CIRQUE DE LA VOIX: VOCAL PERFORMANCES FOR THE 21st CENTURY AUDIENCE
Abstract
This dissertation addresses the growing need to entice people to attend a classical solo
vocal recital by incorporating thematic programming, multi-media presentations,
collaborations and innovative marketing. It comprises four programs that use the above
tactics, creating live performances of classical vocal music that appeal to the attention deficient
21st-century audience. Each program focuses on repertoire appropriate for the
male alto voice and includes elements of spoken word, visual imagery and for movement
through collaborations with actors, singers, dancers, designers and visual artists.
Program one (March 1, 2004), La Voix Humaine: The Life of an Englishwoman in
Music, Poetry, & Art, outlines the life of a fictitious Englishwoman through a self-composed
narration, spoken by an actress, a Power Point presentation of visual art by
20th-century English artists and musical commentary provided by the collaboration of a
vocalist and a pianist. Program two (October 15, 2004), La Voix Thfrmatique: Anima -
Music that Moves, is a program of pieces ranging from the 14th- to the 20th-centuries of
which half are choreographed by members of the University of Maryland Dance
Department. Program three is a lecture recital entitled L 'Haute Voix: Identifying the
High Male Voice and Appropriate Repertoire which is presented in collaboration with
three singers, a pianist, a harpsichordist and a cellist. Program four, La Voix Dramatique:
Opera Roles for the Countertenor Voice, comprises performances of George Frederic
Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724) in collaboration with the Maryland Opera Studio
and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (Leon Major, director; Kenneth Merrill,
conductor). There are two performances each of the title role, Cesare (April 15 & 17,
2005), and his nemesis, Tolomeo (April 21 & 23,2005). All programs are documented
in a digital audio format available on compact disc and are accompanied by program
notes also available in digital format. Programs two and four are also documented in
digital video format available on digital video disc.