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Singing, The Timeless Muse

Essays on the Human Voice, Singing, and Spirituality

compiled by Darlene C. Wiley

ISBN: 978-1-7335060-0-7
Soft cover, 229 pages

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Proceeds from the sale of this book are contributed to New Music USA, a non-profit organization

Praise for Singing: The Timeless Muse

Singing: The Timeless Muse is an extraordinary collection of essays, bringing together writings about the act of singing, the mind, and spirit, and in fact what it means to be human. That our discipline is at a significant time of expansiveness and evolution is not to be argued. “Once we understand the complexity of singing, we can certainly broaden our scope of what it means to sing.” Indeed, Richard Miller’s quotation from a personal conversation in
1970 with Darlene Wiley foreshadowed continuing fascinations for his remaining days. How fortunate that his words were catalyst for this insightful book. Professor Wiley has assembled a significant body of essays and interviews by compelling, thought-provoking individuals.This is a book that will remain on my shelf, whether to ponder a single essay or to read again as a whole. It will inspire lovers of singing to move forward seeking solutions that not only enhance the traditional canon but also are inclusive of the breadth of vocal expression, learning, style, and divergent techniques.
-Lorraine Manz, Professor of Voice, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music

As a composer of opera, I have often wished for a broader stylistic and expressive range from the singers who perform my works, and it has often felt that the narrowness of conservatory training—of what constitutes acceptable vocal practice—precludes such variety. Darlene Wiley's wonderful new book addresses this issue and much more with great insight and nuance.
-Kevin Puts, Pulitzer Prize winning composer of the opera Silent Night

Contents

Introduction (Darlene C. Wiley)
Singing, Speaking, and the Difference
(Jeanette Bicknell)
Singing and Signification (John M. Carvalho)
The Etic Voice: An Ethnomusicological Perspective on Voice Research in Turkish Secular and Sacred Practices (Eve McPherson)
To Become Human: A Comparative Investigation into Lena McLin´s Vocal Pedagogy
and the Italian School of Vocologia Artistica
(Gianpaolo Chiriacò)
Play it and they Will Come: Re-Approching Gesture in Classical Music (Jesús A. Ramos-Kittrell)
What do you believe is the future of singing? (Margo Garrett)
Singing and the Multicultural Platform (Carolyn Sebron)
The Voice in My Life (Robert S. Hatten)
Teaching Voice in a 21st Century World (Graham Reynolds)
The Imagined Voice: How Singing and Vocal Music Affect Me and My Work (Dan Welcher)
Gary Powell in the Studio (Discussion between Mr. Powell and Darlene C. Wiley)
An Interview with Andrea Clearfield (Andrea Clearfield and Darlene C. Wiley)
Personal Notes on Coaching and Singing (Robert Spillman)
Texting from the Stage: Singers as Communicators (Dan Kurland)
We Care If You Listen (Kathleen Kelly)
For the Love of the Voice: Toward a New Generation of Coaches (Richard Masters)
The Nature of Singing (George Shirley)
I Sing the Body Eclectic: Empowering the Process-Oriented Vocal Artist (Estelí Gomez)
An Essay on Singers (Lesley F. Childs, MD)
Voice, the Music of the Soul (Lynn Helding)

 

WileyDarlene Wiley, lyric coloratura soprano, began her career at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, performing over 65 roles in such operas as I Pagliacci, Die Zauberflöte, Don Pasquale, Tales of Hoffmann, La Traviata, and Le Nozze di Figaro. A veteran of over 1,500 opera performances, Ms. Wiley has sung at over 25 houses, including Mannheim, Wiesbaden, Kassel, Mainz, Ulm, and Kiel. She has been heralded as “a thrilling Nedda…. amazingly sung… passionately acted” (Opern Welt). “With sassy charm and convincing Chaplinesque style, this graceful soprano is the ideal Rossini coloratura” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).   She currently is Professor of Voice at the University of Texas at Austin, director of the Vocal Arts Lab, supervisor of the DMA Vocal Pedagogy Program, and founder/director of the Butler International Opera Competition. Several of her current and former students are emerging as artists in their own right, with appearances at the Staatsoper Berlin, Salzburg Festspiele, Washington Opera, Los Angeles Opera, St. Louis Opera, City Opera of New York, Austin Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Tulsa Opera, Amarillo Opera, Miami Opera, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Theater Hagen, Theater Regensburg, Orlando Opera, Seattle Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Miami Opera, Paris Opera, and Florida Grand Opera. Prof. Wiley holds a BME (Instrumental Emphasis) from the College of Wooster and MM in Voice from the University of Illinois.