Questions Answered by Peter Maleitzke; discussing his carreer, his teaching and music.

Sing without limitation                                                                                 September 12, 2014

BEL CANTO NOTES

News and Ideas from the 

Peter Maleitzke Voice Studio

First of a new series-

Questions Answered

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I have been a musician virtually all of my life: a soprano in the church choir at the age of five and later school choirs, playing my grandmother’s piano as soon as I could get up on the bench myself and then formal lessons starting when I was seven, accompanying singing lessons and voice recitals to pay my way through college; music is what I know, it is what I do. Along the way I discovered I was also a good teacher. I enjoy the interaction with my students and watching them grow and manifesting their dreams. Any questions? 

Q. If you were just beginning your training to become a singer, what would you like to know or understand? Any inside secrets to share?

A. In Vocal Wisdom, Giovanni Lamperti says that you can write on your hand, everything you need to know about singing. If this is true, why does singing seem so complex, great singing almost unattainable, especially when taught by someone who sings quite well? The technique of singing is not complicated. Everyone can learn to do it well. Learning to sing requires muscular and intellectual development on a daily basis. It also requires the guidance of someone who understands how to build a great voice, the importance of nurture and motivation, strong musicianship skills and the ear to correctly access what is happening physically. To be a great artist, is a lifetime journey, and requires the support of family and friends, inspiration from other artists and nature itself, as well as many mentors along the way.

If you have any questions for Peter, email them to pmaleitzke@gmail.com.

www.petermaleitzke.com

Learning to Sing From Careful Observation

     One of the most exciting advances in the education of young singers, actors and musicians is the advent and availability of YouTube. Available for study are an unlimited number of definitive performances both audio and video previously unavailable or at best, rarely available and extremely difficult to find. It is critical, however, to be careful to watch and listen to only the best performances of the repertoire or genre you are studying.  It is as easy to absorb negative characteristics of a performance as it is to aspire to the admirable qualities of the artists we revere. Knowing which videos to watch and which to avoid is complicated and subjective. (I will share more ideas about this in a future blog.) A wonderful example of videos to watch and learn from on YouTube are selections from the film Jessye Norman: A Portrait (Andre Heller, 2005)

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      Of course the artist has a reputation for delivering consummate performances.  But here the filmmaker gives us an up-close view of Ms. Norman rarely afforded on screen and never live.  We literally see inside the throat of the singer, who in this case is perhaps the greatest vocal instrument ever.  I have had the great fortune to hear Jessye Norman live many times, back in Michigan first at Interlochen National Music Camp and then in the University of Michigan's Hill Auditorium, in New York (at the Met and other venues), and more recently in San Francisco with the San Francisco Symphony and at the Hollywood Bowl performing Laura Karpman's Ask Your Mama. None of these extraordinary performances allowed me to see how Ms. Norman sings and assess the concepts and technique that I teach with the production of this exemplary artist. But the film and the excerpts available on YouTube provide great insight into how such a great singer actually sings.  

      I would not presume to speak for Ms. Norman, nor do I have specific knowledge of her thoughts on vocal production.  However, I recommend watching this video to see clear examples of pharyngeal vowel production, releasing the jaw, raising the soft palate, breathing as a release of the tone and a preparation for the following phrase (inspiration), accessing resonators in the mask, communicating the lyric and truthful emotional intensity.

     I think any student of singing will benefit from careful observation of Ms. Norman, drinking in and allowing inspiration from her passion, commitment and technical production.

                       

Peter Maleitzke Voice Studio       www.petermaleitzke.com         SING without limitation

Georgia Stitt Official Blog: How To Treat Your Pianist

Georgia Stitt Official Blog: How To Treat Your Pianist

Featuring Jacob Ming Trent : Andre De Shields Rehearses Crossroads' Ain't Misbehavin' Cast (1)

Check out 1:35

Jacob Ming-Trent - "My Problem Right There" (Hands on a Hardbody)

Jacob is one of the many wonderful students I have had the great fortune to work with. 

He also is one of the great voices.   Expect to hear more from him.

That music always round me Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass That music always round me, unceasing, unbeginning - yet long untaught I did not hear; But now the chorus I hear, and am elated; A tenor, strong, ascending, with power and health, with glad notes of day-break I hear, A soprano, at intervals, sailing buoyantly over the tops of immense waves, A transparent bass, shuddering lusciously under and through the universe, The triumphant tutti - the funeral wailings, with sweet flutes and violins - all these I fill myself with; I hear not the volumes of sound merely - I am moved by the exquisite meanings, I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving, contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion; I do not think the performers know themselves - but now I think I begin to know them.

Holiday Performance Party Invitation 2009.mov

It is time for the Holiday Performance Party, something I look forward to with great joy. It has become a tradition that brings my current students and many of those who have gone on to college or professional careers in a bigger market, together. There is a nervous excitement for my newer students hearing the more seasoned and then a chance to talk about it at the party after. It is a chance for me to spend some quality time with parents and partners of my students. I always enjoy this, finding I gain some new insight on the student I see every week. And of course I love making music and having people come to my home for a good meal.

"What is your favorite music?"

     I spent a few moments today pondering the ridicules question "What is your favorite music?".  My usual response sounds rather flip, "what ever I am working on right now". With very few exceptions I can honestly say I have spent most of my life surrounded by music I love. Practicing, performing, teaching, attending a live performance, banging around in my head while I walk with Bella on the beach. It is more unusual for me to listen to recorded music, although I have a rather large collection. Perhaps I am too disorganized to have the proper hardware around me at the proper time to make this happen. And it is also true that if music is to live, there must be silence surrounding it, to give it buoyancy or a staging ground from which to take flight.

Now for the real answer: 

     I love the Rückert-Lieder of Gustav Mahler.  If you have a moment to listen to them as performed by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson or in this performance by Angelika Kirchschlager, I am sure you will understand why.

There's No Place Like: HOME

This is an image of the Flash page which opens and serves as the HOME page for

my new- still slightly under wraps website.

(Because I know this is very exciting for you, I have arranged it so that if you click on the title of this posting you will be directed to a more complete sneak preview of the entire site. Go ahead! Click it!)

Sing Without Limitation

With clicks of keys as evidence of my participation in this venture, I am wading deep into the waters of blogdom for the first time.  I am inspired to do so because of another leap I am taking into the now-not-new world of websitedom.

My virginal online presence will soon make its' debut in the form of:

www.petermaleitzke.com.

There you will find all kinds of exciting information about yours truly, including introductory statements about the Voice Studio of Peter Maleitzke and the methods and materials I use to help my students achieve their artistic goals. 

There is also a newsletter,   BEL CANTO NOTES,  

with news, announcements, activities and information about my students.

And while this is obviously a business venture, a publicity blitz- if you will, 

I hope you will be able to sense through the clicks and the searches and the shameless self-promotion, the love I have for this work.  Spending the day with Handel and Mozart and Gershwin and Sondheim yields great joys, especially in the company of the wonderful students and colleagues that make up the 

Voice Studio of Peter Maleitzke.