PORGYANDBESS

The Gershwins’

An American Musical Masterpiece

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2006-07season

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Opera

A Family Guide to

Best Practices in Arts Education is sponsored by Pennsylvania Alliance for Arts Education,Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Pennsylvania’s standards in education call for students to show what they know and are able to do.As every parent knows, children need to share what they have discovered or learned. Thus, the title of our program is Sounds of Learning™. It reflects our belief that children must be actively engaged in sharing ideas,which reflects the collaborative learning that has been called for by the U.S. Department of Labor. For thefuture success of our research and development teams, today’s students must learn to work collaborativelyusing creative problem-solving techniques. This was further highlighted by Professor Richard Florida ofCarnegie Mellon University. He noted that 30% of the U.S. work force is directly involved with some level ofcreative engagements in their work. His June 2002 book, The Rise of the Creative Class, was published by BasicBooks. His work supported the U.S. Governors report that was released in spring of 2002. This report calledfor arts education in all schools since it has been directly tied to the economic development of urban areas.

With the Sounds of Learning™ program we strive to support the creative needs of our youth while wealso support the core literacy goals of our community. This book will integrate with the local core curriculumin literacy in many ways. Just as opera is a uniquely integrated art, combining orchestra, voice, literature,drama, and dance, the Sounds of Learning™ program is an interdisciplinary and student-centered program. The goal of Active Learning is to have your children engaged in the process of self-teaching. They will be ableto show how they have gained insights into their learning by drawing, writing, charting, and discussing theissues most relevant to them. In this way, students demonstrate what they can do with what they know.

We believe the family is the most important foundation to learning. Let your kitchen table become aclassroom where your children can build their knowledge of opera and the humanities. As you join in theteaching and learning process with your children, watch their eyes sparkle. Opera is a communal celebration,so too should be your children’s education.

In reading the libretto, we suggest that your family members take turns reading particular roles. This adds a dimension of fun to the reading of this great literature. Recent research by Dr. Ellen Winner of Harvard’s Project Zero found that “drama helps to build verbal skills that transfer to new materials.” She found that acting out texts helps students in “reading readiness and achievement” and “oral and writtenlanguage development.” (Journal of Aesthetic Education, v34, #3/4, Fall/Winter, 2000.) In preparing for theopera, we suggest you purchase one of EMI’s excellent recordings of this opera. We are grateful to EMI for offering us their libretti for use in our program. Together, we hope to build future audiences for, and performers of, the arts.

The School District of Philadelphia

School Reform Commission

James E. Nevels, Chairman

Martin G. Bednarek, memberSandra Dungee Glenn, member

James P. Gallagher, Ph.D, memberDaniel J. Whelan, member

Paul VallasChief Executive Officer

Gregory ThorntonChief Academic Officer

Dennis W. Creedon, Ed.D.Administrator, Office of Creative

and Performing Arts

Opera Company of Philadelphia

Robert B. DriverGeneral and Artistic Director

Corrado RovarisMusic Director

David B. DevanManaging Director

Michael BoltonCommunity Programs Manager

Sounds of Learning™ was established by a generous grant from The Annenberg Foundation.Dedicated funding for the Sounds of Learning™ program has been provided by:

$50,000 and above

U.S. Department of Education

$20,000 to $49,999

Connelly Foundation

Glenmede

Lincoln Financial Group Foundation

$10,000 to $19,999

ARAMARK Charitable Fund

Ethel Sergeant Clark Smith Memorial Fund

GlaxoSmithKline

Hamilton Family Foundation

Hirsig Family Fund

PNC Bank

Presser Foundation

Universal Health Services

$5,000 to $9,999

Alpin J. & Alpin W. Cameron Memorial Trust

Bank of America Foundation

Barra Foundation

McLean Contributionship

Morgan Stanley Foundation

Samuel S. Fels Fund

Sheila Fortune Foundation

Warwick Foundation

$1,000 to $4,999

Louis N. Cassett Foundation

The Opera Company ofPhiladelphia is supported by major

grants from The William PennFoundation, The Pew Charitable

Trusts, and The Lenfest Foundation.

Additional support is provided by the Independence Foundation

and the Horace W. GoldsmithFoundation.

The Opera Company ofPhiladelphia receives state arts

funding support through a grantfrom the Pennsylvania Council

on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth

of Pennsylvania.

ContentsofTableOpera 101: Getting Ready for the Opera

4 A Brief History of Western Opera7 A Time of Revolution in the Arts: The Harlem Renaissance 8 The Proud Legacy of African-American Opera Singers

11 Game: Connect the Opera Terms12 Philadelphia’s Academy of Music14 Broad Street: Avenue of the Arts15 Opera Etiquette 101

Relating Opera to History: The Culture Connection16 George Gershwin: A Man of Jazz18 Gershwin Timeline19 Make Your Own Timeline20 Why I Like Opera by Jordan Palmer21 The History of Porgy Before Bess22 Jim Crow and Porgy and Bess24 Game: Porgy and Bess Crossword Puzzle

Porgy and Bess: Libretto and Production Information26 Meet the Artists 27 Introducing Karen Slack28 Porgy and Bess: Synopsis29 Acting the LIBRETTO30 Porgy and Bess LIBRETTO

Behind the Scenes60 So You Want to Sing Like an Opera Singer62 The Highs and Lows of the Operatic Voice64 Life in the Opera Chorus: Julie-Ann Green65 Life in the Pit: The Xylophone66 The Subtle Art of Costume Design67 Careers in the Arts

Lessons68 Conflicts and Loves in Porgy and Bess69 Etymology and Word Comparison in Other Languages70 Produce Your Own Opera!72 2006-2007 Season Subscriptions73 Invest in Grand Opera!74 Game: Operatic Libs: The Picnic on Kittiwah Island75 Sounds of Learning™ on the Web

Glossary 76

State Standards 79

State Standards Met 80

Angela Brown andGregg Baker singthe title roles of

Porgy and Bess inOpera Company of

Philadelphia’s 2007 production of

Porgy and Bess.

Music was changing, too.Composers abandoned the ornateBaroque style of music and beganto write less complicated musicthat expressed the character’s thoughts and feelingsmore believably. One of the first operas to use this new style was Cristoph Willibald Gluck’sOrpheus and Euridice (1762).

With the new democratic sentiments cameinterest in operas about common people in familiarsettings, rather than stories from ancient mythology.A good example is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’sThe Marriage of Figaro (1786), in which a servantoutsmarts a count. Several of Mozart’s operas remain among the most popular today, includingFigaro, Don Giovanni (1788), Così fan tutte (1790),and The Magic Flute (1791).

In the nineteenth century operas continued togrow more diverse in their forms and national styles.The Italian tradition continued in the bel canto movement. Operas written in this style, whichmeans “beautiful singing,” included arias with intricate ornamentation, or combinations of fast notes, in the melodies. The most famous composers of bel canto are Vincenzo Bellini,Gaetano Donizetti and Gioacchino Rossini, whoseThe Barber of Seville (1816) is one of the most belovedcomic operas.

Later in the century the Romantic Movementgrew throughout Europe as operas celebrated nationalpride in a country’s people, history and folklore.Among the operas that showed the growth of patriotictraditions are Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz(Germany, 1821), Mikhail Glinka’s Ruslan andLyudmilla (Russia, 1842) and Georges Bizet’sCarmen (France, 1875). In Italy Giuseppe Verdicomposed in a bold, direct style. In GermanyRichard Wagner took the Romantic style to theextreme in an ambitious series of four operas basedon Norse mythology known collectively as The Ringof the Nibelungs (1876).

In the twentieth century opera became moreexperimental. Some composers such as GiacomoPuccini (La bohème, 1896), Claude Debussy (Pélleasand Mélisande, 1902), Richard Strauss (Salome,1905), and Benjamin Britten (Peter Grimes, 1945)continued their nationalistic styles. Others, horrified by the destructive effects of World War I(1914-1919) and modern life, created radically experimental and dissonant works that exploredtopics that were disturbing (Wozzeck by Alban Berg,1925) or absurdist (The Rake’s Progress by IgorStravinsky, 1951). American opera came into its ownin this century, beginning with George Gershwin’sjazz-influenced opera Porgy and Bess (1935). In thelatter part of the century a repetitive and hypnoticstyle known as minimalism was championed inPhillip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach (1976). The latetwentieth century even saw a return to some of thetraits of Romantic opera in works such as JohnCorigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles (1991).

Today, opera is a living art form in which bothnew works and those by composers of the pastcontinue to be performed. It remains to be seen whatthe future of opera will be, but if history is any indication, it will be shaped by the creativity oflibrettists, composers and other artists respondingto the changing times in which they live.

54

Theatrical performances that use music, songand dance to tell a story can be found in many cultures. Opera is just one example of music drama.In its 400-year history opera has been shaped by thetimes in which it was created and tells us muchabout those who participated in the art form as writers,composers, performers, and audience members.

The first works to be called “operas” were created in Italy at the end of the sixteenth century.They were inspired by a group of intellectuals knownas the Camerata who admired the culture of theancient Greeks. They proposed the invention of anew style of music theater that would imitate Greekdrama’s use of music.

The result was a series of operas based onGreek myths, starting with Dafne by Jacopo Peri in1598. The most famous work of this early period isClaudio Monteverdi’s Orfeo (1607), based on themyth of Orpheus. These early operas had all thebasic elements that we associate with opera today:songs, instrumental accompaniments, dance, costumes, and scenery.

These early operas were performed in thecourts of Italian noblemen, but soon opera becamepopular with the general public. Europe had a growing middle class with a taste for spectacularentertainment. During the Baroque period (1600 -1750), the Italian style of opera was so popular thatit became the preferred form even in foreign countries. George Frideric Handel was a German-born composer who lived and worked in England,but his operas such as Julius Caesar (1724) were inthe Italian language and in the Italian style. The onlynation to develop a national tradition to rival the Italian was France, where operas often includedballets. Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-PhilippeRameau are the most famous French Baroque opera composers.

By the middle of the eighteenth centurythe European middle class was more influential than ever. People spoke of new forms of governmentand organization in society. Soon the American and French Revolutions (1776 and 1789) fought toestablish the first modern democracies.

Claudio Monteverdi1567-1643

A Brief History of

Western Opera

A tense scene from Act II of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. (l-r: bassRichard Bernstein, baritone Simone Alberghini and sopranos ChristineBrandes and Mary Dunleavy.)

Bass Kevin Glavin gets a close shave from baritone Roberto DeCandia in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.

A Brief History of American OperaPerhaps when we think of opera, we often think of

singers in exotic costumes singing in languages other thanEnglish. Although operas in English have been performed inour country since colonial times, they have mostly been overshadowed by the operas of such European composers asVerdi, Puccini, Gounod, and Wagner. American composersfirst imitated European styles of opera, then struggled to findtheir own American voice, and finally became trend setters by creating new operatic styles.

The first operas performed in the colonies during theeighteenth and nineteenth centuries were ballad operas: light-hearted plays from Great Britain with songs in a popularstyle. They often poked fun at current events and authority figures. The earliest known ballad opera to be performed in the colonies was Colley Cibber’s Flora in 1737.

In the nineteenth century, many of the most popularoperas from Europe were performed in the United States, usually translated into English. Their popularity was partly aresult of growing numbers of European immigrants, includingthose from Italy and Germany. Rossini’s Cinderella was perhaps the most popular opera in American.

By this time, Americans had begun to write their ownoperas. One of the first examples is William Henry Fry’sLeonora (1845). George Frederick Bristow’s Rip Van Winkle(1855), is a rare example of an opera from this period with anAmerican setting.

76

Mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and

baritone Gregg Baker in Opera Company of

Philadelphia’s 2006 production of

Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison’s

Margaret Garner.

American opera finally developed its own identity inthe twentieth century. Around the time of World War I (1914-1919), American composers began to create a recognizableAmerican style in classical music. In the 1930’s, some importantsteps forward were taken. Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints inThree Acts (1934), with a libretto by the poet Gertrude Stein,successfully blended the style of American hymns and folksongs with the operatic form. This was followed in 1935 byGeorge Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess which brought a vital anddistinctly American musical style to the opera, by using jazzand Broadway sounds as inspiration.

American opera flourished after World War II (1939-1945). Several of the most-performed American operas arefrom this period and include Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl andthe Night Visitors (1951, the first opera written for television),and Samuel Barber’s Vanessa (1958). Responding to thehypocrisy and blacklisting of the McCarthy era, composerCarlisle Floyd wrote his first opera, Susannah (1954). By using the Bible story of Susannah and the Elders, Floyd brilliantly criticized McCarthy’s corrupt anti-Communism policies in this tale of a young woman ostracized by her community in Appalachia.

In the late twentieth century, the United States hadbecome a center of innovation in music. American opera wasoften at the forefront of new trends. In 1976, Einstein on theBeach by Philip Glass shattered traditional opera conventionsby setting nonsense syllables to music and dispensing with any kind of definite story. Contemporary and Americanthemes are important in this and other recent operas, such asJohn Adams’ Nixon in China (1987).

There has been a recent renaissance in American operawith such works as Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire(1995), Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (2000) and The Endof the Affair (2004), Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison’sMargaret Garner (2005), John Adams’ Dr. Atomic (2005), andElliot Goldenthal’s Grendel (2006). These works have tendedto rely on literary or theatrical sources for inspiration. Musically,most have moved away from the repetitious minimalist styleinto a more romantic and melodic style of writing.

American opera includes both works that are highlyexperimental and those that combine modern techniques witha traditional emphasis on melody. This diversity contributes tothe United States’ continuing influence on the internationalworld of opera.

In the early 1900s several generations ofAfrican-Americans had experienced life in freedomthanks to emancipation. In the early decades of that century, particularly in the period just afterWorld War I (1918) and the beginning of the GreatDepression (1929), African-Americans began to exploreand celebrate their collective experience and heritagewhile challenging the political status quo through literature, art, music, dance, and social commentaryduring what was known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Since the turn of the century there had been agreat exodus of African-Americans from the South as thousands moved to Northern industrial areas like Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, Washington,D.C., and New York City in search of a new life. Long denied their rights in the South, the former southerners now had access to better education and employment opportunities than they could havehad in the South. Many of the travelers settled in New York City’s growing and successful Harlemneighborhood. The district soon became an intellectualcenter for a new awareness and pride in African-American culture and expression. It reawakened cultural spirit that couldn’t be expressed during slavery. Artists, musicians, and especially writersresponded to the charged atmosphere and created anoverflowing collection of works celebrating theAfrican-American experience. Suddenly African-Americans had found their voice, and people werelistening. These new works attracted the attention ofthe entire nation; never before had so manyAmericans read the thoughts of African-Americansin newspapers, journals, magazines, books, andpoetry anthologies. They were struck by the authors’profound writing and the beauty of their message.

The movement had specific goals. Blackauthors cried out against injustice and racial discrimination, neighborhood racial segregation, andemployment inequality. These protestations causedrace riots to break out in many cities. The othermajor goal was even more important: to rebuild theesteem of blacks in postbellum America. A positiveexpression of pride in the African-American culturewas promoted by activists, authors, and in African-American newspapers as the movement tried tounify the community.

The Harlem Renaissance, also known as The Black Renaissance and The New NegroMovement, produced some of the greatest writers ofthe 20th Century, including Arna Bontemps, ClaudeMcKay, Countee Cullen, James Weldon Johnson,Zora Neale Hurston, and Jean Toomer. Perhaps themost important of these writers was LangstonHughes, nicknamed the Poet Laureate of the HarlemRenaissance. Hughes’ poetry such as “The NegroSpeaks of Rivers” and “Mother to Son” beautifullydetailed life in the African-American community.

Not just a literary movement, the HarlemRenaissance produced famous visual artists likeAaron Douglas, Palmer Hayden, Malvin G.Johnson, William H. Johnson, Archibald J.Motley Jr., and Augusta Savage.

Music played an important part in the renaissance as well. Jazz music flourished from New Orleans to New York City. Important musicianslike Fats Waller, Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, CountBasie, and Fletcher Henderson, and vaudevilleblues singers Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and BessieSmith rose to prominence at that time, performingfor both black and white audiences.

The Harlem Renaissance transformed African-American culture, identity and history during a period of African-American migration from theSouth. The movement sought to revitalize black culture though pride. In political life, literature,music, visual art, and other cultural areas, African-Americans in the 1920s collectively worked to instillthat sense of dignity when mainstream Americanculture treated them as second-class citizens.

Active Learning1. For more information on the Harlem Renaissance andLangston Hughes, visit our website atwww.operaphilly.com/education/sol_porgy.shtml

2. Review some of Langston Hughes’ poems and discuss theimpact of these poems with your class.

A Time of Revolution in the Arts:

The Harlem Renaissance

98

Paul Robeson wasborn in Princeton, NewJersey on April 9, 1898.His father, who had beena slave, was a minister andtaught Paul perfect diction.Paul won a scholarship toRutgers University andwas a brilliant student. Hewas also chosen for theAll-American football teamtwice. After college, Paulwent to Columbia Universitywhere he earned a lawdegree. While he wasattending law school he

began to act. Upon graduation from school, he foundthat the major law firms would not hire a black man. Paul turned to his second passion, acting, and wasselected by Eugene O’Neill for his All God’s ChillunGot Wings and The Emperor Jones.

In 1925, Paul began a second career as asinger. He gave many concerts in his rich bass-baritonevoice. He sang many popular styles for his day: spirituals, work songs, and folk tunes. As his love ofsinging grew, Paul learned twenty languages.

Even though he was recognized as a greatsinger and actor, Paul could not find work because ofthe racial discrimination that existed in the UnitedStates. As a result, he traveled to Europe where heworked from 1928 to 1939. In 1934, he visited theSoviet Union and was impressed by the anti-racistbeliefs of the Communist Party. 1936 Paul went toHollywood to play the role of Joe in the film versionof the Jerome Kern Broadway musical Show Boat.Paul performed for the anti-fascist fighters in Spainbetween 1936 and 1937. In 1943, during World WarII, Paul performed Shakespeare’s Othello in NewYork City and was very successful in Earl Robinson’sand John Latouche’s Ballad for Americans.However, after the war Paul’s visit to Russia cameback to haunt him. His career was destroyed by theCold War and his concerts were broken up by anti-Communists.

In 1950, he lost his passport until the UnitedStates Supreme Court ordered it returned in 1958.He gave a farewell concert at Carnegie Hall and leftfor Europe. However, Paul’s health began to fail, andin 1963 he returned to live out his last days inPhiladelphia. He died in our city on January 23, 1976as a great artist who fought the good fight againstracism and discrimination.

African-American VoicesMarian Anderson and Paul Robeson were two

pioneers in the journey of African-American singers’struggle to have their voices acknowledged. Here is a brief list of noted African-American opera singerswho came before and after them, all equally importantto the heritage of African-American classical singers. They have brought their distinctive artistryto operatic stages throughout the world.

For more information on some of these singers, log onto www.operaphilly.com/education/sol_porgy.shtml.

Donnie Ray Albert, baritoneRoberta Alexander, sopranoBetty Allen, mezzo-sopranoMarian Anderson, contraltoMartina Arroyo, sopranoGregg Baker, baritoneCarmen Balthrop, sopranoKathleen Battle, sopranoJules Bledsoe, baritoneEdward Boatner, baritoneAngela M. Brown, sopranoAnn Brown, sopranoUzee Brown, Jr., baritoneLawrence Brownlee, tenorGrace Bumbry, sopranoHarry T. Burleigh, baritoneVinson Cole, tenorSteven Cole, tenorBarbara Conrad, mezzo-sopranoTerry Cook, bassMichelle Crider, sopranoClamma Dale, sopranoLisa Daltirus, sopranoKishna Davis, sopranoGloria Davy, sopranoMattiwilda Dobbs, sopranoMark S. Doss, bassTodd Duncan, baritoneRuby Elzy, sopranoSimon Estes, baritoneMaria Ewing, mezzo-sopranoDenyce Graves, mezzo-sopranoEric Greene, baritoneReri Grist, sopranoGordon Hawkins, baritone

Roland Hayes, tenorBarbara Hendricks, sopranoBruce Hubbard, baritoneSissieretta Jones, sopranoIsola Jones, mezzo-sopranoTracie Luck, mezzo-sopranoLester Lynch, baritoneMarvis Martin, sopranoDorothy Maynor, sopranoRobert McFerrin, baritoneLeona Mitchell, sopranoLatonia Moore, sopranoJessye Norman, sopranoEric Owens, bassEugene Perry, baritoneHerbert Perry, baritoneLeontyne Price, sopranoFlorence Quivar, mezzo-sopranoDerek Lee Ragin, countertenorPaul Robeson, baritoneFaye Robinson, sopranoMorris Robinson, bassMark Rucker, baritoneGeorge Shirley, tenorKevin Short, bass-baritoneMarietta Simpson, mezzo-sopranoKaren Slack, sopranoKenneth Tarver, tenorTichina Vaughan, mezzo-sopranoShirley Verrett, sopranoWilliam Warfield, baritoneFelicia Weathers, sopranoLawrence Winters, baritoneArthur Woodley, bass

Philadelphia singer and actorPaul Robeson.

The Proud Legacy of

African-American Opera SingersMarian Anderson (February 27, 1897- April 8,

1993) was born in Philadelphia on Webster Street.She grew up on Colorado and Fitzwater Streets andattended South Philadelphia High School for Girls.She also attended the Union Baptist Church at 12thand Fitzwater Streets. Her father was a salesman atthe Reading Terminal Market and her mother workedas a laundress. After Marian’s father passed away,her mother raised her and her two sisters on herown. Marian’s unique abilities were noted at an earlyage and she began her formal music studies at 15.She studied with Giuseppe Boghetti and FrankLaForge. In the winter of 1925, Marian entered thetalent auditions for the Lewisohn Stadium Concertsof the City College of New York. These concerts werean integral part of New York City’s cultural life. Shewon first place over 360 other contestants with herrendition of “O mio Fernando” from Gaetano Donizetti’sLa Favorita. On August 26, 1925, she sang with theNew York Philharmonic. Marian brought the housedown with her breath-taking trill at the end of thesame aria.

Racism prevented Marian from advancing hercareer in America. As a result, she went to Europewhere the walls of segregation were not as difficultto surmount. She made her London debut in 1930and won accolades from the preeminent conductorArturo Toscanini who said that a voice like yours “isheard once in a hundred years.” In 1935 Marian wasback in the United States and made her Carnegie Halldebut at Town Hall.

In 1939, Marian was scheduled to sing atConstitution Hall in Washington, D.C. The hall wasowned by the Daughters of the American Revolutionand they did not permit African Americans to performthere. First Lady Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt resignedher membership with the organization as a result ofthis insult. Another concert was organized forMarian on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939 on the stepsof the Lincoln Memorial before a throng of 75,000.Marian sang a program of six selections including“America” and “O mio Fernando.” A mural of theevent is on the walls of the Department of theInterior in Washington. At its dedication, SecretaryHarold L. Ickes said, “Her voice and personality have come to be a symbol – a symbol of the willingacceptance of the immortal truth that ‘all men arecreated free and equal’.”

Later that spring, President and Mrs. Rooseveltinvited Marian to come to the While House and singfor King George VI and his wife, the parents of thecurrent Queen Elizabeth II of England. Afterward,Marian and Mrs. Roosevelt became good friends.

Sixteen years later, in 1955, a major wall ofsegregation fell in the operatic world. At the age of58 Marian became the first African-American to singat the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She sang therole of Ulrica in Verdi’s A Masked Ball.

In 1958 she was officially designated a delegateto the United Nations as a “goodwill ambassador” of the United States. In 1972 she was awarded theUnited Nations’ Peace Prize.

In her musical way, Marian embodied the words,“We Shall Overcome!” As a gift to all of us, she did.

Marian Anderson as Ulrica in Verdi’s

A Masked Ball.Courtesy, Metropolitan

Opera Archives.

1. Opera Seria

2. Baritone

3. Opera

4. Ballet

5. Orchestra

6. Libretto

7. Duet

8. Aria

9. Soprano

10. Chorus

11. Act

12. Contralto

13. Tenor

14. Opera Buffa

15. Recitative

16. Bass

17. Overture

18. Verismo

A. Dance spectacle set to music.

B. Highest pitched woman’s voice.

C. Dramatic text adapted for opera.

D. Low female voice.

E. Comic opera.

F. A drama or comedy in which music is the essential factor; very little is spoken.

G. Opera with dramatic and intense plots.

H. Music composed for a singing group.

I. A composition written for two performers.

J. A group of musicians who play together on various musical instruments.

K. Highest pitched man’s voice.

L. A musical style used in opera and oratorio, inwhich the text is declaimed in the rhythm ofnatural speech with slight melodic variation.

M. Male voice between bass and tenor.

N. A piece of music originally designed to be played before an opera or musical play.

O. The term describing the realistic or naturalistic school of opera that flourished briefly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; libretti werechosen to depict a ‘slice of life’.

P. Deepest male voice.

Q. Elaborate solo in an opera or oratorio.

R. Main division of a play or opera.

11

Connect the

Opera Terms

Sissieretta Jones, soprano(born Matilda S. Joyner)Birthplace: Portsmouth, Virginia 1869

• Critically acclaimed for her voice called “ one in a million”• In 1894, first African-American to perform a solo recital

at Carnegie Hall in NYC• Performed at the White House for three different U.S.

Presidents, at Madison Square Garden (1892) and the Chicago World’s Fair (1893)

Henry Burleigh, baritoneBirthplace: Erie, Pennsylvania 1866

• Wrote between two hundred and three hundred songs• Worked to preserve and pass on slaves’ songs to the

finest musicians • Encouraged the careers of Marian Anderson and

Paul Robeson

Roland Hayes, tenor and composerBirthplace: Curryville, Georgia 1887

• Parents were ex-slaves• Gave command performance at Constitution Hall in

1931 and demanded the hall be desegregated before performance began. Because of this Constitution Hall decides to ban African Americans.

• Extremely successful career as a concert performer with orchestras and in recital

Robert McFerrin, baritoneBirthplace: Marianna, Arkansas 1921

• Performed extensively on opera and musical stages from 1949 to 1959

• In 1955 was the first African-American male to sing a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC

• Father of Bobby McFerrin, Grammy Award-winning singer/composer

Leontyne Price, sopranoBirthplace: Laurel, Mississippi 1927

• First African-American chosen to sing in a televised opera production in 1955

• First African-American to sing a major role at La ScalaOpera House in Italy in 1960

• Received a forty-two minute ovation after herMetropolitan Opera début as Leonora in Il Trovatorein 1961

• Was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964

Shirley Verrett, sopranoBirthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana 1933

• Has sung regularly to raise funds for AIDS research• A life member of NAACP• Served on two White House commissions to preserve

American Antiquity

George Shirley, tenorBirthplace: Indianapolis, Indiana 1934

• First African-American tenor to sing at the MetropolitanOpera in NYC

• Drafted into the US Army in 1955 he became the first African-American member of the U.S. Army Chorus

• Has made numerous recordings, receiving a GrammyAward in 1968

Grace Bumbry, sopranoBirthplace: Saint Louis, Missouri 1937

• First African-American woman to sing at the BayreuthFestival in Germany in 1961

• Sang at the White House for Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962

• Honored on the Saint Louis Walk of Fame

Simon Estes, bass-baritoneBirthplace: Centerville, Ohio 1938

• Has sung over one hundred leading operatic rolesincluding Porgy in Porgy and Bess

• In 1975 was the first African-American male to sing a leading role at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany

• Has helped talented youth through his Simon EstesFoundation which provides scholarships

Jessye Norman, sopranoBirthplace: Augusta, Georgia 1945

• At age sixteen won a full scholarship to HowardUniversity

• Awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 1997• Was the inspiration for the French film Diva• Has sung at two Presidential Inaugurations, 1996

Olympics, and before Queen Elizabeth II

Vinson Cole, tenorBirthplace: Kansas City,Missouri 1950

• Studied music at the Curtis Institute of Music inPhiladelphia, PA

• Won the Metropolitan Opera auditions in 1977 and went on to have a major career while still in his twenties

• Recognized as one of the leading artists of his generation

Denyce Graves, mezzo-sopranoBirthplace: Washington, DC 1963

• Grew up in the projects of Washington, DC • Invited by President Bush to perform at the Washington

National Cathedral memorial service for the victims of 9/11

• Named by Ebony Magazine as one of the “50 Leaders of Tomorrow”

• Appears regularly with Opera Company of Philadelphia.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection,

LC-USZ62-114417

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection,

LC-USZ62-54231

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection,

LC-USZ62-114417

Courtesy University of Michigan

Courtesy University of Michigan

Profiles of Internationally-Renown African-American Singers

Academy Facts2 Built in 1857, The Academy of Music is the oldest grandopera house in the United States used for its initial purpose.

2 In 1963, The Academy was honored as a National HistoricLandmark. As a National Historic Landmark, live flame cannever be produced on the stage.

2 The auditorium seats 2,897; 14 columns support theAcademy’s tiers; and the auditorium is encased within a three foot-thick solid brick wall.

2 The Academy of Music chandelier is 50 feet in circumference, 16 feet in diameter, and 5,000 pounds inweight. It is lowered once a year for cleaning. It used to take four hours and 12 men to hand lower thechandelier. Now it takes five minutes, thanks to an electric-powered winch.

2 The red and gold pattern on the Academy’s stage curtain simulates that of a pineapple, a Victorian-era symbolfor “welcome.”

2 The Academy of Music has an expandable orchestra pit to accommodate works with larger orchestral requirements. The first two rows of seats on the Parquet level are on a platform which can be removed to enlarge the pit. The decorative brass and wooden orchestra pit railing can also be moved to ornament the expanded pit as well.

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2 In the 1800’s, an artificial floor was placed over the Parquet level seats for balls, political conventions, gymnastic and ice skating expositions, carnivals, parades, and other events. You’ll see a wooden guide along the edge of the Parquet wall that helped support the floor.

2 The first-ever indoor football game was held on the Academy’s Parquet level on March 7, 1889 betweenUniversity of Pennsylvania and Riverton Club of Princeton. At halftime, tug-of-war matches were held as entertainment.

2 A motion picture was first screened at the Academyon February 5, 1870. The silent movie consisted of an

oratory, an acrobatic performance by a popular Japanesegymnast, and a waltz danced by the presenter, Henry H. Heyl and his sister. 1,600 people attended.

2 There were talks underway to turn the Academy of Musicinto a movie theater in 1920.

2 Starting in 1884, electricity was used to light the large chandelier (originally lit by 240 gas burners), the auditorium, and stage lights. New regenerative gas lights were placed along the exterior walls on both Broad andLocust streets.

2 Incandescent electric lighting was introduced to the foyer and balcony in 1892.

2 Air conditioning was installed in the theatre 1959.

2 There was no elevator for the general public in theAcademy until 1990!

For more information on the Academy of Music, go to thelibrary and take out Within These Walls, by John FrancisMarion or go online to www.academyofmusic.org.

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Philadelphia’s

Academy of Music

As the guests enter the Opera House’s mainhall, there above the proscenium arch, over theAcademy stage, a bas-relief of Mozart looks downupon the audience. This place of prominence forMozart indicates that the builders of the Academyexpected to attract the finest performing arts knownto the world. However, building this Opera Housewas not an easy task for the young country. Between1837 and 1852 there were five attempts to raise thefunds needed to build an Opera House within thecity limits of Philadelphia. After Commissioners wereappointed by an act of the General Assembly of theCommonwealth of Pennsylvania, Charles HenryFisher began to sell stock in the Academy of Musicon May 24, 1852. On October 13, 1854, the land onthe southwest corner of Broad and Locust Streets waspurchased. At that time, the area was undeveloped.(The Old State House, now known as IndependenceHall, was the heart of the city at that time.)

The Commissioners held a competition to select the design of the Academy. Fifteen architects submitted designs between October 3 and December 15of 1854. The winners were announced on February 12,1855. Gustav Rungé and Napoleon le Brun won the $400 prize. It was their idea to dedicate the Academy to Mozart’s memory. Within four monthsthe ground-breaking took place. This project was soimportant that President Franklin Pierce, alongwith Governor James Pollock and Mayor Robert T.Conrad, laid the cornerstone on July 26, 1855.

On January 26, 1857, the Academy held theGrand Ball and Promenade Concert of its opening.The first opera presented in the brand new operahouse was Verdi’s Il trovatore on February 25, 1857.Gounod’s opera Faust had its American premierehere on November 18, 1863. On February 14, 1907,Madama Butterfly premiered to “emphatic success”with its composer, Giacomo Puccini, in attendance.

On May 14,1897, John Philip Sousa’s composition“The Stars and Stripes Forever” was premiered onthe Academy stage. On March 29 and April 5, 1900,Fritz Scheel conducted two serious concerts of professional musicians. These two concerts are considered the genesis of the Philadelphia Orchestra.Today the Opera Company of Philadelphia and thePennsylvania Ballet call the Academy home.

Numerous presidents have visited theAcademy, including Ulysses S. Grant, TheodoreRoosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and RichardNixon. The Academy has had many world-famousperformers on its stage: Peter Tchaikovsky, SergeiRachmaninoff, Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky,Anna Pavlova, George Gershwin, Arturo Toscanini,Marian Anderson, Maria Callas, Leontyne Price,Luciano Pavarotti, and thousands more

The Academy was made a Registered NationalHistoric Landmark in 1963. Since then, a few changeshave been made to the structure. In 1996 the“Twenty-First Century Project” began, which allowedfor a new rigging system, replacement of the stagefloor, and cleaning and restoration of the historic ceiling. With Mozart’s image looking down on theAcademy’s audiences from his position above thestage for over one hundred years, let the joy of opera and dance continue forever.

Few Philadelphians know that the great Academy of Musicwas dedicated to the memory of Mozart.

Historic images of the Academy courtesy of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

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Broad Street:

Avenue of the Arts

Here is part of a map of Center City. This area,which includes Broad Street south of City Hall, is thehome of many famous theaters, museums, hotels,restaurants and cultural centers. Here are somedescriptions of the attractions around the Academyof Music. See if you can match them to the letteredflags on the map.

_____ The Kimmel CenterDance, orchestra, chamber and folk music

_____ Prince Music TheaterContemporary music, musicals and blues

_____ Merriam TheaterTheater and broadway musicals

_____ University of the ArtsArt and Design School

_____ Wilma TheaterModern theater and musicals

_____ Ritz Carlton HotelWorld famous 5-star hotel and restaurant

1. The Academy of Music is marked on this map with a picture. What is its address?

_______________________________________

2. How many blocks is it from City Hall to the Academy?

_______________________________________

3. All but one of the East to West streets on this map have names that have something in common? What is it?

_______________________________________

4. You and your friends are planning a night on the town. You will hear a lecture about famous artists, see the Broadway musical The Lion King and scout celebrities at a fancy restaurant. Where do you go?

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

For more information about this exciting part of thecity, visit: www.avenueofthearts.org/visit.htm.

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Attending the OperaThere’s nothing quite as exciting as attending

the opera in a beautiful theater like the Academy ofMusic! If this is your first time at the opera there area few things for which you should prepare:

You will be attending the final dress rehearsalfor this opera. This is the last opportunity that the artistswill have to rehearse the entire opera before openingnight just a few nights away. The goal is to treat thisrehearsal exactly like a performance and perform theentire opera straight through without a pause.

You may notice in the center of the Parquetlevel, the floor level of the Academy, several computermonitors and a large table spread out over the seats.Seated in this area is the production team: Director,Assistant Director, Costume Designer, LightingDesigner, Set Designer, and other members of the production team. They’ll be taking notes andcommunicating via headset with the myriad peoplebackstage who help make all of the operatic magichappen: Stage Manager, Master Carpenter, lightingtechnicians, Supertitle Operator, Stagehands andmore. They’ll be able to give notes so changes canbe instantly made. Should things go awry, they may stop and repeat a section to make sure that it is perfect.

Opera EtiquetteBecause this is a working rehearsal, we ask

that you please refrain from talking. The productionteam needs to concentrate on fine-tuning the production. You can show them how much youappreciate their work and the opportunity to cometo the rehearsal at no charge by being as quiet as possible. Have you ever tried to study for a test andthere’s just too much noise at home or outside? It’salmost impossible to concentrate! So, please refrainfrom talking out of respect for the cast, musicians,and the entire production team.

Here’s a list of do’s and don’ts so that everyone inthe theater can enjoy the opera:

Please Do...Applaud after the arias; you can shout “Bravo!” for the men and “Brava!” for the women.

Enter and exit the theater in an orderly fashion.

Please use the bathrooms before the rehearsal begins or at intermission.

Be careful in the auditorium! Because the theatre is 150 years old, it’s not necessarily designed for modern conveniences.

Turn off your cell phones and all electronic devices.

Enjoy the rehearsal. You’ve worked too hard learning this not to!

Don’t Forget...Food and beverages are not allowed inside the Academy of Music.

Photographs may not be taken during the performance.

Please no talking during the performances.

The Holland Homeschool is prepared for the Sounds of Learning™ Dress Rehearsal ofLa bohème.

Opera Etiquette101

Like George Gershwin’s family, the ancestorsof many great American composers fled pogromsagainst Jews in Eastern Europe. These include Irving Berlin, Aaron Copland, Richard Rodgers, andLeonard Bernstein. It was this fear of continued violence against the Jewish people and MorrisGershovitz’s love for a young lady that led Morris toemigrate to the United States. He came in search ofsafety and love.

Morris had fallen in love with Rose when theyboth lived in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her father hadtaken her and the rest of his family to America. NowMorris was in America looking for his sweetheart.Having found her in Brooklyn, he and Rose weremarried in 1895. Soon, they set themselves tobecome as American as they could while retainingtheir Jewish heritage. Morris changed his last nameto Gershvin. And his first son was named Israel but called Ira by the family. Their second son wasnamed Jacob but was called George. He was born on

September 26, 1898. The doctor misspelled Morris’new last name on his son’s birth certificate. It wasnow spelled Gershwine. When George became aman he dropped the last “e” on his name so that itread Gershwin.

George grew up in a lively atmosphere. Hisfather moved the family often as he tried his hand atmany kinds of businesses. His mother Rose wasalways able to entertain family and friends fromEastern Europe. George and Ira’s home was filledwith vaudeville-like Yiddish theatre performers. Thisbackground did well to fill the minds of the childrenwith a foundation for future success as Broadwaysongwriters.

When George was twelve years old, his parents bought a used piano for his older brother Ira.George promptly sat right down and played a tune on the battered instrument. His parentsalmost immediately consented to George getting les-sons, too.

George grew up on New York’s Lower EastSide, with a lively interest in the music of Tin PanAlley. He worked as a song-plugger (demonstrator)in sheet music stores in his neighborhood. He rounded out his early musical education by takinglessons in composition. He might have gone on to aconservatory for intense “classical” training, but hehad in mind a direction in which jazz was the key.He regarded jazz as America’s folk music and believed it could be the basis of “serious” symphonic works. He once said he wanted to “makea lady out of jazz.” While teenagers, Gershwin andstruggling dancer Fred Astaire fantasized that oneday the dancer would star in a Gershwin musical.When Gershwin’s Lady Be Good opened onBroadway, Astaire and his sister Adele were theleads.

His first published song (1916) was “When YouWant ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em,” for which he earnedfive dollars. The first collaboration with brother Ira was “The Real American Folk Song is a Rag.” In 1919 he wrote his first musical comedy score, La La Lucille, and his first hit, “Swanee,” became Al Jolson’s signature song. In the 1920’s, he wrotemany of the songs which have come to be identifiedwith him: “Somebody Loves Me,” “Oh, Lady BeGood,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” “ ‘S Wonderful,” and“The Man I Love.”

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George Gershwin:

A Man of Jazz

In these show tunes we encounter the distinctive profile of a Gershwin song: fresh, easylyrics (written by his brother Ira), rhythms whichparallel the lyrics, distinctive harmony, and sudden changes in tempo where least expected. Hesought at all times to transcend the limitations of the stereotyped and established commercial forms. Ira’s unconventional word patterns, together withGeorge’s music, created a sophisticated type of popular song previously unheard. This new songstyle caught the pulse of life in the 1920’s. A distinctive characteristic of the Gershwin songs isthat they celebrate love — lost, found, longed for, and even disposed.

Gershwin slowly began experimenting withorchestral music. His first major effort was Rhapsody in Blue introduced by bandleader PaulWhiteman on February 12, 1924. Whiteman, likeGershwin, was a pioneer in the movement whichsought to make jazz respectable and a part of themusical mainstream. The success of Rhapsody wasfollowed by Piano Concerto in F, which premiered atCarnegie Hall in New York in 1925. These two worksbrought Gershwin international fame.

The European premiere of the Concerto tookplace in 1928 at the Paris Opera; it was a resoundingsuccess. The year 1928 also saw the premiere of hisgreat symphonic poem, An American in Paris. In thispiece, he sought to portray the impressions of anAmerican visitor as he strolls through the city. Hedescribed the music as more suited to ballet thansymphony and admitted that it was the most modernmusic he had ever attempted. It is animated, lively,and restless, with elements of jazz, blues, and thefamous French dance known as the can-can.

Gershwin’s 1931 political satire musical, OfThee I Sing, was one of only four Depression-eramusicals to pass the 400 performance mark onBroadway. It won the Pulitzer Prize as best play ofthe year and is still regarded as the first significantmusical comedy produced in the United States. Theshow’s hit songs included “Love is Sweeping theCountry.”

In March 1933 Gershwin visited Philadelphia’sAcademy of Music and delighted a capacity audienceby playing his Piano Concerto in F, plus several of hishit tunes as part of an evening of symphonic music.His playing of the Rhapsody in Blue received themost sustained ovation of the evening.

George’s biggest success was his opera Porgyand Bess, which opened in 1935, first in Boston andthen in New York. He moved to Hollywood in 1937where he was offered contracts to write the scores ofseveral movies. George was not happy on the westcoast. In New York City he was a famous composer,but in Hollywood he was seen as just another songsmith. He and Ira went to work writing themusic to the film, A Damsel in Distress. It had someof the finest songs they ever wrote. It included: “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” “Lady Be Good,” and“A Foggy Day.”

It was during this time that he met the actressPaulette Goddard and fell in love with her. But shewas married to one of the most important stars ofHollywood, Charlie Chaplin. While they spent muchtime together, she would not leave her husband. AsGershwin realized that he was not going to have thehand of the one woman he had asked to marry him,he began to become irritable. He told Ira that oncetheir contracts in Hollywood were finished, he wasmoving back to New York.

But this was not to happen. Gershwin was suffering from severe headaches and dizzy spells andoften complained that he could smell burning rubber. After many doctor visits, there was still no clear reason for his headaches. Only after he collapsed did they rush him to a hospital. In surgery,it was discovered that he had a severe brain tumor.He died that day, Sunday, July 11, 1937.

The simplicity and grace of his music live on, his genius seldom matched and hardly surpassed. He and his brother Ira have becomeinseparable, their music and lyrics intertwined inAmerica’s musical legacy.

Active Learning1. What were the progroms and why were they historically important?

2. Listen to Gershwin’s American in Paris. How does his music reflect an American visitor strolling the streets of Paris?

Gershwin Timeline

18

1898

Born September 26 in Brooklyn, New York.

1910

Begins piano lessons.

1914

Leaves high school to work as a song plugger on Tin Pan Alley.

1916

First published song, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em.”

1919

First hit song, “Swanee,” lyrics by Irving Caesar. First Broadway musical comedy score, La La Lucille. String quartet piece, “Lullaby,” first work for instrument other than piano.

1922

As part of George White’s Scandals of 1922, composes Blue Monday, a twenty-minute African-American opera.

1924

Rhapsody in Blue premieres in New York. Introduced as an experiment in modern music, it brought jazzinto the classical concert hall.

1924-30

Hit show after hit show: Lady Be Good!, Oh Kay!, Funny Face, Girl Crazy.

1925

Piano Concerto in F premieres at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

1926

“Preludes for Piano” introduced in December.

1928

Symphonic jazz poem, An American in Paris, premieres.

1929

Makes debut as symphony conductor, Lewisohn Stadium, New York. Signs contract to compose a “Jewish opera” for the Metropolitan Opera, but the project is never completed.

1931

In Hollywood, he does his first film score, for the movie Delicious.

Political satire show, Of Thee I Sing, opens in New York December 26.

1932

Wins Pulitzer Prize for Of Thee I Sing.

1933

Signs contract with Theater Guild organization to write Porgy and Bess.

Visites Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

1934

During the summer, travels through South Carolina to absorb local and regional atmosphere and folklore.

1935

Porgy and Bess opens in Boston, September 30. New York premiere October 10 at the Alvin Theater. Runs for 124 performances.

1937

Moves to Hollywood, California. Shall We Dance, RKO Motion picture hit songs, “I’ve Got Beginner’s Luck,” “Lets Call the Whole Thing Off,” “They Can’t Take that Away from Me.” A Damsel in Distress, RKO Motion Picturestarring Fred Astaire. Many hit songs including: “Nice Work if You Can Get It,” “A Foggy Day in London Town.”

Elected to the Royal Academy of anta Cecilia in Rome. Highest honor given to a foreign composer by Italy.Dies Sunday, July 11 in Hollywood following failed operation to remove brain tumor.

1938

Goldwyn Follies, A Samuel Goldwyn Motion Picture. Hit songs include, “Love Is Here to Stay,” and “Love Walked In.”

Active LearningTake out one of these books from your local library and do some additional reading on Gershwin’s life and times:

1. Alpert, Hollis, (1990). The Life and Times of Porgy and Bess: The Story of an American Classic, NY: Random House.2. Greenberg, Rodney, (1998). George Gershwin, London: Phaidon Press Limited.3. Wood, Ean, (1996). George Gershwin: His Life and Music, London: Sanctuary Publishing Limited.

Below you will find a number of important dates about people and events that happened duringGershwin’s lifetime. Compare the events below with the events in Gershwin’s life to get a comprehensive picture of whatlife was like at that time.

This information was taken from Timelines of History at http://timelines.ws. For a more complete listof events, log onto our website at www.operaphilly.com/education/sol_porgy.shtml.

1901

January 1 The First Annual Mummers parade was held in Philadelphia.June 26 Philadelphia City Hall construction completed.

1904

April 30 The St. Louis World’s Fair introduced iced tea, the hot dog and the ice cream cone.

1906

April 11 Einstein introduced his Theory of Relativity.

1912

April 15 The British ocean liner Titanic sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg.

1913

March 1 United States instituted the Federal Income Tax.

1916

October 27 The first published reference to “jazz” appeared in Variety magazine.

1917

November 5 Kentucky law struck down by Supreme Court requiring blacks and whites tolive in separate areas.

1919

June 14 The US Congress passed the 19th amendment granting suffrage to American women.

1920

January 16 The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is passed, prohibiting alcoholic beverages.November 25 The first Thanksgiving Parade was held in Philadelphia.

1922

November 5 King Tut’s tomb was discovered.

1926

February 7 Negro History Week, originated by Carter G. Woodson, was observed for the first time.

1927

March 7 Texas law banning Negroes from voting was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

1932

January 12 Mrs. Hattie W. Caraway became the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

1933

December 5 Prohibition was repealed.

1935

October 25 The first full-length play by a black writer, Langston Hughes’ Mulatto, opened on Broadway.

1936

December 8 NAACP filed suit to equalize the salaries of black and white teachers.

Make Your Own

Timeline

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Active LearningCut apart three supermarket paper bags. Cut them open down one of the side seams and cut off the bottom so that when laidflat, you have a rectangular piece of paper. Tape the bags together at the shorter ends, creating a long rectangular piece of paper.From the longer side of the bag near the top, measure in 10" and place a dot. Do the same near the bottom. Draw a straight linefrom the top to the bottom of the bag through both dots. From the information on this page, select the most important incidentsfor your timeline. With these facts, include some of the important dates in history listed above. You may also illustrate your timeline.

1. Which Presidents were in office from 1898-1938 when George Gershwin was alive?2. The tape recorder, airplane, and television were all invented in this time period. When were they invented? Place them onyour timeline.

3. Add the following events to your timeline: Spanish-American War, World War I, U.S. Stock Market crash.4. Three Philadelphia landmarks opened to the public during this time: the Ben Franklin Bridge, the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, and the Franklin Institute. Place these events on your timeline.

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The world first learned of Porgy in Septemberof 1925. It was in that year that DuBose Heyward’sbook was published. The critics praised the bookPorgy and it sold well. The idea for the story camefrom the community that lived near his home. He renamed a tenement housing unit called CabbageRow into Catfish Row. It was located on 89-91Church Street, Charleston, South Carolina. This littlecourtyard community serviced the vegetable stallsin the front of it. It was located near the waterfront

and it was a quiet area except for the weekends.

The idea for the lead character came one daywhen Heyward was reading the newspaper. A manby the name of Sammy Smalls was arrested after aphysical altercation involving a woman. Smalls wasunable to walk and had to depend on a goat and acart to get around the town. When arrested, his goatand cart were also taken into custody. Since thejudge did not know what to do with Smalls’ goat, heset Sammy free. DuBose admired this man’s strengthof character. While being physically challenged, hedid not give in to his troubles.

The name that he gave his lead character wastaken from the name his mother Jane had for aGullah doll she used in her historic lectures aboutthe Gullah people of South Carolina. (The Gullahpeople live in this state and Georgia. They weretaken from Angola and Sierra Leone in West Africaand their dialect is still spoken on the islands off thecoast of South Carolina.) Jane Heyward had receivedthe doll from her nurse Chloë, who was forced intobondage as a slave when she was just a child. Chloëhad brought the doll with her from her home inAfrica and she had named it Porgo.

In 1926, one of the people who purchased thenovel was George Gershwin. He had intended to readit off and on as part of the process he used for goingto bed. However, once he started reading the story ofPorgy, he could not put the book down. At four inthe morning he closed the book having finished it inone sitting.

One of the things that George loved about thebook was the way that Heyward introduced themusic of his characters to the reader. As the musicframed the chapters of the story, George began tovisualize the novel as a grand opera. He quicklywrote Heyward a letter and they agreed to meet thenext time the Heywards were in the north.

They met in AtlanticCity and took long walkson the boardwalk together.Heyward told Gershwinthat his wife had already written a play based on thebook. DuBose feared that this would lead Gershwinto reconsider the project. Gershwin was fine with theidea. He felt that the success of the play would causemore interest in how he would recreate it as an opera.

It took Gershwin years before he could focushis energy on the opera. DuBose wrote Gershwin in1933 to check that he was indeed dedicated to theproject. He informed Gershwin that Al Jolson wastrying to get the right to have it produced so that hecould sing the lead of Porgy. Due to the Depression,Heyward’s family was having a hard time financially.Jolson’s agents were offering large incentives toclose a deal. Yet this was not the way he wanted hisPorgy to be presented to the world. If Jolson got therights to the play, he intended to sing the role ofPorgy in blackface makeup. This would have turnedthe play into a minstrel show with racist overtones.When he was assured that the opera was to be written,he refused all offers from Jolson. This ensured thatthe opera we have come to love is the one thatHeyward knew in his heart that only George Gershwincould compose.

Once the opera was finished, Gershwin informedHeyward that the producers were concerned thatthere could be confusion over the title of the opera andthat of his wife Dorothy’s play. Heyward had an idea.In opera there was already a “Pelléas and Melisande,Samson and Delilah, Tristan and Isolde. And, so whynot Porgy AND Bess?” The opera’s name stuck and inAmerica it is as famous as Romeo and Juliet.

Active LearningGo to the library and take out a CD of this opera.

The History of

Porgy Before Bess

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Porgy and Bess librettist, Dubose Heyward.

By Jordan Palmer, 16Creative and Performing Arts High School

I used to think that opera was about a big fat ladyin a Viking helmet and armor singing a bunch of highnotes, or it was like Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd singing“kill the wabbit” in the famous cartoon “What’sOpera, Doc?” I’m probably not the only one whothought that the first time they heard the word “opera.”

There are a lot of reasons why I like opera. Oneof them is the story or drama. Some of my favoritesare Turandot, Tosca, Salome, Medea, Norma. When Istart getting to know an opera I always read thelibretto first so I know what’s going on. Sometimeswhen I finish reading the libretto, my mouth is on thefloor in amazement because the story is so wonderfuland dramatic. Sometimes I laugh out loud on the busif it’s a comic opera. Then I move on to the music. I love Rossini. Somehow, you can always whistle atune from his operas, or find yourself dancing at theend of his overtures!

Music is a big part of the opera because it setsthe mood for what is happening. I love when thereis a love scene and the music is so beautiful that itcan bring tears to my eyes. When you get to knowan opera well, you know what’s going to happen,but you still have that feeling that you are hearingthe music for the first time.

I also love when an opera’s setting is updated.For example, Bizet’s Carmen is constantly being givennew settings. I was lucky enough to be in the OperaCompany of Philadelphia’s production of Carmen asa member of the children’s chorus, and the settingwas different. I thought it was a good productionbecause it gave another point of view of the operainstead of the traditional setting in Spain in the 1800’s.

Lots of people make opera happen. You haveto give credit to the director, conductor, and all thepeople who work backstage. But opera wouldn’t beopera without the singers. The singers make theopera world happen. They make opera come alive.Some make the characters their own, like the lategrand diva, American soprano Maria Callas, who is

famous for the roles of Tosca and Norma, or DameJoan Sutherland as Lucia di Lammermoor. When Igo to see an opera, my first words at intermissionare, “weren’t those singers good” or “he or she reallyplayed his or her part well.” My favorite types ofsingers are what I call the “daring warriors,” thesingers who really put emotion in their singing andare not fearful of anything.

Well, I think I have said what I wanted to say,and I hope that more kids my age will like opera andwill let opera continue forever.

Why I Like Opera

All works of art are products of their time, anddespite continuing concern about racial stereotypes,Porgy and Bess remains popular with opera loversand theater goers, including many in the African-American community. Different people may have different reactions to Porgy and Bess as the discussion continues about the opera’s artistic andsocial merits.

Discussion Questions1. What possible instances of racial stereotyping do you see in the libretto? Do you think the depictions of African-Americans in Porgy and Bess are harmful? If so, are they balanced by the positive aspects of the opera in advancingthe careers of African-American musicians?

2. African-American populations today are often still economically disadvantaged. Do you see examples of this in your own community?

3. George and Ira Gershwin were Jewish. Like African-Americans, Jews have suffered from discrimination throughmuch of history. Does this have any effect on your view of whether the Gershwins were qualified to portray African-American life?

Porgy and Bess is set in Charleston, SouthCarolina around 1930, a time and place in which JimCrow laws were the rule. These laws had their originsin the aftermath of the Civil War (1861-64) and theReconstruction period (1865-76), during which thefederal government guaranteed protection of civil rightsfor African-Americans who had been slaves. AfterReconstruction, as ex-Confederates took control of statelegislatures in the South, they passed Jim Crow lawsto once again restrict the rights of African-Americans.

Under these laws, most blacks were preventedfrom voting because of requirements that they passliteracy tests or pay toll taxes they could not afford.White people whose ancestors could vote before theCivil War did not have to pass these tests.

Jim Crow laws and custom also required thatblacks and whites be segregated in public life. Blacksand whites were required to attend separate schoolsand use separate water fountains, restaurants,libraries, buses, and railway cars. The SupremeCourt decision Plessy vs. Ferguson upheld that theselaws were constitutional as long as facilities were“separate but equal.” In reality, the facilities forAfrican Americans were almost always inferior tothose for whites.

The Jim Crow era lasted for almost a hundredyears and did not come to a complete end untilPresident Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil RightsAct of 1964. Although Jim Crow laws were enforcedmost aggressively in the South, many of the samepolicies of racial segregation were practiced in otherparts of the country as well. Partly as a result ofthese laws and social attitudes about race and class,many African-Americans lived in poverty.

Into this environment entered three white men.One was DuBose Heyward, a respected author knownfor having a depth of understanding and sympathyfor African Americans. Another was George Gershwin,the composer, who had always been drawn toAfrican-American music. The third was Ira Gershwin,his brother and lyricist. For several weeks they visitedand studied an African-American community nearHeyward’s home in Charleston. They observed theircustoms, and George Gershwin participated in theirmusic-making. After this period of research, thethree men collaborated to create Porgy and Bess,which they believed to be a sympathetic portrayal ofAfrican-American life in the South.

When the opera was completed and began tobe performed around the country, it was receivedpositively by many people who saw Porgy and Bessas a new and important kind of American opera.Others, however, expressed concern about the depiction of African-Americans in the opera. Whilethere is no doubt that the Gershwins and Heywardintended their opera as a critique of the Jim Crowera, it also contained what many saw as damagingstereotypes about black people. Characters in theopera are desperate in their poverty, addicted todrugs, superstitious, violent, and generally portrayed asexotic and primitive-minded. Some African-Americansingers, uncomfortable with these stereotypes,turned down opportunities to star in productions ofthe opera. In some places, performances were cancelled because of objections by black performersor members of the local community.

On the other hand, Porgy and Bess has hadpositive effects for African-American singers andaudiences. Ira Gershwin insisted that only African-Americans could play the lead roles. As a result,many black opera singers’ careers, such as the legendary soprano Leontyne Price, were started orhelped by Porgy and Bess. Sometimes, during the Jim Crow era, the opera was even able to defeat theforces of segregation. In most theaters of the timeblacks and whites sat in separate sections. During a run of the original production at the NationalTheatre in Washington, D.C., the all-black cast foundpower in numbers and refused to perform unless thetheater desegregated the audience. The managementhad to give in to their demand, and as a result thetheater’s audience was integrated for the first time.

22

Jim Crow and

Porgy and Bess

23

Porgy and Bess is considered by many to be the greatAmerican opera. Like the United States itself, it is fraughtwith issues regarding the subject of race.

Rome, Georgia,September 1943. A sign at theGreyhound bus station.

Library of Congress, Prints & PhotographsDivision, FSA/OWICollection, LC-USZ62-75338

Baltimore, Maryland,1943 .A drinking fountainat the Bethlehem-Fairfield shipyards,for whites only.

Library of Congress, Prints & PhotographsDivision, FSA/OWICollection, LC-USF34-9058-C

Who Was Jim Crow?Jim Crow was a character that originated in

American minstrel shows around the 1830s. Caucasian actor

Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice created this character by

blackening his face with burnt cork or charcoal (known as

blackface) while wearing shabby clothes and a silly toothy grin.

Rice supposedly based this character on a crippled slave he

saw that was owned by one Mr. Crow in Louisville, Kentucky.

The term “Jim Crow” became part of national slang to belittle

African-Americans. The character became a stereotypical

image particularly in the south of the inferiority of African-

Americans. By the 1890s, the term defined racial segregation

and the laws that restricted the rights of African-Americans.

The blackface tradition, which goes back to the 1780s,

continued through the 1940s with such popular performers as

Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor. Performers later used theatrical

makeup called greasepaint or shoe polish to create the effect

while wearing wigs, gloves, and tattered clothes.

ACROSS

1 First name of the composer of Porgy and Bess.

3 This character doesn't sing any solos, but he opens the opera at the piano.

5 This character sings the most famous aria in the opera, Summertime.

8 This cast member saw the OCP production of Carmen as a student in the Sounds of Learning™ program.

12 Item used to play craps in the opening scene of the opera.

16 This character sings about Jonah who lived in the whale.

19 Open disrespect for court.

22 The residents of Catfish Row prepare for this natural disaster.

24 The action of this opera takes place in this state.

25 To cause by magic.

26 This baritone sings the role of Porgy in this production.

27 Those suffering mentally or physically.

28 This opera was first presented in New York City on this famous theater-lined street.

2524

Porgy and Bess

Crossword Puzzle

DOWN

2 Last name of the brothers who collaborated on Porgy and Bess.

4 Term describing the season that occurs between June and September.

5 City in which Porgy and Bess takes place.

6 Abandoned by Crown, this character moves in with Porgy.

7 Author of book on which the opera is based.

9 This character is crippled and uses a cart for transportation.

10 This soprano sings the role of Bess in this production.

11 Pertaining to an evil omen.

13 Porgy has a cart that is drawn by this animal.

14 To scatter.

15 Residents of Catfish Row prepare for a picnic at this location.

17 Neighborhood where Porgy and Bess takes place.

18 First name of man who wrote the lyrics to the big musical numbers in Porgy and Bess.

19 A type of vessel that could have been used by Bess to return from Kittiwah Island.

20 At the end of the opera, Bess flees to this city with Sporting Life.

21 To make very angry, irritated, or frustrated.

23 Crown is described as this: a person employed in the loading and unloading of ships.

Afflicted

Angela

Brown

Bess

Broadway

Canoe

Catfish Row

Charleston

Clara

Conjure

Contempt

Dice

Disperse

Dubose

Heyward

Exasperate

George

Gershwin

Goat

Gregg Baker

Hurricane

Ira

Jasbo Brown

Kittiwah

Island

New York

Ominous

Porgy

South

Carolina

Sporting Life

Stevedore

Summertime

PorgyGregg Baker, baritone

Tennessee

Margaret Garner, Robert Garner (2006)A Masked Ball, Renato (2005)

Aida, Amonasro (2005)Il Trovatore, Di Luna (2003)

Macbeth, Macbeth (2003)

Bess Angela Brown, sopranoIndiana

Margaret Garner, Cilla (2006)A Masked Ball, Amelia (2005)Aida, Aida (2005)Don Carlo, Elisabetta (2004)Il Trovatore, Leonora (2003)Porgy and Bess, Serena (2001)

SerenaLisa Daltirus, sopranoPennsylvania

Aida, Aida (2005)

ClaraKaren Slack, sopranoPennsylvania

Ariadne Auf Naxos, Echo (2003)La Perichole, Guadalena (2002)Porgy and Bess, Lily (2001)

Conductor Stefan LanoSwitzerland

Margaret Garner (2006)

CrownLester Lynch, baritone

Ohio

Opera Company Debut

Sporting LifeSteven Cole, tenor

Maryland

Falstaff, Bardolfo (1981)

JakeEric Greene, baritone

Maryland

Opera Company Debut

Director Dr. Walter DallasPennsylvania

Opera Company Debut

After Jasbo Brown’s piano solo and the jazzy“daa-doo-daa’s” from the chorus conclude Porgy’sopening prelude, the first solo voice we hear singsthe most famous aria from the opera:“Summertime.”Its lustrous melody is both a beautiful, soothing lullaby and the perfect musical depiction of a lazy,hot summer’s afternoon in the South. This signaturemoment will be sung by Philadelphia native, sopranoKaren Slack, who is now making quite a name forherself as the up-and-coming soprano to watch.

In November 1992, 16-year-old Karen was asophomore at Philadelphia’s High School for thePerforming Arts. Sitting in the Academy of Music, thelights went down as she attended her first operathrough the Sounds of Learning™ program, just likeyou will be. The dress rehearsal that day was Bizet’sCarmen, one of the most popular operas ever written.Carmen is a fiery, charismatic gypsy: men fall in lovewith her; women want to be her. Starring in the titlerole was rising mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, whowas becoming quickly known for her portrayal of theexotic Spanish gypsy. Karen was mesmerized.

“Growing up I had wanted to be a veterinarian,but around that time I decided that singing was whatgave me the most joy. When I saw Carmen, I knewthat I had made the right choice. Seeing Denyce upthere made me proud. She was a beautiful blackwoman with an incredible voice – she gave mecourage to truly believe I could do it.”

Today, this Philadelphia native is anaccomplished soprano. To get to this level, Karen has studied rigorously. As a student at The CurtisInstitute of Music, she won countless awards and acoveted position in the Young Artist studio at theinternationally-renowned Santa Fe Opera thenfollowed that with her recently completed studies aspart of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious AdlerFellowship Program. She made her professionaldebut with the Opera Company of Philadelphia inApril 2001 as Lily in Porgy and Bess and returned forthe role of Guadalena in La Perichole (2002), starringDenyce Graves.

When she was offered the role of Guadalena,Karen said, “I was in shock! I thought back to ten years ago when I was a student and now I wouldbe singing with the woman who encouraged me todo what I do today! This was so exciting for me –hopefully, I can set the same example Denyce set forme as another young person.”

Karen’s career has continued to grow sinceher performances here in La Perichole. She’s wonseveral more awards for young singers including theRosa Ponselle International Competition, the LiciaAlbanese-Puccini Foundation Award, the LeontynePrice Award, the Liederkranz Award, the GeorgeLondon Award, and was a finalist in theMetropolitan National Council Auditions.

In March 2006 Karen debuted at theMetropolitan Opera in the difficult title role of Verdi’sLuisa Miller. Karen was there as an understudy, butwhen the originally cast soprano became ill, Karenwent on to perform the role three times. In fact shemade her debut at the Met on a Saturday afternoonwhen the performance was broadcast internationallyacross the world! Karen’s solid training and the supportof the Met staff helped her through the nerve-wrackingafternoon. She received glowing reviews for her performance and will return to the Met to sing therole of the slave girl Liu in Puccini’s Chinese-themedfantasy, Turandot.

Karen is also an advocate for keeping opera inthe schools and programs like Sounds of Learning™.“Because I had supportive parents and because I hadsinging, I was able to focus on positive things andnever get caught up in the wrong crowd,” she said.“I’ve been to many Sounds of Learning™ rehearsalsover the years and the students are always completelyinto it. Opera lets children’s imaginations run wild.”

We’re thrilled that Karen has joined us for theseperformances of Porgy and Bess. Maybe one of thestudents in the audience will be the next Karen Slack!

2726

Introducing

Karen Slack

Meet the

Artists

You may have seen these artists in some of our recent productions. To learn more about them, visit www.operaphilly.com.

Philadelphia native Karen Slack as Guadalena in La Perichole.

29

Playing the roles of the characters adds fun tothe reading of the libretto. This allows you to takeownership of the opera in your own classroom. Butdo you know how to act?

One of the greatest teachers of acting was a mannamed Constantin Stanislavski. He lived in Russiaand he taught his students to become one with thecharacters in the play. Prior to his day, actors oftenlooked stiff or wooden. The actors would often holdposes as they declaimed their lines. If you have everseen a silent movie where the actors over-acted tohelp the audience understand the text of the movie,this was also true of how many actors performed in theaters.

Stanislavski developed the idea that actorsshould not just tell a story. He felt that they shouldhelp the audience believe that the actors were inreality the characters they were playing. He calledthis idea realistic acting.

Stanislavski said that “the actor must first ofall believe in everything that takes place onstage, andmost of all, he must believe what he himself is doing.And one can only believe in the truth.”

In learning to act, Stanislavski’s performershad to master the following techniques. The goal isnot to memorize his techniques but to know them so well that once on stage, the actor becomes thecharacter under study.

Here are the goals of his system of techniques:

1. To make the performer’s outward activities natural and convincing.

2. To have the actor or actress convey the inner truth of their part.

3. To make the life of the character onstage dynamic and continuous.

4. To develop a strong sense of the ensemble.

His techniques for realistic acting are as follows:(Remember, in Acting, the whole is greater thanthe sum of these parts.)

1. The actor must be relaxed in his or her role. All actionshould appear as natural.

2. The actor must have strong concentration. Know yourlines and stay in character.

3. The actor must know the importance of specifics. Every little thing counts. All gestures, tones of voice, facialexpressions reflect the inner truth of the character.

4. The actor must capture the inner truth of the characterbeing performed. How does this character feel at this verymoment in this play?

5. The actor must have the emotional recall that reflects the inner truth of the character.

6. The actor must know the: Why? What? How? of the actiononstage as it reflects to the whole of the piece.

7. The actor must become one with the others in the performance so that they show the audience ensemble playing. Ensemble Playing is when the actors are one with their roles and share a common understanding of the director’s vision.

A direct correlation has been found between acting out a play in class and improved reading.

Acting the

Libretto

Constantin Stanislavski1863-1938

Catfish Row, on the Charleston waterfront, SouthCarolina, USA, early twentieth century.

ACT IScene One (Catfish Row) On a summer night,

residents of Catfish Row dance to blues rhythms, asa mother sings a lullaby to her baby, and a dice gameis in progress. Serena tries to persuade her husbandRobbins not to join the game. Porgy, a cripple, isteased over his feelings for Bess, the stevedoreCrown’s girlfriend. Crown joins the game and, highon alcohol and “happy dust,” starts a fight withRobbins, kills him, and escapes. The dope dealerSporting Life tries to tempt Bess to go with him toNew York, but she refuses. Bess looks for shelter andPorgy opens his door to her.

Scene Two (Serena’s room) Porgy and Bessjoin the mourners at Robbins’ wake. Police enter,seeking the killer’s name, and take Peter theHoneyman into custody. The mourners bewail thesad developments, then sing of a train which willcarry them to the Promised Land.

ACT IIScene One (Catfish Row, a few weeks later)

A jovial Porgy says how happy he is now that Bess iswith him. Sporting Life tries to sell some dope and is strongly rebuffed by Maria. A lawyer enters andsells Porgy a paper which “divorces” Bess and Crown(even though they were never married). Porgy warnsSporting Life to stay away from Bess. Porgy and Bessdeclare their love as their neighbors prepare for a bigpicnic on nearby Kittiwah Island. Porgy urges Bess togo and have fun.

Scene Two (Kittiwah Island) At the picnic,Sporting Life offers a cynical view of famous Biblestories. The religious Serena is appalled at the displayand says it’s time to return to the mainland. Bessfinds Crown hiding in the bushes. When he tells herhe’s coming for her soon, she tells him she’s Porgy’swoman now. Crown kisses her passionately andorders her into the bushes. She does as he says.

Scene Three (A week later, back on Catfish Row)A group of fishermen notes the approach of a storm.Bess, ill from being in the jungle for two days, iscared for by Porgy. Serena leads a prayer for Bess’recovery. She revives and tells Porgy she wants toremain with him.

Scene Four (Serena’s room) A hurricanearrives, and the terror-stricken residents pray fordivine help. The fury is personified as Crownemerges from the gale, grabs Bess, and insults Porgy.Laughing at the frightened crowd, Crown roars hisdefiance of God. When Jake’s boat overturns in theriver, Clara runs out in the storm to save him. Crownfollows after her,.

ACT IIIScene One (Catfish Row) The residents mourn

those lost in the storm. When the square is deserted,Crown approaches Porgy’s door. Porgy stabs him inthe back, then strangles his weakened rival to death.

Scene Two (Catfish Row) The following afternoon, a coroner and a detective come to investigate.Porgy is ordered to come to the morgue to identifyCrown’s body. Sporting Life renews his attempts toentice Bess to run away with him to New York.

Scene Three (Catfish Row) A week later, neighbors welcome Porgy home after he is releasedfrom jail because he would not identify Crown’sbody. Distributing gifts he bought for his neighbors,Porgy describes his dice-fed good fortune in the jail.He asks for Bess, but is told that she has run off toNew York with Sporting Life. He asks for his cart andhis goat and sets off in pursuit.

28

Porgy and Bess:

Synopsis

Porgy heads to New York to find Bess.

Singing on the operastage is a lot of hard work.Singers are like athletes inthat they are constantlytraining to perfect theirvoices. They ask their voices and bodies to dothings that most of us without training can’t do;specifically, to sing incredibly intricate and difficultmusic and project their voice over a sixty piece (ormore) orchestra and still be heard.

Singing begins with the human voice. Thevoice is a very versatile instrument. It can producesounds that present a wide range of frequencies thatwe call pitches. Pitches can be high or low. Womencan sing in the highest pitches and men in the lowest ones.

Our voices are also able tochange in volume. Sometimeswe speak softly as when weare telling a secret. Othertimes we yell as if we were ata football game. These aresome of the ways we can lookat the human voice. But wecan go deeper and see it as a

gift of human biology.

Voices are powered by the air that is exhaledout of the lungs. The diaphragm, a muscle that sep-arates the chest cavity from the abdomen, is used tocontrol that flow of air. The abdomen is right behindthe stomach muscles and contains the intestines,spleen, and other organs. It’s always important tobreathe from the diaphragm. Inhaling deeply causesthe diaphragm to lower while the ribs and stomachexpand. The shoulders should not rise.

The diaphragm forces the air out when it contracts. When it does this, it causes the vocalchords to vibrate. The vocal chords are actually foldsof fibrous bands that are stretched along the twosides of the larynx. The larynx is the body’s soundinstrument. It is just below the ‘Adam’s apple.’When we hum, talk, or sing, air passes through thelarynx and it vibrates. As the air vibrates it creates asound that is then shaped by the other parts of ourbodies. This includes the mouth, tongue, teeth andlastly the lips.

Babies experiment with singing, laughing,screaming, and babbling. This is done to exercise the vocal chords and learn how to control them. The pitch of the voice (how high or how low wespeak) is created by them. Singers must masterfullycontrol the flow of air through the vocal chords inthe larynx. Each sung note is determined by how thechords are controlled. This is why singers have vocalexercises. It is so that they can quickly adjust to thedemands of the music without thinking about it.

Singers must learn how to shape their mouthsto control the sound that comes out of it. Specificsounds are controlled by the size and shape of themouth. Think of the mouth and entire head as beinglike a megaphone. Singers use all open spaces intheir mouths, sinuses, and skull like a megaphone tohelp project their voices. Singers raise the soft palate,located on the roof of your mouth towards the back