Two new teaching strands announced for this September look set to expand vocal provision significantly at St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh. They represent something of a wholesale rethink of vocal teaching at the institution, Scotland's only specialist music school, and one of nine specialist music and dance schools across the UK. The driving force behind these changes is the recently appointed head of voice at St Mary's, Kate Aitken.
Planning ahead
‘It's about creating a programme for young singers that gives them everything they need to go on to a conservatoire or university and feel completely prepared,’ explains Aitken. Many of her ideas for the strands come from personal experience. ‘I grew up in Edinburgh, and I studied at the Royal College of Music in London. I had the best time, but I spent at least the first three years of a four-year degree feeling super under-confident and overwhelmed. I'd had fabulous singing lessons, but I'd never learnt how to take criticism in public, and I'd never taken a performance class, for example. So, I think it would be a great thing for young singers in Scotland, or young singers who want to come to Scotland to study, to benefit from that grounding and that kind of education.’
Aitken worked as a freelance opera singer for 15 years before joining the school, and feels she brings knowledge of the specific demands of the vocal world. She's received support from the recently appointed director of music, John Cameron, who worked as a répétiteur and vocal accompanist for many years. ‘Coming into the school, I knew that there was a lot of scope for us to build on what we already have,’ continued Aitken.
Her first strand is a revitalised ‘Changing Voices’ programme, aimed at both young male and female singers and building on the institution's long-established role as a choir school for nearby St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral. ‘It's really important for our choristers to have an option to stay on at the school, and to stay with their singing teacher,’ says Aitken. However, increased time devoted to Changing Voices' students' second study allows the flexibility to shift focus if desired. ‘Let's say you've joined the school as a young chorister and you love singing, but by the time you get to 14 or 15 you realise you love the violin more. We're able to increase that student's violin time, so they have the option of swapping studies around when they're younger.’
Aitken's second strand is a Senior Vocal Programme, aimed at older students who plan to pursue singing careers. Students on both strands will receive individual vocal lessons and additional support. ‘Every child in the vocal department will have vocal-specific performance and language classes. Those are not about how well you speak Italian, for example, but how well you sing it. It's about making sure the students come away with a good grounding in pronunciation and interpretation of text.’ In addition, Senior Vocal Programme students will receive classes in acting, movement, and stagecraft – all of which are crucial in another innovation Aitken has planned (more on which shortly).
Aitken is aware, however, that numbers of additional vocal students will be limited – for the moment, at least. ‘Given the size of the school, and our facilities, we're taking on just a handful of new students. It won't be the case that every chorister, for example, will be able to join the new programme.’
Nonetheless, the new programmes not only provide crucial early training for budding singers but also rebalance provision of vocal education nationally. ‘This isn't new in England,’ admits Aitken. ‘It's great to be able to level the playing field a bit, and to be able to start vocal development at a younger age in Scotland, rather than students having to wait to engage with these things until they go into higher education. It would make the transition to a conservatoire or university from school a seamless one, which is what it can be in England.’
Collaborative partners
Aitken is also keen to draw on established Scottish organisations to support the new programmes – and to offer reciprocal opportunities. ‘Our hope is to work with companies like the National Youth Choir of Scotland, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Youth Chorus – inviting individuals to be involved in the programme, for example, so that they can take new skills back to those choirs. We're also working with Scottish Opera on what we might be able to do together – they already have their Young Company, which is an amazing opportunity for young performers in Scotland. We're exploring whether we can collaborate, bring our singers into the Young Company, or create something along similar lines.’
Looking towards opera is central to Aitken's additional innovation: Vocal Scenes performances, which takes key moments from opera and operetta for the school's young singers to perform in the broadest sense. ‘They'll provide a focus for our classes on vocal technique, language, and acting and movement – and they'll also build a sense of teamwork, which is actually what being an opera singer is all about.’
Aitken has already tried something similar with excerpts from Mozart operas. ‘The students just lit up, and everyone wanted to be in it. Since then, when we've produced any vocal music, they've asked: “are we going to act it out?”’ She's aware, however, of the need to consider suitable repertoire carefully. ‘We're not talking about grand opera – this is purely about vocal development, so we might be looking at some Monteverdi, and maybe some little bits of Handel or Mozart. If you're 14, that's already a vocal ask. And we need to be convinced that a young singer has the technique and vocal capacity to handle the repertoire.’
Aitken recently gave potential students a taster of what's planned in a sampler day of discussions, coaching, classes and even an informal concert at the school. ‘I wish I'd had this myself when I was young. But I'm really excited for what we can build here.’
