Developing Your Uniqueness

I am a voice professor in a university. I love my profession and my job, but it hasn’t always been easy. I’ve had to deal with a great deal of rejection over the many years that I have been singing and teaching. Because we bare our souls when we sing, when we are rejected, it can feel as though we have failed miserably. Then, if you are a soprano, there is intense competition, calling to mind the old adage that God must have loved sopranos because he made so many of them.

Although successful performers sing from the heart, years ago, an agent cautioned me not to wear my heart on my sleeve. Regardless of what one takes on as a woman, this advice holds true, and picking oneself up after any kind of disappointment takes courage and fortitude.

I teach voice and I run an opera program. I work with a great number of female singers in a rural setting. Being a proper role model for my students is of great importance to me. It’s important that I earn their trust and that they realize that I’m being honest with them, but at the same time students, particularly women, need to feel my support.

As a society, while we have seen many cultural changes over the years, one vital point hasn’t changed. The greatest performers are those who develop their own individual and unique voices. That’s why I’ve always stressed that students should strive to develop their unique voices to the fullest. In this day of easy access to recordings, too many young singers are tempted to imitate or copy the famous singers of the day. They forget that copies can never be unique or as good as the original.

Honesty is crucial for a singer, yet too many students find it hard to receive or give objective criticism, and I’ve worked hard to create an environment where this is possible. That’s also why I admire women who are willing to listen and work to come together in support of one another.

Recently I saw the second movie of Sex and the City. There is a segment where all four ladies sing “ I am woman” It brought back memories of Helen Reddy searching for empowerment and writing this song.

I am woman, hear me roar

In numbers too big to ignore

And I know too much to go back and pretend

'Cause I've heard it all before

And I've been down there on the floor

No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Whoa, yes, I am wise

But it's wisdom born of pain

Yes, I've paid the price

But look how much I gained

If I have to, I can do anything

I am strong (strong)

I am invincible (invincible)

I am woman (ooh)

You can bend, but never break me

'Cause it only serves to make me

More determined to achieve my final goal

And I come back even stronger

Not a novice any longer

'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul.

To me, this song represents the best of what an influential woman is and what I work to instill in my students.