Jackie Evancho
Our Advanced Vocal Methods class at Tennessee State University in Nashville has been watching various You Tube clips of operatic-crossover singers (Sarah Brightman, etc.). We have mixed opinions of Jackie Evancho, the 10- year old being promoted as an opera singer. What do Bel Canto members think? Is she hurting her voice singing like this at such a young age? Is it appropriate material?
James
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I can't claim to be a huge expert on this, but my interest has also been sparked by jackie evancho, partially because she is from my hometown pittsbugh, but also because it sounds like there's a 35 year old behind her to whom she is lip-synching. Just as amazed as I was was with her voice, I was equally amzed by her colorotura execution, which while easy for Sarah Brightman, is quite amazing for a 10 year old.
I must admit though that I too wondered if she was not hurting her voice by singing like this. I'm sure it's exciting to get such huge promotion (I assure you I'm more than a touch jealous lol) but at what long term cost?
But here's my question, if she is singing with proper posture and breath control, will she still hurt her voice just because of her age? While it's hard to tell just by watching a video, her consistency and purity would perhaps suggest that she's singing properly, so I think she might be ok until her voice changes, at which point she may have to stand back for a while until her voice settles.
I'd like to know what others think, because this is a big question for me. I have a 7 year old who has a great ear (he remembers the melodies of Arias in their entirety after hearing them once) and his voice is rich, pure and perfectly on pitch. I would like to expose him to Bel Canto singing techniques to give him an opportunity to start much earrlier than I did, but I worry about hurting his voice in the long run.