Here are some highlights from this weekend’s voice competition sponsored by the Wisconsin chapter of NATS- the National Association of Teachers of Singing, which was held this time around at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater (where my best friend, Marshall Anderson, is the chairman of the theater department.)   The competition features most of the finest singers from all of the universities and major colleges around the state of Wisconsin.  As one of the smallest participating schools,  Carthage can be forgiven for feeling a bit like David with a little slingshot going against some formidable Goliaths.  But that makes our triumphs all the sweeter. . .

  1. *Big Sound in Small Packages –  We had two singers advance to the semi-finals this years, and both were in the Lower College Musical Theater Women’s Division. . . sophomore Katie Schwaber and freshman Kaitlyn Gravely.  And Kaitlyn went on to earn a place in the final round,  where she created quite a stir as she finished in third place.  Kaitlyn was almost certainly the smallest singer we saw in all of the final rounds on Saturday, but there was nothing small whatsoever about the sound she made or the intensity with which she sang her three songs, including an excerpt from Elton John’s Aida that was especially memorable.  Congrats to Kaitlyn and to her teacher, Amy Haines. . . to Katy and her teacher, Corinne Ness. . . and for that matter, to all of our singers who all sang well.

  1. *Good Guys –  6 of my guys competed in Whitewater (it was supposed to be 7, but one of them fell ill and had to withdraw)  and although I had high hopes that at least one or two of them would advance,  what I wanted more than anything was for them to sing well and feel good about what they did.  And across the board,  they each managed to deliver great performances.  Unfortunately, my judging and staffing obligations kept me from hearing most of them, but I did get to hear my two sophomores who were competing: Max Dinan and Mike Anderle.  I actually elected to listen through the door rather than come into the room- which actually allowed me to openly jab a fist into the air every time I heard something exciting –  and believe me, I was jabbing left and right.  Both Mike and Max delivered fantastic performances, and I probably owe both of them an apology for the bone- bruising bear hugs I gave each of them after they were done singing.  But I could not have been prouder of them . . .

  1. *Great Guys – except that I’m wrong about that.  I was even prouder of the two of them when we found out a couple hours later than neither of them had managed to advance to the semi-finals, despite having sung so incredibly well.   You have to understand that both Max and Mike have scored nothing but top ratings in all of their solo & ensemble performances for the last three years of high school-  and actually both of them on several different occasions even managed to be given the extra special distinction of Exemplary Honors above and beyond the I rating – the absolute highest rating you can earn at that particular contest.  But unfortunately, NATS is a completely different kind of competition,  and obviously it is entirely possible to sing wonderfully and come away with nothing except the written comments of your three judges and the knowledge that you sang well.   What made me so incredibly proud of Max and Mike was how well they took the news that they had not advanced- a heck of a lot better than I took the news, to be perfectly frank.  Maybe they listened to what I had said again and again and again about what NATS is like and how it serves up disappointments for the vast majority of singers who participate in it.   Or maybe they are just two guys who are mighty mature – as are Bob and Christian and Joe and Chase who also competed and brought honor both to themselves and to Carthage.  (I only wish that I could have heard them in person.)   Unfortunately, I was busy dealing with. . .

  1. *Help Desk Hell –   I was officially scheduled to work the help desk from 12 noon until 3 p.m., once I finished judging one half of the Freshman Women’s division. When I got there, at least five other people we behind the counter, and there was scarcely room for us to be back there without literally stepping on each other toes.  (We looked a little like one of those photos from the 1950’s when twenty people tried to squeeze into one phone booth.  This was like that, but not quite as fun.)   So we came up with a plan for alternating in and out, which allowed me to run a couple of quick errands and also grab from lunch.  And for the next couple of hours,  we had things covered pretty well. But by 3:00, which is when I was supposed to be done, there was basically nobody there at all except me,  and I ended up staying all the way until 5. (A bit of help eventually came, but there was awhile there when it was only me.)   It was fun to be needed,  and fun to meet and greet quite a few of the participating singers as they registered and/ or picked up their comment sheet.  But by the end of those five hours,  I felt like I’d developed a nasty case of shin splints, as well as a healthy new appreciation for bank tellers, waiters and waitresses and anyone else who is on their feet for a living.

*  Fame –  My favorite moment during my help desk stint was when a young man in the semi-finals came up to ask me a question about where those next performances were going to be held.  I took him over to a map that was on the wall and showed him as best I could how he could find the room where he would next be singing.  He thanked me and then hesitated ever so slightly, wanting to say something more but I couldn’t tell what.   I asked him if he needed something else.  He smiled and said “you look so familiar. I’m trying to figure out where I might have seen you.”  And then…  “by any chance, did you play piano at WMEA?”  I replied that I most certainly did, accompanying the Carthage Choir for their electrifying performance.  “That’s it!  You guys were amazing!  And you’re an amazing piano player!”  In a weekend where I mostly felt like a very small and largely unknown fish in a really big pond,  that was a really great moment.   And it was really nice to know that the choir’s performance was as exciting as it had felt to us as we delivered it.

*Showing Up – As the first day of NATS approached,  I realized that one of the most unsettling things about it is that while I drove one accompanist and four singers there in a college van,  all of the other singers plus the other two accompanists chose to get there on their own.  And until everyone was there, safe and sound, I was one giant bundle of stomach ulcers ready to burst.  But everyone found their way there, one way or another-  and there were no last minute snafus involving lost music or registration irregularities.  Everyone got to sing – and that’s what it’s all about.

  1. *Head Scratching –  In this particular NATS, which was full of stresses of one kind or another,  I was incredibly grateful to be at UW-Whitewater, where my best friend Marshall is the chair of the theater department.   I saw him fleetingly Friday morning – had supper with him Friday evening – and sat with him for all of the finals Saturday morning, comparing notes on what transpired and on how we ranked the singers in each group of finals.  (Only after the fact.  NATS has explicit rules that judges do not consult with one another before rating the singers.  Each judge is to do so completely on their own.  And even though Marshall was not there as a judge- just an interested audience member- I was careful to compare results with him only after I had turned in each ballot.)   And wow, was that fun!   And it underscored just how tricky it is to listen to three superb singers and then have to rank them.   Do you mostly lean on who has the most impressive instrument?  The most distinctive sound?  The most sophisticated musicality and expressivity?  The most versatility?   The most even and consistent vocal technique?  Some combination of all that?  What should matter the most?  It’s SO good to judge, because it reminds you all over again how tricky it is-  and it’s exactly why someone can sing extremely well but come away, in effect, empty-handed. It’s such a subjective business.  And because of that. . .

  1. *Living with Doubt –  If there’s one thing about these NATS competitions that I really do not like at all,  it’s the way that they can sow doubt in the minds of both teachers and singers.   For young singers,  to come up empty-handed again and again can leave a singer understandably doubtful of their own abilities or their very self-worth. . . and that can also happen when they manage to advance as a freshman and then never quite manage to achieve that breakthrough again.  Does that mean that they have somehow lost ground?  Are things going wrong?  (I can think of at least a couple of my own singers who have found themselves in exactly that position- advancing to the semi’s in their very first NATS competition, and then never quite managing to achieve that again.)    And I also think of two gifted young women from Kenosha – one at Parkside, the other at Carthage – who finished first and second in NATS in the freshman women division, which is always the largest division of the entire competition- and who did not even advance to the semi- finals their next time competing.  You have to be a very mature young musician to take in that kind of disappointment and not let it turn into poisonous self-doubt.)  And for teachers,  NATS can sow doubt in much the same way, when you hear the names of certain peers read aloud again and again and again during award presentations.  What do they know that I don’t know, it’s tempting to wonder.   Or when you get done judging one half of the freshman women in the preliminary round, as I did this year- and you find your head absolutely spinning from having heard so many fine singers.   Who is really the cream of this impressive crop?  And do I know the first thing about what separates the truly exemplary from the “merely” excellent?   As it turns out,  by the time the judging was done and the totals had been tallied,  the four young women who advanced to the semi’s were the women I marked 1, 2, 3, and 5 – which I found immensely satisfying and reassuring.  Maybe I do know something about this crazy business of singing after all!

In the end,  you cannot go to NATS – as a singer or as a teacher – with winning in mind.  It is about learning.  It is about growing.  It is about listening.  It is about that one thing that all of these crazy people have in common – a love of singing.   Yes, winning NATS is thrilling.  It happened to me four times as a singer, so I know of what I speak.   But that can never be what it’s about – or you’ve lost before you’ve sung your first note.

pictured above:  This is Kaitlyn Gravely right after she finished her performance in the final round of lower college musical theater women.   Fumi Nakayama was her very able pianist.