This photo makes me smile for all kinds of reasons. It shows the four voice students I just took to a NATS competition in La Crosse. NATS stands for the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and the Wisconsin chapter sponsors a competition every fall in which gifted singers from nearly all of the state’s major colleges and universities compete. A relatively small school like Carthage going head to head with the likes of UW-Madison, UW-Stevens Point or Lawrence University feels a little like David battling multiple Goliaths! It means that when we bring our singers to these competitions, we have to be prepared for the very real possibility of being shut out the awards completely – but it also means that when even one of our singers manages to advance into the semi-finals or finals, it’s absolutely thrilling. And when you bring four singers and three of them advance, that’s just about more excitement than any voice teacher is entitled to have!
But I hasten to add that it’s a huge mistake to focus on advancing or winning as the heart and soul of singing in a NATS competition. To do so is, in a sense, a failure of sorts (even if you happen to do well) because it diverts you from what most matters: learning and growing, both in the act of singing for expert jurists who critique you, and also in observing the performances of your peers. When I look back over the last fifteen years of NATS competitions in which I’ve played a part, one of my unhappiest memories is of one year when the competition took place at Lawrence University in Appleton and Carthage did not do particularly well (although we did have a student advance to the finals of musical theater.) I remember that during the final rounds, I stepped out of the auditorium to grab a drink, and I was astounded to see basically the entire contingent of Carthage students camped out in one of the lounges, sleeping, relaxing, playing cards, doing homework, etc. while this feast of great singing was occurring right upstairs. It had apparently not dawned on any of them – nor, apparently, had we as teachers done a good job of impressing upon them – that NATS is as much about listening and observing as it is about your own singing and whether or not you advance into the later rounds of the competition. I’m happy to say that in the years since, our singers have understood this so much better- and for those who have participated in it, NATS has been a rich experience quite apart from the whole matter of who advances and who doesn’t.
That being said, I must admit that having three of my four students advance in this most recent NATS competition was one of the mountaintop moments of my professional life. But I think that I was just as pleased by how these four guys carried themselves, both on and off the stage- and how attentive and caring they were with each other. And unlike a large group where things can so easily get complicated, there was something so simple and straightforward with these four guys. Nick and Mike had been to NATS before, so they knew the ropes – and while they’re plenty serious as singers, they’re easy-going guys who had a way of keeping the two freshmen relaxed and comfortable. And Matt and Austin, while pretty confident, seemed appreciative to have Mike and Nick’s guidance. And by the end of the weekend, the distinction between freshmen and seniors had pretty much faded- they were four singers…. four colleagues… four friends…. each with their own story.
MATT is the ultimate team player – maybe because in addition to music, he was both a football player and a wrestler in high school. At any rate, Matt has an exceptional attentiveness to others that I really admire and respect. I’ve seen it in him before, but particularly noticed it after his classmate Austin had an upsetting memory glitch in the finals. (He otherwise sang magnificently.) Matt made his way out in the hall to find Austin – who was understandably upset with himself – gave him a big comforting bear hug and did his best to reassure him that he had sung incredibly well. . . exactly as a football player might do for a teammate who fumbled the ball on the one-yard line. It was a mighty nice thing to see – and also not a surprise, given who Matt is.
Matt is blessed with one of the biggest voices I’ve ever worked with – and when he sings, he looks like there’s nothing in the world he would rather be doing. He also sings with exceptional expressiveness for someone his age- and it was the combination of all that which powered Matt right into the semi-finals of the freshman men’s division. Unfortunately, a recurring throat issue he’s been fighting all fall flared up with a vengeance late in the afternoon … to the point where I wondered if he would be able to sing at all – or if he would stand there petrified with fear that his voice would give out right in the middle of such an important moment (despite him resting that afternoon, drinking tea with honey, cautiously vocalizing, etc.) I’m not sure I can even express how proud I was of Matt for the way he got up there in that semi-final round and sang so bravely, despite the condition of his voice. I’ll never forget that.
AUSTIN is a splendidly talented young singer, and I’ve known that since the moment I heard him sing for the first time when he visited Carthage as a prospective student. Where I really came to admire him, however, was when he asked to take a sample voice lesson with me, with his dad in attendance. We worked on Handel’s aria “Honor and Arms,” which he already sang superbly, but which he was capable of singing even more stylishly and accurately. We set to work, and Austin could not have been more open to my suggestions. You could tell that the last thing he wanted was for me to simply tell him how good he already was. He wanted to be even better. What more could a voice teacher ask for?
I was busy judging another division of the competition when Matt and Austin sang their preliminary round, but I was able to see them in the semi-finals. Austin sang last and was solid as a rock- not the least bit phased by the pressure of the situation. I was delighted to see him singing so close to his full potential, and wasn’t the least bit surprised to see him advance to the finals. His performance in the final round- on the stage of the main auditorium- was just as impressive until the last thirty seconds or so, when he suddenly and inexplicably suffered a couple of memory lapses in Carissimi’s “Vittoria, mio core.” “Honor and Arms” and Finzi’s “Come Away, Death” before that were thrillingly sung, so the memory lapses were a shocking surprise – a lot like a figure skater who has nailed all of his triples and quads but then stumbles on the last spin, just as his routine is ending. Just how his three judges would mark him down for that was anyone’s guess, but my fear was that two errors would be judged more harshly than one. So imagine our enormous relief when it was Austin’s name announced as the winner for freshman men- an indication of just how impressive his singing had been, even with the errors. By the way, his folks drove all the way from Waukesha that morning to see him sing – and because of that, I’m especially glad that the story ended as happily as it did. There had been lots of hugs out in the hallway right after he sang, but those were to comfort him. (And you should have seen how many complete strangers came up to him to offer their reassurance and to say how impressed they were with his singing.) This time, the hugs were for joyous congratulations, and I couldn’t have been happier for this talented, big-hearted young man, who sang so very splendidly.
MIKE earned third place last year in senior men …. and if there’s anything you can say about NATS competitions, it’s that there are no guarantees that making finals one year means you’ll automatically make it the next year. In some ways, it’s especially true when you get to be a senior because it’s hard to ignore the enormous figurative clock that’s ticking in the background as a reminder that this particular chapter is about to close …. which in turn can make it very challenging to sing your best. That’s why I am so enormously proud of Mike for singing so spectacularly well- especially because he did some incredibly difficult repertoire. There was “See the raging flames,” from Handel’s Joshua, a piece which sends the singer into fiendishly tricky runs. There was “Avant de quitter ces lieux” from Gounod’s Faust, with its multiple high G’s plus a tricky French text. Hardest of all was an incredibly dramatic and difficult song by Gustav Mahler called “Ich hab ein glühend Messer” – which means “I have a burning knife in my chest” …. a savagely intense song about a man who is haunted by memories of the woman who once loved him but then spurned him. Mike worked incredibly hard on this song and delivered a searing performance of it which showed just how far he has come as a singer since I began teaching him back in high school. Making beautiful sounds has never been a problem for Mike, even in the midst of his voice change – but being truly and profoundly expressive has been hard for him. But no longer. And to see that kind of artistic growth in Mike is easily as thrilling as any award or honor could ever be.
NICK is a very important part of these musings about NATS because I’ve never taught a more accomplished singer in my 23 years at Carthage – and yet he has never advanced in a NATS competition. It’s a harsh and inescapable reminder that these kind of competitions mean a lot and also mean very little. The ultimate results are not within your own control; they have to do with how well your fellow singers perform and on the particular preferences of a given judge when it comes to the highly subjective matter of singing. (Unlike Solo & Ensemble, where theoretically any and all excellent performances can be rewarded with a One rating, NATS competitions lead to a first/second/third place finish …. so it’s possible to sing incredibly well yet walk away with nothing except your comment sheets and the pride of knowing that you sang well.) I am incredibly proud of Nick for singing so well – and just as proud for how well he shouldered the disappointment of not advancing to the finals. He was a great source of support and wise counsel for his good friend Mike and for the two freshmen as well – and during much of the finals, he and I surreptitiously exchanged occasional texts in which we ranked the various finalists as we heard them – and Nick impressed me with his astute observations about what we were hearing and seeing. He not only has the makings of a fine professional singer- but also an exceptionally fine voice teacher. I will also say this: Nick is a much more skilled and knowledgable singer than I was as a college senior- and by that point, I had won NATS three times. For me, that just confirms that those awards are about how good you are assessed to be in one moment and place- but they do not in fact measure the ultimate worth of a singer or of their talent. That only becomes evident over the course of one’s entire journey as a singer. Nick’s journey has hardly begun but has already been quite exciting and inspiring for me. . . especially when I think of two years ago, when Nick had to stay home from NATS because he has been hospitalized twice that fall and already missed so much school . . . or 16 months ago, when he underwent major surgery. And here he is today, singing so spectacularly. I once called him in a past blog “The Comeback Kid” – and I only wish that NATS gave an award for that.
I’ve probably gushed here more than enough … but I really felt the need to say publicly how proud I am of these four young men and of what they did last weekend. (And besides that, it was just fun to be with them.) And I’m just as grateful for all of my other voice students at Carthage, as well as my private students. I have so much in my life for which to be thankful – but towards the very top of that long list is the privilege of teaching so many talented and appreciative young men. I am blessed beyond deserving.
pictured left to right: Mike Anderle, Nick Huff, Matt Burton and Austin Merschdorf.