Harry's comment deserves a full post

Harry left a great comment on this post . . . it's so great that it deserves it's own post. So . . . let's hear Harry's thoughts on the choir competition article:

This article, despite my lack of choral experience, greatly impacted me,

Mainly with a sensation of confidence. The case is not that I think we have this performance "in the bag" already, but more that we're focused on the right things. Fauls discusses control of the vibrato, and instances in which you tell Tenors, "less vibrato here," or when you tell the whole choir "vibrato city here" [last chord of Whole World in His Hands] come to mind. Browne talks about vowel and consonant precision. I can't help but recall that we stop to tune vowels or execute 'verbal' (for lack of a better word) placement [transition from Tri-to-une in triune of Rune of Hospitality] all day long. Archibeque tells us to study the recordings. She'd be proud to see our iTunes libraries. So, again, we seem to be focused on the right things.

My only concern is this article's emphasis of pitch. Dr. Jordan himself says, "...drop some [pitch] and you're dead." We have the capacity. Song of Triumph at the Wynfrey, for example, ended on a perfect A flat, C, E flat (those are the only notes in the last chord I can remember with certainty); yet the same piece was nearly a whole step flat at the Presbyterian Church a mere two days earlier. The inconsistency is all that frightens me- will we have a lucky day or an unlucky day at Cork?

Eric Whitacre in that 2005 jury panel. That's pretty savage. How awesome it would be to rock "With a Lily in Your Hand" to his face, dude.

I appreciated the eloquent pointing out that, "No singer is to get drunk the night before competition..."

Otherwise, I have to wonder- what's IPA (the context being memorization of notes, rhythms, and "IPA")[p.25]?

To cap it off, as Howard Hall once said, "the bondage" that it seems we're going to experience out there sounds like it's going to be so unique. I mean what he meant, not what he said. Anthony tells me that the adrenaline of the international stage takes singing to a level we newcomers have yet to imagine.

I'm pumped.

Harry Miree