
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• It is not okay to “ask” a friend or another singer to do this for you. It is your
responsibility to contact all appropriate parties.
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If you are sick and canceling a rehearsal:
• Call your accompanist first.
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• Follow up with an email to the accompanist and cc: your teacher.
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• Canceled rehearsals will not be made up so use your time wisely. There are
many ways you can “rehearse” without singing (e.g., talking through rhythms,
marking music with accompanist, having the accompanist make a tape of the
accompaniment or new melodies for study purposes, etc.).
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A Final Few Words
Accompanists are not interchangeable. For those occasions where the lesson
accompanist is not the same as the rehearsal accompanist—and this will happen due
to everyone’s schedule—speak to both accompanists and your teacher to determine
who will play for your performance.
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The policies outlined above are not optional.
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Adherence to these policies will be
taken into consideration in determining your private lesson grade. Failure to comply
with these policies will affect your grade. If you have any questions, please talk with
your voice teacher.
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CONTACT #’s:
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MICHAEL DELOS :
206.937.8353 (h.) or
726.5174: ext. 1089 (msgs.)
mdelos@comcast.net
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NATALIE LERCH :
206.650.0059 (cell)
NLerch@cornish.edu
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CYNDIA SIEDEN:
360 888 7251
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KATHRYN WELD :
425. 241. 4564 (h.)
KWeld@cornish.edu
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NANCY ZYLSTRA:
206.781.2208
NZylstra@cornish.edu
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MUSIC OFFICE contact:
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206.726.5030
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NOTE: THE ONLY WAY TO CANCEL A LESSON IS TO CONTACT YOUR INSTRUCTOR DIRECTLY. DO NOT GO THROUGH THE MUSIC OFFICE.
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ACCOMPANISTS /
COACHES:
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CHRIS VINCENT:
Chris.Vincent@comcast.net
206-465-3296
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GUINEVERE SAENGER:
guineveresaenger@gmail.com
(206) 518-7269
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GENERAL DEPARTMENT POLICIES:
Cornish music departmental policies are outlined in the student/faculty Music Department Handbook. The purpose of this brochure is to give you more in-depth policies relating specifically to Classical/New Music Voice Majors. If you want more information on any aspect of your training, how the course is graded or performance protocol, consult with your Individual Instructor.
THE GOAL:
Each classical voice instructor at Cornish wants to help you develop a healthy vocal technique so that you may have a long and successful career in whatever area of music you are interested in (opera, musical theatre, recital or oratorio repertoire). We will guide you in literature choices that fit your voice, personality and ability, and that meet a classical music program's standards.
LESSONS:
There are 13 fifty-minute lessons and one ESP each semester. Your 8 studio classes count as the 14th lesson. You are required to be at every lesson and your esp. WE DO NOT HAVE ROOM IN OUR SCHEDULES TO CHANGE YOUR LESSON DAY/TIME. Makeup lessons are at the sole discretion of the instructor. One will only be scheduled if you are severely ill, and notify your instructor by phone or e-mail 24 hours prior to the lesson time. The contact information is listed below. Obviously any lesson the voice instructor has to cancel will be made up. Student “no shows” or late cancellations will not be made up and will result in a lowering of the semester grade. NEVER SCHEDULE A CONFLICTING EVENT DURING YOUR LESSON TIME.
Another word about illness. It’s going to happen, both in school and out. Every serious musician has to learn how to sing when ill, or they simply won’t be hire-able. Even if you can’t sing, there is plenty of work that can be done on rhythm, pronunciation, character motivation, watching videos, critiquing CD’s, etc. You also can learn vocalises that will help you get the voice moving healthily for those times in the future where you will have no option to cancel.
Coming on time to your lesson is a must. Your teacher keeps accurate time and so can you. You may have already discovered the clocks are all wrong in Kerry. Simply set your watch to an accurate source: the radio or your phone. Another word about time: After 10 minutes, your teacher will consider you a no show and in all probability will leave the studio. You will be graded as if you had not arrived at all.
The 50 minute lesson is a time to work on technical challenges with your instructor, demonstrate the progress you’ve made in the intervening week and assimilate new musical material. Freshmen can expect to be working extensively on vocal technique, especially during the first semester. In general, you should plan on working on 5-8 vocal pieces per semester. Beginning with your Sophomore year, you’ll already be starting to amass repertoire for your Junior and Senior recitals. You would then be expected to work on 8-12 vocal pieces per semester.
GRADING:
Your lessons will each be graded and averaged at the end of each semester. You are expected to show clear evidence from week to week that you are practicing at the minimum suggested level (see Practice), demonstrate progress on your assigned repertoire and master technique issues that come up in the course of your studies. Any grade adjustments due to unexcused absences at Studio class (see: Studio class) or failure to follow through on performance commitments will be factored in at the end of the semester and become part of your final grade.
Here are the Cornish Music Department Grading Standards:
A = Excellent work
Definition: The Music Department considers the grade of “A” to be reserved for work that is exceptional in every way. To receive an “A” grade, a student must fully achieve all goals set forth in an assignment, demonstrate thorough and complete understanding of the concepts involved, and perform all work on the project or assignment to a consistently excellent standard.
A- Excellent work with minor reservation
B+ = Very Good work
B = Good work
Definition: The Department considers the grade of “B” appropriate for work that is above average in execution and meets all goals set forth in the assignment of project. A student receiving a “B” on a project has performed to a high standard, completing work on a timely basis, achieving the primary goals of the project, and demonstrating good understanding of the concepts involved.
B- =Encouraging work
C+ =Work shows potential, but improvement is required
C = Mediocre work
Definition: The Department considers the grade of “C” to represent work that is average in execution, meeting some of the goals set forth in the assignment or project, but not demonstrating a thorough understanding of the concepts involved. A student receiving a ”C” on a project has completed the work involved, but has not worked to a high standard. A grade of “C” or lower is not considered satisfactory performance by the Department, nor is it possible to graduate from the College with a “C” average.
C- = Poor work: substantial improvement is required in comprehension and execution
D = Very poor work
Definition: The Department considers the grade of “D” to represent work that is unacceptable on most levels, but that demonstrates a small degree of understanding of the concepts involved, or that shows some potential for improvement. “D” work is considered highly unsatisfactory performance, only a shade above failing.
F = Failing work
BOTTOM LINE:
The Music Department expects students to be capable of achieving a “B” grade or better in their core classes. A grade of “C” or below in a core class will result in a Departmental Warning.
STUDIO CLASSES:
Studio classes are held on eight designated Tuesdays during the semester. They are 45 minutes long, and begin promptly at noon. Attendance is mandatory for Voice Majors. Each unexcused absence will result in a lowering of your Private Instruction grade for the semester. A to A minus, A minus to B, etc.....
These sessions are designed to give you more opportunities to perform for each other, and to explore and discuss many practical issues you’ll be faced with as a professional singer, such as audition protocol, stage deportment, choice of repertoire, and study techniques. We welcome your ideas and topics for future semesters.
esps:
(esp = End of Semester Presentation). At the end of your 1st semester you are required to sing one song for faculty members. In subsequent semesters you prepare three pieces which best display your progress during the semester, and perform two of those pieces. You should prepare music in contrasting styles and languages, and in every way treat this as a performance. This means appropriate concert attire, which you should choose in consultation with your individual Voice instructor.
All music performed at your ESP must be memorized, Your ESP is considered to be your 15th lesson of the Semester, and failure to memorize your repertoire will result in a much lower grade for the “lesson”, impacting your overall semester grade.
PRACTICE:
A singer, unlike an instrumentalist, can’t practice for hours on end each day. A singer working towards a voice degree should be singing a minimum thirty to sixty minutes daily. Please note that you’ll be singing in Diction class, Sight Singing, Musical Theater workshop, and/or Choir, and all of that factors into the daily minimum. You can build on that vocal work by silently spending additional time listening to recordings of your repertoire, listening to tapes of your own lessons, working on the rhythms and memorization or writing out IPA transcriptions of your song texts. This work can obviously be broken up into segments, alternating vocalization with work on rhythm, text and memorization.
If the Voice faculty could give you one piece of valuable advice about practicing, it would be this: Schedule your practice time with the same commitment and regularity that you reserve for any other disciplined activity such as going to the gym & working out. Find out which rooms have pianos and sign them out for specific blocks of time on a daily basis. You’d be astonished at the strides you can make when you practice daily. And you’ll get so much more out of your lessons if you really dig in and incorporate all of your improvements in technique and master your assigned repertoire.
RECITALS & CONCERTS:
You will be given opportunities to appear in recitals and/or
concerts throughout the year as your progress warrants. These
performances are an important part of your growth as a singer, and provide a forum for displaying your progress in learning and presenting new repertoire.
Since a lot of “behind the scenes” planning and publicity goes into scheduling these performances, it’s vital that you honor your commitment to perform. Free tickets to a show, requests by your employer to work that day/night or “too much homework” are not acceptable excuses to beg out of a performance.
One practical reason for this policy is that in the professional arena, performers are under binding contracts and often are union members. Failure to follow through on your commitments as a professional is incompatible with having a successful career as a performer. So once you are invited and have agreed to perform, “The show must go on”, with you on the program! All vocal performances at Cornish are to be done from memory, without music. If you are unable/unwilling to memorize your music, your semester grade will be lowered. In addition, your commitment to appear onstage carries with it the commitment to dress appropriately. Since part of your training is to learn the standards that exist in the “real world”, this is not an area that you will be permitted to treat casually.
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ACCOMPANIST COMPENSATION FOR JUNIOR & SENIOR RECITALS:
Junior & Senior recital accompanists are not compensated by Cornish. Dress rehearsal and the Recital performance fees are the responsibility of the student. In the past, both Chris Vincent and Guinevere Saenger have agreed to the following fee schedule:
$25 for 30 minute rehearsal
$40 for 60 minute rehearsal
$50 for the performance itself
So for a dress rehearsal lasting an hour & a half, that fee would be $65. The performance would be $50. Any additional rehearsals that you request outside of lessons or coachings would be billed at the rate quoted above.
Accompanists are responsible for developing their own policy on how to collect these fees. Some may want to enter into a written contract, for example. Be sure to be in contact with them right from the beginning of the process and work out the logistics.
PERFORMANCE ATTIRE:
All performances, whether one selection on a recital during the day, or a full evening recital in your Senior year, require that you wear professional attire. This is a gesture of respect for your audience, the composer and your fellow performers.
The following attire is unacceptable:
Sweatshirts, t-shirts, jeans of any color, sports outfits, multi-pocketed canvas slacks, sandals and sneakers.
Women, tight tops with bare midriffs constitute inappropriate concert wear. You may wear a tailored ensemble including pants if the character of the song/aria is meant to be a boy, ala Cherubino or Orfeo. Otherwise, wear a dress suitable for a business interview or reception. Given the height of the stage, please wear a lower hemline than is perhaps fashionable. Ladies, also consider the height of the shoes you choose. If they are painful to wear, or cause your posture to totally change, they are inappropriate for performance.
Men should wear clean, pressed slacks and shirt, with or without a tie (and if the collar is open, please no visible t-shirt ). If you have either a sport coat or a full suit, that would be ideal. Since this is an integral part of your training for a professional career, we will insist on these standards.
If you are unsure about an outfit that you’re considering, please discuss it with your voice instructor well in advance of the performance date.
These same standards apply to auditions. You have only ONE CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION. Incidentally, make sure your accompanist understands and will meet these requirements also.
CONCERT ATTENDANCE / REVIEWS:
Voice Majors are required to attend a minimum of THREE (3) CONCERTS OR RECITALS PER SEMESTER. These can be noon or evening concerts, and must contain vocal music, at least in part. Have your program signed by an attending faculty member AT THE TIME OF THE CONCERT/RECITAL.
In addition, your private instructor may assign a listening requirement, such as a specific vocal CD in the listening lab, which you would “review” with a short written report. Consult your instructor.
Michael Delos bio
With a repertoire of over 40 operatic roles, Bass-baritone Michael Delos has appeared with the New York City Opera, L’Opera de Monte Carlo, Chicago Opera Theater, Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, Hawaii Opera Theater, Opera Omaha, Opera Utah and Vancouver (B.C.) Opera.
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Featured roles include Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s THE RAKE’S PROGRESS, Don Alfonso in Mozart’s COSI FAN TUTTE, Leporello in DON GIOVANNI, Capulet in Gounod’s ROMEO & JULIETTE and Colline in LA BOHEME.
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Much in demand as a concert performer, Mr. Delos has sung with the Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Sacramento Symphony, the Toyko Nihon Shinsei Symphony of Japan and the Osaka Symphony. He also has been a featured soloist with the Peter Britt Festival and the prestigious Carmel Bach Festival.
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Recently Delos appeared with composer Nobuo Uematsu and the Seattle Symphony, performing the opera 'DRACO & MARIA' from the wildly successful 'Final Fantasy' video game franchise to sell out crowds at Benaroya Hall.
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Delos is an active recording artist, with many radio and television commercials to his credit. His voice can also be heard on a number of Video Game soundtracks, including Halo 2 & 3 as well as Halo: Reach, World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2, Age of Empires, 10th Dimension, Defence of the Ancients and Gears of War 3. His Motion Picture soundtracks include John Q. with Denzel Washington, Novocaine with Steve Martin, The Celestine Prophecy and Ghostrider with Nicholas Cage. For Spielberg’s ‘Dreamworks’, he has recorded the soundtracks to both the Shrek and Madagascar Christmas Specials.
Dr. Natalie Lerch bio
Natalie Lerch holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, as well as a Master of Music degree from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. As Professor of Voice at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, she teaches Musical Theatre Workshop; English, Italian, French and German Diction for Singers; and voice lessons to voice and theatre majors.
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Representative roles include Lady Ella in Patience, Miss Pinkerton in The Old Maid and the Thief, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Casilda in The Gondoliers, Peep Bo in The Mikado, Lenny in Crimes of the Heart, Nancy in Oliver, and Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw. She has performed professionally with Spotlight Dinner Theatre, Columbus Light Opera, The Reality Theatre, Opera!Columbus, The Norman Luboff Touring Choir and Divalycious, a soprano quartet. Natalie has performed Knoxville: Summer of 1915 by Samuel Barber with the Port Angeles Symphony and the Ohio University Orchestra.
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During a trip to Brazil, she performed jazz standards, as well as a jazz version of Un bel di vedremo from Madama Butterfly, with the Jazz Ensemble at the Federal University of Rio in Rio de Janeiro. She also participated in Monteverdi’s Orfeo in Orvieto, Italy, performed with The Jazz Police at the Tacoma Jazz Festival, and has sung under the direction of Brian Kay (The Kings’ Singers) with the Berkshire Choral Festival. In March of 2010, Natalie presented an evening of opera for solo soprano on the Cornish Music Series, performing Judith Weir’s King Harald’s Saga, and Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, in collaboration with Daniel Wilson and Adam Stern.
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Throughout her career, Natalie has served as musical director, artistic director and/or vocal coach on operas and musicals. She has sung in masterclasses and week-long workshops with Renee Fleming and Julianne Baird. Upcoming performances include “What Would Alice Say?” – a Cornish Music Series concert scheduled for November, 2013 and Ravel’s “Shéhérazade” with the Seattle Philharmonic in January, 2014. Natalie previously worked for an Ohio State Representative, was a “Benefits Specialist” at CompuServe, and lived the life of a commercial salmon fisherman on Chisik Island, Alaska. To balance all the music in her life, Natalie takes riding lessons with her horse Mocha at Galt Valley Ranch in Redmond, WA.
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Natalie’s website ~ www.natalielerch.com
Cyndia Sieden bio
The American coloratura soprano, Cyndia Sieden, is renowned for her extraordinary vocal facility and interpretations of Baroque, classical and contemporary repertoire.
Cyndia Sieden’s opera engagements have included Queen of the Night Magic Flute at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Opéra Nationale de Paris, Gran Teatro de Liceu and La Monnaie, Elisa in Il Re Pastore at The Netherlands Opera; Aspasia in Mitridate, Re di Ponto at the Salzburg Festival; Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Wiener Staatsoper, Seattle Opera and English National Opera; Aminta in Die Schweigsame Frau in Palerno; Lulu at The Metropolitan Opera; Cunegonde in Candide for New York City Opera; Ariel in Thomas Adès’ The Tempest at Covent Garden, the Royal Danish Opera, Santa Fe and Opera du Rhin.. She has sung roles in Georg Frideric Handel’s Alcina, Rinaldo and Rodelinda at the Göttingen Händel Festival and Opéra National de Lyon.
On the concert platform Cyndia Sieden’s recent successes number appearances at the Barbican Mostly Mozart Festival / Rizzi, Thomas Adès Scenes from The Tempest with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the composer and with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam under Markus Stenz. She also joined the Los Angeles forces and Esa-Pekka Salonen for his new work Wing on Wing in Los Angles, London and Paris and celebrated Mozart year with a programme of concert arias at the Göttingen Handel Festival with Nicholas McGegan. Amongst her other career highlights are Le Rossignol suite with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Candide with the London Symphony Orchestra, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No 8 with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam / Riccardo Chailly, The Creation with the Tonhalle Orchestra and Frans Brüggen; Mozart's C Minor Mass with the Camerata Salzburg/Aascher Fisch. In addition, she has enjoyed engagements with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Monteverdi Choir and Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Cyndia Sieden includes amongst her musical collaborators Gerd Albrecht, Christoph Eschenbach, Adam Fischer, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Richard Hickox, James Levine, Louis Langrée, Nicholas McGegan, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Robert Spano and Mario Venzago.
An active recitalist and a frequent guest artist with the New York Festival of Song, Cyndia Sieden gave the New York premiere of John Musto’s song cycle Dove sta amore in her debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She has appeared at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, in Rotterdam, at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and the Moab Festival, among others, in a wide range of repertoire.
Cyndia Sieden has recorded Mozart’s Mitridate, Re di Ponto with Camerata Salzburg/Sir Roger Norrington for Orfeo; Die Zauberflöte and Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the English Baroque Soloists/Sir John Eliot Gardiner for Archiv. She has recently added a CD and DVD of Schweitzer’s Alceste to her recorded repertoire.
Future plans include engagements with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Queen of the Night at the Metropolitan Opera and Canadian Opera Company, The Tempest for Oper Frankfurt and The Cat in Usunk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland for Grand Théâtre de Genève.
Nancy Zylstra bio
Called “one of the Northwest’s great natural resources,” by the Willamette Week, soprano Nancy Zylstra has earned critical acclaim for her pure and expressive singing in a wide variety of repertoire. She has sung with the leading period instrument orchestras and ensembles of North America and with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under the direction of conductors Ton Koopman, Andrew Parrott, Gustav Leonhardt, and Jeffrey Thomas. She has also appeared at major festivals including Versailles, Berlin, Anchorage, Vancouver, San Luis Obispo, and Berkeley.
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A founding member of both Seattle Pro Musica and Choral Arts, she has been a soloist at St. James Cathedral, with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Gallery Concerts, and numerous other ensembles throughout the Pacific Northwest. Her performances have been broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio, National Public Radio, and in the Netherlands and Germany.
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As a teacher and clinician, Zylstra has been in great demand. She has been on the faculty of Oberlin Conservatory’s Baroque Performance Institute since 1979 and is currently a faculty member of the Seattle Academy of Opera. She has given masterclasses at Swarthmore College, University of Toronto, Willamette University, Reed College, for the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and The Voice Foundation, among many others.
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She is a member of The Voice Foundation, Northwest Voice Foundation, NATS, and Early Music America; she also served on the board of Early Music America for many years, and is currently on the advisory board for the Seattle Girls Choir. Zylstra can be heard on the Erato, Wildboar, and Koch labels.
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The Pianist’s Copy – How to prepare sheet music for your accompanist
Preparing a good copy of your song or aria for your pianist is something that will not only make life easier for your accompanist; it will also help you later in life as you come in for auditions. Many times you won’t get to even talk to the pianist before you sing, and having easily accessible sheet music will enable them to support you better, and you will make a better impression overall.
1. General considerations
- Make photocopies from an accredited source, such as a published, modern edition found in your local music store or library. Avoid heavily “edited” versions as well as most online versions. When in doubt, ask your coach or teacher.
- Your pianist needs their own copy, to keep. Pianists need to make notes, and practice tricky spots.
- Don’t make your pianist play from your book. The pages won’t stay open, it will be heavy , and again, one cannot write in it.
- Make sure you give your pianist music in the correct key.
2. At the copier
- Copy onto 8.5x11 paper, unless the score is of exceptional format. Keep in mind that most published sheet music is slightly larger than 8.5x11 paper size, so make the copier adjust to this. Fit-to-page or copying at 94% are both good solutions.
- Make sure you get the entire page on your photocopy, including the entirety of the left hand piano part on the bottom of each page. This is the most common problem with accompanist copies! If your pianist has to guess at what the bass notes are, things will not go well.
- Make sure the copy is legible. No copies-of-copies, pale ink, or someone else’s scribbles.
- Make single-sided copies(see below). Please do not make a double-sided copy for a piece only two pages long! Double-sided copies often also flip up and down rather than side to side. Single-sided copies avoid these problems.
- Do not encase individual sheets in plastic protection liners; your pianist needs to be able to write on the music.
3. Page Layout
All pages must be easy to use in a three-ring binder. This means imitating the layout of a bound book as best as possible.
- Use clear plastic tape to tape pages together back to back, on the side that is on the outside of the binder. Do not staple. Only tape on one side. When pages are taped together this way, it is possible to open out one page to avoid a difficult page turn. This is also why single-sided copies are preferable to double-sided ones.
- For pieces 4 pages long, tape pages so that pages 1&2 and 3&4 are back to back. Punch holes so that page 1 will be on the right side of the binder, with a turn to page 2, which is facing page 3, which will turn to page 4. (Still with me?) This allows the pianist to open out and read 4 pages at a time, without page turns.
- For pieces 2 pages long, arrange the two pages so they are next to each other, with no page turns, and punch accordingly.
- For pieces 3 pages long, you’re in luck! Start either with two facing pages, or a single page. It doesn’t matter.
- For pieces 5 pages and over, arrange pages with page turns exactly as in the book you copied from. Especially with standard aria rep, this is where your pianist will expect page turns.
- Obviously, none of this matters with a single-page piece. Just punch on one side.
- Punch holes cleanly, using a hole puncher. Don’t rip the holes into the pages; they might eventually rip too far during a quick page turn.
This all sounds like a lot of work, but consider that your pianist is playing for a multitude of singers. If accompanists had to prepare everyone’s sheet music like this, they wouldn’t get around to actually practicing everyone’s song. Making photocopies legible and easy to use is part of being respectful, and will ensure you the goodwill of your collaborator at the keys.