seeking publication since 2016 - copyright pending
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Suzanne Scherr, Chang Lei 常磊 sscherr@chicagobooth.edu, 332594408@qq.com
professor, chairman of vocal department, 2016
School of Music, SIAS University, Xinzheng City, Henan Province, P.R. China
ABSTRACT:
This study explores the education of an opera singer of the European repertory in a university school of music in north‐central China with suggestions for improved outcomes. Outside the elite conservatories in Beijing and Shanghai, the majority of Chinese opera singers, both traditional and western, study in the standard university system.
We begin with a summary of standardized curriculum mandated by the federal government for all accredited schools of music. After mandatory classroom hours and the number and style of rehearsals, we consider the actual course titles and content, with comparisons to USA and Italian operatic training.
We then examine the courses and training methods most highly valued by our university’s 15 practicing professional singing teachers. Some insights:
Many classroom/rehearsal hours
Large gaps in knowledge perpetrated (e.g., 18th/19th century performance practice)
No performances of complete operas eliminates ensemble singing and experience with non‐piano accompaniment
Emphasis on solo operatic arias divorced from the stage results in many misunderstandings of text and musical style
Ignorance regarding wrong notes, text, and markings in available scores
Relative under‐emphasis on western music history
The strengths and weaknesses of the current system reflect the relative isolation of China from western scholarship: the language barrier of publications, few western practitioners in China, and barriers to Chinese musicians studying or attending conferences outside of mainland China.
Suggestions for improved student outcomes include increased availability of post‐ graduate teacher training, use of western media in classrooms, emphasis on non‐solo scenes performed with small instrumental ensembles, and translation into simplified Chinese of significant western scholarly articles and librettos of standard western operas.