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Dear John

Classially trained - how will non-classical work affect my abilities?

First published 21st September 2006

Question:
I am a classically trained performer. Will working in other areas of the business dilute or enhance my ability?

Answer:
When I was still aspiring to reach the heady heights of cartooning for The Stage I eagerly devoured interviews with such greats as Chuck Jones and Dr Seuss to see what I could learn. The most worrying thing was the reporter would comment that in the cartoonist's living room was their "private collection of pictures, done purely for their own pleasure". Furthermore, these secret works would almost always turn out to be a hidden trove of 'serious' art of which Picasso, would be jealous. The underlying tone seemed to be the writer's amazement that someone who could 'draw properly' would lower themselves to bother with cartoons. Such snobbery is not uncommon in the performing business either but is often much more prevalent amongst 'fans' of a particular genre rather than among performers. Many classical, gospel and folk musicians do well out of extra work performing on popular music projects. But it is also important to have a direction to one's work as the 'jack of all trades' approach can make it hard to progress. Here are two classically trained performers who are on the cutting edge of popular performance.

What the experts say:

Rachel Weston

Rachel is a classically trained opera singer and pianist. Living in Brighton, she now specialises in both live opera and cabaret entertainment. Also a performance poet, Rachel has established one of Brighton's most acclaimed regular spoken word events, Wordplay, showcasing the best local and national poets, storytellers and acoustic musicians which she comperes with characteristic humour and charm.

"The technical and physical skills and discipline required in training as a classical musician lend themselves very well to alternative musical genres which are just as demanding and intricate, such as jazz, tango, klezmer and folk music. However, even if you are a struggling, unemployed musician (as we all have been at some point) it is important not to dilute your talents by accepting work that you are uncomfortable with out of sheer desperation, or that will damage you vocally - a classical soprano doing smoky jazz in a low register chest voice, night after night, is a bad idea, for example.

Unless you're really lucky, you'll be unlikely to land a job at Covent Garden immediately. Working as a cabaret performer (restaurants, clubs, small theatres) is a wonderful way of enhancing your ability and confidence. This area of work is a complete antithesis to the formality and anonymity of stage performance - harsh lights in your eyes, unable to see your audience, their faces, their responses. When you're moving in and out of a tabled audience, they become an inextricable part of your drama. You're acting with them and not for them. And audiences love it! The opportunity to experience opera or classical music up close, with all its love, passion and tragedy is exciting and exhilarating. I've seen more happiness and satisfaction (from both audience and performers) in a small Italian restaurant than I ever have in a large opera house.

For an opera singer, spoken word and stand-up entertainment isn't as big a leap as one might assume - think about all those opera plots with messy relationships, farcical dramas, melodramatic twists, burlesque-style tragedy - enough material to keep a comic or poet going for hours.''

Glideascope

Glideascope is a composer/producer whose music is a hybrid of classical, dub and world music influences. His material has been licensed for Channel 4, More4, several MTV documentaries and independent films in the USA and most recently he has worked with the Philharmonic Orchestra.

"I have no doubt that working on other areas of the business will enhance your ability. Performance is not only about faithful reproduction of other people's ideas but also the ability to improvise, apply personal interpretation by thinking outside of the box and the ability to engage with the audience. In the past, composition was the preserve of the few, in recent years with computer music technology it has become a viable option for many people. They can put sounds together, just as they would be able to write a short story or sketch a portrait. With the national curriculum also introducing composition as a statutory requirement in music lessons in our primary and secondary schools, this area will only develop.

What this means to you as a performer is that there will be many more opportunities for performing non-classical pieces in contemporary settings, as more and more people want to harness these instruments and hear their compositions using real instruments and talented performers rather than just samples and lifeless reproduction.

Developing an awareness of different playing styles can only be an asset in this changing musical landscape and should be seized as an opportunity rather then seen as a threat. With more contemporary artists utilising orchestration, such as Robbie Williams, Kanye West and of course my own projects, you can see this as a option to increase your options of employability if nothing else.

If your focus is all round personal development, working in other areas of the business can only improve your ability in performing a wider repertoire of music.

John sums up

Not a lot to sum up this week since both our contributors have strongly agreed - except to say that in editing down their contributions, as we sometimes have to do for space, the two words I had to keep taking out of each opinion were 'versatile' and 'focus', because both Rachel and Glideascope mentioned them numerous times as the keys to using their classical skills effectively in whatever performance environment they find themselves in.

Most performers would agree that it is the balancing of these two elements that can be a real challenge and needs to be constantly reassessed to keep you moving forward. But when you 'hit the right note' here, the results can be very encouraging indeed. Speaking of encouragement, if you want some further tips on using your classical skills or any other skills in a new area, I would encourage you to take a look at the special Dear John column in our musical theatre guide in the paper this week (issue date Thursday 21st September 2006, no 6544.)

* Rachel Weston will be appearing in the Spaghetti Opera on Wednesday, September 27 2006 at Al Duomo Restaurant, Brighton, rachel.weston.uk@gmail.com

* You can hear Glideascope’s work at www.glideascope.com

* Feedback/queries are welcome to dearjohn@thestage.co.uk

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