Last Sunday I travelled to Antwerp, Brussels to take part in a masterclass hosted by OASE projects in the beautiful AMUZ venue. The master class was given by W.Stephen Smith, the author of ‘The Naked Voice’, the vocal teacher of Joyce de Donato and Christine Brewer. We were told that this was his first visit to Europe to hold such a class, and I was thrilled to have been invited to participate.
There were singers of varying ages and voice types from all over Europe. The session started with such high energy and never let up, it was so exhilarating to just sit and listen to his advice as we each singer got up to perform.
When it was my turn it all seemed to happen so quickly. He gave me some insightful advice which I found particularly helpful and I made lots of notes.
Fortunately for me, Catrin, one of the organisers, took some pictures during the event which she said I could share with you all.
Before travelling back on Tuesday I took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent some time exploring the city and loved catching up with friends from the Italian summer school from last summer, Astrid Defauw and Alexandra Franck. Alexandra showed us all around Antwerp explaining the history of her beautiful home City.
Tomorrow will be my first day at the Royal College of Music and the anticipation of starting a new stage in my training is raising my excitement levels to new heights. Though it was sad to say goodbye to my family this afternoon after we finished unpacking, it will be great to start putting into practice some the suggestions that I have received over the summer from the different projects I have been a part of.