Creating at Caramoor: A Young Artist's Love Story by Tynan Davis

I'm having difficulties articulating my experience at Caramoor. The deluge of information has flooded my mental tributaries, and I'm just trying to stay afloat, but I'll do my best.

Last summer, my first with program, I was shown the mountaintop of vocal possibility and sent forth to proclaim the good news of beautiful, efficient bel canto technique. A year later, improvements have been made, but after my first week back, I am reminded that there is still so much to master. What am I talking about? For the sake of all things good, I won't go into heady specifics; I couldn't do justice to the landscape of material presented to us, but with a full and eager heart, I can safely say that at Caramoor, we are challenged to leave our egos at home and put our vocal flaws on the table for all to see. Then, with full and eager hearts, master teachers Will Crutchfield, Rachelle Jonck, Daniel Mobbs, and Lucy Yates guide us to realizing our individual vocal potential. But this isn't opera camp for amateurs; the collective has already achieved a level of professional excellence with managers and agents and booked performance calendars (Oh my!). To witness vocal breakthroughs at Caramoor is to hear good singers unlock thrilling star quality.

Personally, I am humbled by the time and space I am given to figure out this voice of mine. What does that mean? In a masterclass format, with Daniel and Will standing by, I'm standing before 35 other singers with critical ears bent my way (hard to keep ego out). As I sing, Dan tinkers with my wonky posture. "Unlock your knees, elongate the back of your neck, no eyebrows please!" Will notices superfluous movement of my vocal mechanism while maneuvering through a melismatic passage (a long series of rapid-fire notes sung on the same vowel sound). We stop to play. Slow it down to a crawl, sing note-by-note, each sound carefully giving way to the next without letting my larynx move. Tongue is forward and relaxed, jaw like a mouth-breathing, slack-jawed yokel (I am from Texas), "ah" vowel balancing depth and brilliance. We're talking about almost imperceptible actions here, but without these adjustments, over time, the tiny bad habits could become career enders. With this Young Artist program, I have 6 days a week for the next 7 weeks to hone and reinforce the core skills of bel canto singing while expert teachers and performers stand by to guide, encourage, and celebrate every successful convergence of breath, tone, and diction. It's a never-ending quest for efficiency and economy of movement, that, once firmly in place, open us up for deeper stylistic and dramatic expression.

At the end of the day, I am aware that being a professional doesn't mean being a finished product - I don't think that exists anyways; not with our ever-changing biology. But what I know exists is the standing invitation to question and redefine the process of creating. I believe this is what Caramoor gives to its singers, and why the program speaks so effectively to the audience. We are able to take risks, we learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, and with that, we grow as communicators. In this space of exploration the product isn't nearly as thrilling as the process. (But you will LOVE the product, so if you haven't already, be sure to reserve your seats for H.M.S. Pinafore and the opening night gala on June 25th!! We're going to have such a good time!)

I'm just scratching the surface here, but if you're interested in further ramblings on my life-operatic, my blog can be found at http://www.tynandavis.com./

For more information about the Bel Canto Young Artist Mentoring Program visit us at http://www.caramoor.org/education/bel-canto-young-artists