Vocal Care Workshop: Preparing for Auditions

I had the pleasure of helping out Iris Koh in the latest series of her Vocal Care Workshop, held at the grooming studio In Queenz by Genecia Luo. This latest edition is entitled Preparing for Auditions, and is tailored for teenage students who hope for a career basking in the limelight of stardom. Through our session, the students learnt the process of taking care of their voices, especially throughout the stressful process of auditioning. I got to share my own thoughts on this arduous process and life as a full-time performing student, I hope they found what I've shared useful in building up their experience.

Iris also shared a few vocal exercises, which predictably was one of the highlights of the event. With enough practice, these exercises can help to strengthen breath control, coax the voice into its proper resonating chambers, and encourage smooth, even airflow throughout their singing. Of course one class does not a star singer make, but hopefully these students have an idea of the kind of work that lies ahead should they seriously consider a career as a performer.

The most profound part of the evening came unexpectedly when a student was asked, "why do you want to be a performer" and she innocently replied, "to fulfill my dreams". This led Iris to an impromtu heartfelt discussion about what 'dreams' really mean. Why do we want to perform? For fame and fortune? For attention? Or is there something inside us that we want to express? Is it because we want to make music with a big group of people? Or that we want acknowledgement for something that we thought we can do really well? Iris told us that it is good to have dreams as we need to have goals to make our lives meaningful, but big dreams often come with a price. She brought up the story of Madonna, who at 20 dropped out of college and  left her hometown of Michigan for the bright lights of New York City, trying first to become a modern dancer and then a pop singer, often getting by by rumaging through garbage cans for leftover food, then throwing the meat away because she was also a strict vegetarian. "That was how much she wanted to be a star", Iris said, reminding us that her status as one of the most successful pop singers alive did not come by accident. It was serious food for thought, which the students and myself took quite a while to digest.

Overall this class was really fun and a pleasure to attend. I hope Iris gets more opportunities to showcase her talents in this area and that the Vocal Care Workshop can be brought to many more places, so that many more others can benefit from it.