Virginia Sublett, associate professor of voice, attended the International Congress of Voice Teachers Conference in Paris in July. The event was held at the famous Folies Bergerés in the Opera District of Paris.
More than 420 voice teachers from 38 countries, including 87 members of the American National Association of Teachers of Singing, assembled for five days of sessions on topics as diverse as Latin American song, teaching junior high boys, vocal improvisation, and the Accent Method of breathing. Participants came from every part of the world, including Australia, New Zealand, North and South America, Asia, Europe and North Africa.
The program included international experts on voice science, French chanson and mélodie, popular and classical song, world vocal traditions and classical French diction. Several presentations focused on Latin American song, including repertoire by Mexican composers such as Blás Galindo and Cárlos Chávez, and composers of Brazilian art song such as Alberto Ginastera. Internationally respected Baroque and operatic soprano Agnès Mellon presented a session on the ornamentation of French Baroque music, and world-renowned composer and improviser Barre Phillips presented a session on vocal improvisation.
Seventeen singers selected from universities throughout Europe, who participated in the Young Professionals Program, were featured in coaching sessions with master teachers Jennifer Smith and François Le Roux. Soprano Valérie Philippin demonstrated new and extended vocal techniques in the music of postwar avant-garde composers such as Luciano Berio, Gilbert Amy and Pascal Dusapin.