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Teaching Philosophy
Every student
is important, bringing to
their singing their own life's experiences, their own brand of
sensitivity, and their own individual expression, all of which should
never be discounted. The voice reflects the innermost part of the
soul, and though "the show must go on," a student who has had a rough
day is not going to sing from
the same part of their psyche as one who has just won the
lottery. (I actually had an adult student who won a pub in
Ireland through a Guinness competition, pouring the perfect beer,
throwing darts, and composing an essay about being a publican.
She made it through the various rounds, semi-finals, finals, won, and
went there to live and run the pub!)
I believe one
must not only encourage the student's
strengths, alleviate the student's weaknesses, but
also respond with sensitivity to different personalities, capitalizing
on each person's
experiences to locate metaphors as vehicles with which to teach.
The goal is to
help them bring their own unique passion to their performances.
Recommended Reading for Understanding
Performance Anxiety
A
Soprano on Her Head (Right-side-up reflections on life and other
performances) - by Eloise Ristad, copyright (c) 1982 by Eloise
Ristad, Real People Press, Box F Moab, Utah, 84532.
"Harnessing Peformance Anxiety"
- article by Lark Ryan,
LCSW, published in series of Oregon Music Teachers Association
newsletters, 2003.
The
Inner Game of Music - by Barry Green with W. Timothy Gallwey,
author of "The Inner Game of Tennis", Doubleday, New York, 1986, c. W.
Timothy Gallwey.
The
Performer Prepares - by Robert Caldwell, Pst...Inc, P.O. Box
800208C, Dallas, Texas, 1990.
Performance
Power (Transforming Stress into Creative Energy) - Dr. Irmtraud
Tarr Kruger, English translation by Dr.
Edward H. Tarr, (c) by Dieter Breitsohl AG Literarische Agentur Zurich 1993; English edition: (c) Summit
Books, a division of Summit Records, Inc., P.O. Box 26850 Tempe,
Arizona 85285-6850.
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