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The official blog of Nicole Warner, mezzo-soprano
Jackie Evancho: Way Too Young
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Recently I’ve been asked several times what my professional opinion is regarding 11-year-old singer Jackie Evancho.
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I am more than concerned.
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Ms. Evancho is singing the repertoire of a trained, professional, and physically mature adult and she is ELEVEN.
She has 30 years before her body will be ready to sing the repertoire she’s already singing because the voice is the last muscle in the body to develop. A man’s voice will mature roughly when he’s 30-35. For a woman, it’s around 40.
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11-year-olds don’t have the fine muscle control to support the kind of singing she’s doing.
(Trust me, I used to teach children.) The more Ms. Evancho sings, the more she is taxing her underdeveloped muscles. She literally has to use muscle to create the sound that is coming out of her body AND USE MORE muscle because she doesn’t have the muscle control that professional singers have. The skill that professional, adult singers have takes decades to learn.*
Appropriate voice use for an 11-year-old would be in a children’s choir, in a community theater production, a solo here and there, and in choir in school. An 11-year-old could take voice lessons with a teacher who is skilled at training young voices and sing several recitals a year. That would all be perfect!
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Ms. Evancho doesn’t belong on a stage with an orchestra singing tenor opera arias. (Yes, “Nessun dorma” is a TENOR aria—it is sung by a man.)
Age-appropriate material for Ms. Evancho would be songs from 36 Solos for Young Singers
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It is not normal nor healthy for an 11-year-old to sound like a 40-year-old!
Let's pull it apart, because I know there are a lot of people who say "Jackie Evancho has such a beautiful voice!" First, watch her performance of “Nessun dorma” for PBS’ Great Performances. Watch carefully for the wobble in her jaw—in contrast, her jaw should be free and relaxed. Do you hear the slight “uh” sound when she finishes a note? That’s a sign of muscle tension. How loudly or quietly does she sing? Really, the volume of her voice doesn’t change much—this means she doesn’t have a lot of flexibility.
Also, do you see how her head is bent down slightly when she sings? (I must add here that this is a very common problem with singers in general, both young and mature.)
Try something—sit up straight and take a deep breath. Now tilt your head down and try to take in the same deep breath. Notice the tension in your throat, just under your jaw? If that tilt of the head causes tension when you’re breathing in, wouldn’t it also cause tension while you’re breathing out?
And aren't your vocal chords actually in your throat? Which is now tense and is supposed to be free & flexible?
Exactly.
Now watch this “Nessun dorma” by tenor Jose Carreras (with English subtitles even). Of course it’s recorded with microphones, but do you notice despite the advantage of the recording technology that he cuts through a full orchestra? See how far he opens his jaw to let that sound out? Hear how quietly and also how loudly he sings? The spectrum is incredible! And that high note—don’t you think that’s kind of high for a guy? That’s because IT IS! That’s what’s so incredible about it!
Healthy singing doesn’t just sound beautiful; healthy singing blows your socks off! (TIP: Go click on some more of the versions of “Nessun dorma” and find some other singers you like!) And healthy, mature voices don’t need a microphone to be heard--they cut through an entire 80-piece orchestra with ease!
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Let’s put it in terms of energy.
How much energy does a professional singer need for a set of rehearsals and a performance like what led up to Carreras’ performance of “Nessun Dorma”? A lot, because we’re taxing our bodies and voices and working hard in rehearsals leading up to performances and we need to be in tip-top shape. Keyword: peak performance. Every rehearsal, every performance, every time. It can be exhausting, physically, psychologically, and emotionally.
And translated into sports: how much energy does a professional athlete need for a game? How much mental, emotional, and psychological energy goes into that game? Think of the last picture you saw of an athlete post-performance—exhausted, sweaty and gross, right? Do you get the impression that it might be a huge expenditure of energy for athletes, just like for musicians? Like running a marathon? If you do, you’re right.
Did you ever run a marathon at the age of 11? I didn’t think so.
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*Professional, adult singers learn how to get rid of muscle tension and how to get out of their own way mentally and physically to allow their voices to ring true and in an optimal manner. Freeing up one’s voice is not only a physical process, but also a psychological process that takes years! And we haven't even started talking about the emotional development that effective singing requires--that's a whole other blog topic!
Comments
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Monday, 20 August 2012In response
Good evening Mr. Yates,
Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
I have, indeed, seen plenty of kids playing sports and they do indeed go at it differently than adults. There is, however, a large difference between throwing around a ball and singing opera, and I am speaking of the difference between one's arm muscles and use of the voice. Any google search will lead one to the information that the vocal cords, whether in a male or female, are, on average, no longer than one inch. And singers learn to refine their use of all the muscles from the abdomen through the chest, into the throat, neck and head--and often all of this while singing in a foreign language, in a heavy costume, on stage under hot lights, keeping an eye on the conductor and one's singing partner at the same time.
Opera didn't develop as its own art form until the 17th Century (http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/grout7/outlines/index.htm).
As I've already stated, "And healthy, mature voices don’t need a microphone to be heard--they cut through an entire 80-piece orchestra with ease!"
Adult singers in appropriately-sized houses (which do not typically exist in the United States but there are many wonderful examples throughout Europe, where opera originated) do not require a microphone because their voices project so well through their natural and acquired resonance in a space that is created for acoustic excellence. Resonance takes years to develop, which Ms. Evancho simply has not had. And it is missing from her singing. Because it doesn't happen so much at her age.
We, as a culture of musicians and music consumers, have seen this before, only she's Welsh and her name is Charlotte Church. She very publicly struggled with her technique and no longer sings classical music, but crossed over to pop and hasn't returned.
11-year-olds are still children and they need to be shown healthy boundaries by their parents, teachers, and elders so that they might enjoy long, healthy (singing) lives. Ms. Evancho should indeed be singing, but not hefty, classical pieces of music. She should be singing music appropriate for her age and her current abilities, not what she can do with transpositions of major tenor arias and the magic of a microphone. -
Monday, 20 August 2012
Singing opera, and singing operatically
Jackie Evancho has always referred to herself as a 'Classical Crossover' singer... the appellation of 'Opera' is used only by others. Ms. Evancho sings those songs that sound beautiful when she applies her unique skills. While it is true that she occasionally performs songs that may coincidentally be found in a stage opera.. it is important to remember that she makes no attempt to sing operatically, unamplified, projecting up into the balcony, cutting through an orchestra... but, alas, she will likely have to wait a while before sidestepping the 'opera community' is no longer necessary.
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Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Thank you
I just found your blog, dearie! Thank you for writing this. I always cringe when I see singer "child prodigies" because I am afraid they'll all have nodes by the time they're 18. Your follow up about Charlotte Church is quite well taken- she was big when I was in college, and I never knew what happened to her. Training children to sound like classical singers before the voice has even hit puberty strikes me as selfish and attention-grubbing on the part of the child's guardians and coaches. I am 33 and I feel like my voice is finally coming into it's own. And I am still undoing the habits built from years of trying to produce a certain kind of sound.
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Applying adult coaching axioms
Ms. Warner... you aren't the first, or surely the last, to go through the exercise of applying adult coaching axioms to a child. You raise the point of adult professional athletes, comparing them to adult opera singers, but you apparently have never coached or observed young athletes outside of the milieu of opera.
Have you ever witnessed an eleven year old run, bowl, pitch a baseball, shoot a basketball from the freethrow line, or pass a football... they look goofy and gangly, all knees and elbows... precisely because they are kids. They aren't hurting themselves, they just look different than an adult doing the same thing but in a bigger body. The same is true for Jackie Evancho. Her physiogamy is different than an adult's when she sings... but she isn't hurting herself, and she'll grow out of it.
The coaching principles you speak of were born and developed A.D. 490 at the birth of opera where performers had no choice but to trumpet their voice unamplified up into the rafters... this is no longer the case... they have this thing called a microphone.
Jackie Evancho hop, skips, waves, and giggles her way through a thirteen song concert efforlessly, without a drop of sweat... and no one can explain how she does it. You, and others, have indicated some experience in coaching children, yet none of Jackie's critics have ever been able to point to a single 11/12 year old who was capable of doing what Jackie does, but chooses not to, upon the advice of their coach, for fear of hurting their instrument... not a single example... how do we explain that ??