Opera Singing Lessons Los Angeles & Vocal Training in Los Angeles

MY PHILOSOPHY

BEL CANTO is an approach to voice training evolving from Mozart's time when singing was at its most spectacular, emphasizing quality of tone.  It is the bedrock for all types of singing: Opera, Jazz, Country, 
Pop, and even Rock.


You cannot learn to be a great singer from a book or a CD or a pinpointed method. "One size fits all" simply doesn't work. For every "yin" there's a "yang" and for every "yang" there's another "yin."  Herein lies the talent of the teacher.  The famous teacher of opera star Beverly Sills, Estelle Liebling, said she had no rules, only principles, because every student is different.

Here is a story that Zen enthusiasts like to tell.

Somewhere in the world there grew the most beautiful flowers.  People traveled from everywhere just to see them. Finally, two eminent scholars came to study this beauty and unlock its mystery - a scientist from the West and a Zen Master from the East.

First, the scientist picked a flower.  Now it was dead.  Then he took out his microscope and examined all the parts.  In the end, while he could define the parts in every detail, he could not explain the mystery of this beauty.
                                                                                                                                                                         
Next, the Zen Master approached a flower.  He knelt before it and gently touched it holding his hands around the flower as he meditated and became one with the flower.  He wept as he experienced serenity and grace that defied verbal description.

Your aim should be to become one with your resonance that emanates from the deepest part of you.  That is only possible if you learn to sing with your whole body - when the parts: your diaphragm, your vocal registers, your whole mouth, your face "mask," your mind and spirit become one with the song and are free to coordinate just beneath consciousness.  Now you have finally reached instinct and thus, freedom, beyond the disciplined study and hard work.  We have reached this place, I and my wonderful students who are all winners.

In order to achieve this you have to build inner bodily strength.  This process must be done gradually as you progress from a weak diaphragm to one that is strong and flexible so that when you have the strength you need, your support does not interfere with your singing. 


BEL CANTO emphasizes beautiful tone quality by carefully working on your registers - purifying them and then carefully blending them, thus preserving the flow of the voice, coordinating according to nature.  You become free to soar with the music from the bottom to the top of your expanded range, smoothly, able to shade soft tones, create nuances and express powerful emotion.

It is then that you achieve the full beauty and effectiveness of your tone.  You are able to "think" your voice effortlessly.  All that hard physical work that went into it is our secret.

A master singer soars, come fly with me.

Alise Richel   in West LA    818-384-4059