What Does It Take To Be a "Resonance Singer"?

We are so lucky in Portland to have incredibly talented singers who are also some of the loveliest people around!

I have come to feel that we have a musical family here, with top-notch singers and instrumentalists who are not only technically able but who commit wholeheartedly to the musical process. They are adventurous and versatile, able to do early music through wild new music.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m able to choose specific singers for a project based on the vocal color and musical demands of the project. These singers come from a list of people who I have already collaborated with or have heard audition. While our roster may vary by concert, there are skills that make a “Resonance singer.”

These musicians are:

• technically proficient, with flawless intonation, the ability to sing with and without vibrato, and dynamic range and control
• emotionally expressive through their voices           
• able to read and learn complex, challenging music

But there’s an ineffable quality of our most successful Resonance musicians, too – they are gutsy and excited about doing wildly varied music. They “geek out” on early music and Schoenberg and jazz. They like the challenge of singing with Resonance, with a group of people who are asked to come to their first rehearsal having mastered the music in advance so that we can spend our rehearsal time focusing on nuance.

And, most important, they have heart.

Kathy