Interview and coaching with David

In New York, I had an interview and a coaching with David Sytkowski who is a vocal coach and an accompanist. I was really looking forward to this interview and coaching because I had never had a coaching before, and because David had just moved there this summer and knows first hand what it's like to make the big move to the city.

For my interview, Jordyn and Andy came along. We took the subway to his apartment  We got there early so we had a chance to walk around and get a feel of the neighborhood since this would be like the neighborhood I would be moving to if I were to move to NYC. Once we got to David's apartment we had to call in through two gates which made it seem a little more safe. I noted this to myself for if I ever went to get an apartment there. I was surprised to see how big and nice his apartment was, and the walls are thick so he can hold his coachings there. We then all went to an Italian restaurant near by for the interview.

At the interview I learned more about living in NYC. I learned that you need to be personable. Networking is extremely important and will help you out a lot when you first get there. I learned that everyone's paths are different and you don't have to do something one way just because that's the way someone else did it. I also learned that the goal is not to be perfect. It's the ones that are able to express there love and are able to communicate what they are trying to say that make it. You need to separate yourself from that little voice inside your head and not to take criticisms personally. I also learned that you need to put yourself out there and be your own light and to always have card with you. You need to be open minded in the work you get because the more you can do, the more marketable you are.

I then went back to his apartment for a coaching. In the coaching we worked on "Lascia ch'io pianga" by Handel. He had me speak the recitative to feel the natural rhythm and word stresses of the language. This taught me that the pacing is not in a meter but rather in the speech. We also worked on the difference between silence and breathing in the recitative. Just because there is a rest doesn't mean you breath, the phrase is still moving you breath for grammar. We worked a lot on word stresses and making it on 1 and 3. I learned a lot more about the function of the language  Italian moves fast but it does not mean you minimize the sounds. I learned to speak the Italian with stresses being longer and then add pitches later. We then worked on staying in the initial instinct more because my initial instinct is correct, but then I will add more to it. We worked on this by getting me to think more tall slender and heady. We worked on having vowels being consistent and pure by keeping a consistent shape in my mouth and not changing the vowel until the syllable changes. We also worked on not digging the notes before the high note by expanding in all directions, maintaining length and height, and breathing for the highest note of the phrase because one you breath all you are doing is expelling air. You need to start released and keep releasing. I learned a lot about preparation for aria's and how you need to know everything that is going on in the score, the instrumentation, the other characters, if there are others involved in it, etc.

After the coaching, we talked some more about fach and how you don't need to know it right now but just sing what feels right at the moment and trust your teacher to guide you. We also talked about picking the right school and teacher for graduate school. I learned that you need to try out the teacher before hand and pick the school with the teacher you feel will work best with you.

I learned so much in such a small amount of time and I feel so lucky to have gotten this opportunity.

Kelly