Saturday, November 10, 2012

Private Lessons with Cynthia Haymon


World-renowned soprano Cynthia Haymon  (Bess in Sir Simon Rattle's recording of Porgy and Bess) is currently in Singapore till 24 November and would like to give a few private lessons to locally-based singers. Check out details below:

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Dear Singers,

The world renowned Soprano and voice teacher Prof. Cynthia Haymon who is currently based in the US will be in Singapore from 8 - 24 November.

Cynthia has recently been appointed the artistic director of the newly set-up Singapore based Metropolitan Productions. Amongst other things, Metropolitan aims to provide the training and platform for local performing artists to hone their skills on stage. It also aims to stage original commercial productions of international standards.

In light of an upcoming musical production scheduled to be staged in 2014, Cynthia is conducting a series of voice lessons to allow her a better understanding of the level of talent in Singapore. Her fees are SGD100. This is the first trip to Singapore for Cynthia and will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for aspiring and established singers to receive personalized training from Cynthia.

Please email alvin@metroprod.com to schedule a lesson.

METROPOLITAN PRODUCTION
Artistic Director and Master Voice Teacher

American Soprano Cynthia Haymon,
Professor of Voice at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Bess in Grammy Award Winner Porgy and Bess

“Cynthia Haymon, a powerful, expressive soprano, made an eloquent case for his almost Straussian "Worthwhile," the sentimental, slightly folksy "Prayer" and two other sweetly melodic settings.” – The New York Times

Perhaps best known around the world as Bess in Porgy and Bess, Ms. Haymon made her debut in 1985 in the title role of Thea Musgrave's Harriet, A Woman called Moses, in the world-premiere performance for the Virginia Opera. Since then, her career has taken her around the United States with engagements that include Micaela in Carmen with the San Francisco Opera and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Liu in Turandot with the Seattle Opera. In 1986 she made her European debut as Bess in Trevor Nunn's production of Porgy and Bess at Glyndebourne, with Sir Simon Rattle. She also created the role of Coretta King in the musical King, opposite Simon Estes in London's West End. In concert, Ms. Haymon appeared with the Israel Philharmonic under Kurt Masur, the London Symphony Orchestra under both Myung-Whun Chung and Michael Tilson Thomas, the Cleveland Orchestra under Isaiah Jackson, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of Ned Rorem's Swords and Plowshares.

Ms. Haymon performed in the world premieres of Portriats by Richard Danielpour, with Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax, and John Williams' first song cycle, Seven for Luck. Ms. Haymon's first solo recording, Where the Music Comes From: American Songs, on Decca's Argo Label, features art songs by American composers. She also portrays Bess on the EMI recording of Porgy and Bess with composer Sir Simon Rattle, which was recorded from the original Glynebourne production and won a 1990 Grammy Award. She has sung the role of Leila in Les Pecheurs de Perles for Portland Opera, Eileen in Bernstein's Wonderful Town, and Poppea in Pierre Audi's production at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. Other engagements have included Liu for the Portland Opera, Verdi's Te Deum, Mendelssohn's Elijah, with James Conlon and the Cincinnati Symphony, Mimi in La Boheme, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, and Philip Glass' Symphony No. 5, with Carl St. Clair and the Indianapolis Symphony.

Teaching Philosophy
As a vocal instructor, I discover what each student brings to the student/teacher relationship while guiding and inspiring the innate artistic instinct of each student. Since I fundamentally believe singing is the murmuring of the soul, I firmly believe in simple un-manipulated tonal production. For me, that means singing on the breath with a low abdominal connection, forward placement and a relaxed body without neck, jaw and tongue tension. I believe whole-heartedly in the total singing actress/actor; which means movement, languages, good body alignment and musical versatility. I believe that today's artist cannot afford to be limited to opera, but has to be willing to explore many musical genres. I also firmly believe that young singers should sound like young singers. While not forsaking the natural vocal timbre, young singers should be encouraged to preserve their youthful sound while allowing their voices to develop naturally on a solid technique! Finally, I believe in communication and the power of the universal language of music.

Video clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4qMGySPPVs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwkMGZZ02H8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNuY7DQK-LE&playnext=1&list= PL046281723FA35CC3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdASWwVokNg

Please contact Alvin Tan at alvin@metroprod.com for further information or call +65 8533 4652.

1 comment:

  1. Dear Cynthia,
    Your work sounds wonderful and I wish you all the very best. If you are ever in London, please do contact me on me@janetobi.com I would love to see you.

    ReplyDelete

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